Print on demand in Paraguay: Merch by Amazon, Redbubble, and passive income at 0% in 2026

Print on demand (POD) is e-commerce without inventory, logistics, or initial investment. You create a design (illustration, typography, slogan, pattern), upload it to a POD platform (Merch by Amazon, Redbubble, Teespring/Spring, Printful, Zazzle), and the platform prints your design on physical products (t-shirts, hoodies, mugs, phone cases, posters, stickers) with each order. The platform handles printing, shipping, customer service, and returns. You never touch the product — you earn a royalty or margin on each sale.

In France, POD income is taxable as BIC (commercial activity) at an effective rate of 45-60%. In Paraguay, this same income is 0%. Merch by Amazon (Amazon USA/Luxembourg), Redbubble (Australia), Teespring (USA), Printful (USA/Latvia), Zazzle (USA) — all major POD platforms are foreign entities. Foreign source → Paraguayan territoriality → 0%. This guide covers the complete structuring of print on demand from Paraguay.

The print on demand market in 2026

The POD ecosystem

Print on demand has evolved into two distinct models:

Model 1: POD marketplaces (you list, the platform sells)

• You upload your designs to a marketplace (Merch by Amazon, Redbubble, Teepublic, Zazzle). The marketplace displays your products on its own site, manages traffic (SEO, advertising), and sells directly to buyers. You receive a royalty per sale (set by you or the platform).
• Advantage: no marketing effort — the marketplace brings the traffic. This is truly passive income: you upload a design and wait for sales to come in.
• Disadvantage: you control neither pricing (on some platforms), nor customer relationships, nor customer data. Margins are lower (the platform takes its share).

Model 2: POD services + your own store (you sell, the service prints)

• You create your own online store (Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce) and connect a POD printing service (Printful, Printify, Gooten, SPOD). When a customer buys from your store, the order is automatically sent to the POD service, which prints and ships it. You set the selling price — your margin is the difference between the selling price and the printing + shipping cost.
• Advantage: full control over pricing, branding, customer relationships, and data. Higher margins (you set the price).
• Disadvantage: you must generate your own traffic (SEO, advertising, social media). This is active e-commerce — not pure passive income.

Main platforms

Platform	Headquarters	Model	Products	Royalty / Margin
Merch by Amazon	USA (Amazon)	Marketplace. Your designs are listed on Amazon.com/fr/de/etc.	T-shirts, hoodies, PopSockets, cases, bags, etc.	Royalty set by you (typically 2-8 USD per t-shirt sold at 19.99 USD). Amazon sets the base price — you add your royalty.
Redbubble	Melbourne, Australia	Marketplace. Your designs on 70+ types of products.	T-shirts, stickers, cases, posters, mugs, notebooks, apparel, home decor, etc.	Default margin ~20% (adjustable by the creator). Redbubble sets the base price — your margin is a percentage above.
Teepublic	USA (owned by Redbubble)	Marketplace. Focus on t-shirts and stickers.	T-shirts, stickers, mugs, posters.	Fixed commission per sale (~4-7 USD per t-shirt depending on promotions).
Teespring / Spring	San Francisco, USA	Hybrid. Marketplace + integration with YouTube, TikTok, Twitch (merchandising for content creators).	T-shirts, hoodies, mugs, bags, cases, etc.	You set the selling price. Base cost (printing + shipping) deducted. Margin = selling price - base cost.
Printful	USA (Charlotte, NC) / Latvia (Riga)	POD service. Integrates with Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce, Amazon, eBay.	350+ products: apparel, accessories, wall decor, embroidery, home goods.	No Printful commission. Your margin = selling price (on your store) - Printful cost (printing + shipping).
Printify	USA / Latvia	POD service. Network of global print providers. Integrates with Shopify, Etsy, WooCommerce.	800+ products (the widest POD catalog).	No Printify commission (free plan). Premium Plan: 29.99 USD/month (up to 20% discount on printing prices).
Zazzle	Redwood City, California, USA	Marketplace. Strong presence for customizable products (invitations, cards, personalized mugs).	T-shirts, mugs, cards, invitations, posters, mousepads, etc.	Royalty of 5-99% (you choose — but a high royalty increases the price and reduces sales). Typically 10-15%.

Typical POD income

Level	Number of active designs	Sales / month	Net monthly income
Beginner	10-100	5-50	20-300 USD
Intermediate	100-500	50-500	300-3,000 USD
Advanced	500-5,000	500-5,000	3,000-20,000 USD
Top Creator	5,000-50,000+	5,000-50,000+	20,000-100,000+ USD

POD is a volume business: each individual design generates little income (2-8 USD per sale), but multiplied by hundreds or thousands of active designs, the total income becomes significant. Top POD creators have catalogs of 10,000-50,000+ designs — accumulated over years. It's a business that builds gradually, design after design, and becomes increasingly passive over time (old designs continue to sell while you create new ones).

POD taxation in Paraguay: platform analysis

Merch by Amazon

• Paying entity: Amazon.com, Inc. (USA) for sales on Amazon.com. Amazon EU Sàrl (Luxembourg) for sales on Amazon.fr/de/es/it/co.uk.
• Payment: monthly bank transfer (ACH for US accounts → Mercury Bank). Minimum: 10 USD for Amazon.com.
• Tax form: W-9 (US LLC = US domestic entity). No withholding tax.
• Source of income: Amazon USA or Amazon Luxembourg → foreign source in Paraguay → 0%.
• VAT: Amazon manages VAT as the Merchant of Record. You receive the royalty net of VAT. No VAT obligation for you.
• The tier system: Merch by Amazon operates with a tier system — you start at Tier 10 (maximum 10 designs uploaded). As sales increase, Amazon moves you up in tiers (25, 100, 500, 1,000, 2,000, 4,000, 8,000, etc.). Top sellers are at Tier 100,000+. Progression is based on sales — not on the number of uploaded designs. Patience is required.
• Registration: Merch by Amazon is invite-only (you must apply and be accepted). Acceptance can take from a few days to several months. Register with your US LLC (LLC name, US address, EIN, Mercury Bank account).

Redbubble

• Paying entity: Redbubble Ltd (Melbourne, Australia).
• Payment: PayPal or bank transfer. Monthly (on the 15th of the month, for sales from the previous month). Minimum: 20 USD (PayPal) or 20 AUD (bank transfer).
• Tax form: Redbubble requests a tax self-certification (country of residence, TIN). As a US LLC: provide the LLC's EIN and tax residence (Paraguay or USA depending on account setup). As a physical person resident in PY: provide your Paraguayan RUC.
• Withholding tax: Redbubble is an Australian company. Australia does not apply withholding tax on royalties paid to non-residents (except for certain specific categories — POD royalties are generally not concerned). Result: 0% withholding (with or without US LLC).
• Source of income: Redbubble (Australia) → foreign source in Paraguay → 0%.

Teespring / Spring

• Paying entity: Spring, Inc. (San Francisco, USA).
• Payment: PayPal or Payoneer. Minimum: 1 USD (PayPal), variable (Payoneer). Weekly or bi-monthly payments.
• Tax form: W-9 (US LLC). 1099-K if income > 600 USD/year.
• Withholding: 0% with US LLC (W-9). Potential 30% without US LLC (W-8BEN, no PY-USA treaty).
• Source: Spring (USA) → foreign source → 0% PY.
• YouTube/TikTok integration: Spring integrates directly with YouTube (merchandising shelf under videos) and TikTok (integrated shop). If you are a content creator with an audience, Spring allows you to sell merchandise directly from your videos — without the viewer leaving the platform. Income: Spring (USA) → US LLC → 0% PY.

Printful / Printify + Shopify/Etsy

• The flow: a customer buys from YOUR store (Shopify, Etsy). The order is automatically transmitted to Printful/Printify, which prints and ships. You receive payment from the customer via Stripe (Shopify) or Etsy Payments. Printful/Printify charges you the printing + shipping cost. Your margin is the difference.
• Paying entity: payment comes from YOUR CUSTOMERS (via Stripe or Etsy) — not from Printful. Stripe (USA/Ireland) pays into Mercury Bank (US LLC). Etsy (USA) pays via Etsy Payments → bank account (Mercury Bank or Payoneer).
• Source: Stripe US/Ireland or Etsy USA → US LLC → foreign source → 0% PY.
• VAT: if you sell via Shopify to European customers (B2C), EU VAT applies. Shopify does NOT automatically manage VAT (unlike Amazon). Solution: use Shopify Tax (integrated tool, limited) or a third-party service (Avalara, TaxJar) to calculate and collect EU VAT. Or use Etsy as a sales channel (Etsy collects and remits EU VAT as MoR since 2022). Or limit your sales to countries without complex digital VAT (USA, Canada, Australia).
• Etsy as a POD channel: Etsy is a marketplace for crafts and handmade products — but POD products are accepted there (provided the design is original). Etsy brings traffic (like Amazon) while giving you more control over branding. Etsy collects EU VAT → simplifies your compliance. Etsy commission: 6.5% transaction + 3% + 0.25 USD payment processing.

Tax comparison: POD creator at €80,000/year

Item	France (BIC)	Paraguay (US LLC)
Gross royalties/margins (Merch + Redbubble + Shopify)	€80,000	€80,000
Expenses (design tools, Shopify, advertising, freelancers)	-€10,000	-€10,000 (US LLC expenses)
Taxable profit	€70,000	€70,000 (0% PY)
Income Tax + Social Contributions	~€20,000	€0
Self-employment contributions	~€17,000	€0
Accounting	~€1,500	~€2,500
Total deducted	~€38,500	~€2,500
Net retained	~€31,500	~€67,500
Annual savings in Paraguay	~€36,000/year

A POD creator in Paraguay retains ~€67,500 vs. ~€31,500 in France — more than double. Over 10 years, the cumulative difference (~€360,000), invested at 7%/year, generates an additional wealth of ~€497,000. And this is for a "modest" creator at €80,000/year — top POD creators earning €200,000+ /year save proportionally even more.

Designing from Paraguay

Design tools

Tool	Usage	Cost
Adobe Illustrator	Vector creation (the professional standard for POD). Scalable SVG/AI files to any size without quality loss.	~22 USD/month (Creative Cloud)
Canva Pro	Fast and accessible design. Templates, fonts, graphic elements. Ideal for typographic designs (slogans, quotes).	~13 USD/month
Affinity Designer	Illustrator alternative (one-time license, no subscription). Professional vector.	~70 USD (one-time)
Procreate	Digital illustration on iPad. Popular for illustrated designs (characters, scenes, art).	~13 USD (one-time, iPad only)
Midjourney / DALL-E / Stable Diffusion	Generative AI to create images and illustrations. Used by some POD creators to generate designs in bulk.	0-30 USD/month
Kittl	POD-specialized design platform. Templates optimized for t-shirts, mugs, etc.	0-15 USD/month
Placeit (Envato)	Product mockups (visualize your design on a t-shirt, mug, case). Essential for Shopify/Etsy.	~8 USD/month

The AI debate: AI-generated designs and POD

The use of generative AI (Midjourney, DALL-E, Stable Diffusion) to create POD designs is a controversial topic:

• Advantage: speed. A creator can generate 50-100 designs per day with AI (vs. 3-10 designs per day manually). Volume is the engine of POD — more designs = more sales opportunities = more revenue.
• Disadvantage: quality and originality. AI designs are often generic and lack differentiation. Platforms (Merch by Amazon, Redbubble) receive millions of AI designs — the market is saturated with similar designs. Differentiation is difficult.
• Platform restrictions: Merch by Amazon and Redbubble do not explicitly prohibit AI designs (in 2026) but require you to have the rights to the design. AI-generated images raise copyright questions (the copyright of AI outputs is uncertain in many jurisdictions). Be cautious — check the terms of use of your AI tool and the POD platform.
• Hybrid strategy: use AI as a starting point (idea generation, sketches) and finalize manually in Illustrator or Procreate (adjustment, vectorization, customization). This approach combines AI's speed with the originality of human work — the best of both worlds.

Most lucrative POD niches

• Evergreen niches: animals (dogs by breed, cats, horses), professions (nurse, firefighter, teacher, developer), hobbies (fishing, hiking, gardening, gaming), humor (sarcasm, iconic phrases, puns), family (world's best dad/mom/grandparent).
• Seasonal niches: Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day, Mother's/Father's Day, back to school. Sales explode 2-4 weeks before each event — then drop off. POD creators prepare their designs 1-2 months in advance.

Trending Niches: Current memes, pop culture references, topical events. Ephemeral but potentially massive revenue (a viral design can generate thousands of sales in a few days). Warning: Designs related to brands, copyrighted characters, or real people are prohibited (intellectual property violation).

The Ideal Niche in Paraguay: Designs in English (largest market - USA, UK, Australia, Canada) on universal themes. English is the language that generates the most POD sales - by far. Designs in French are viable (FR/BE/CH/QC market) but the volume is 5-10x lower than English. Designs in Spanish (LATAM/Spain market) are an interesting bonus - you live in Paraguay, you speak Spanish, and the Spanish-speaking market is underserved in POD.

POD Structuring via US LLC

The Schema for Marketplaces (Merch, Redbubble)

1. Paraguayan Residency (from €1,400). Cédula + RUC.
2. US LLC (Wyoming). POD platform registrations in the name of the LLC.
3. Mercury Bank: US LLC account for ACH transfers (Merch by Amazon, Zazzle).
4. PayPal Business (US LLC): For platforms that pay via PayPal (Redbubble, Teespring, Teepublic). Regular transfer to Mercury Bank.
5. Merch by Amazon Registration: Apply with your US LLC (name, US address, EIN, W-9). Set up Mercury Bank as payment method.
6. Redbubble Registration: Create an artist account with your US LLC information (or in personal name - Redbubble accepts both). PayPal Business as payment method.
7. DNIT Accounting (€30/month).

The Schema for Shopify + Printful/Printify

1. Steps 1-3 identical (PY residency + US LLC + Mercury Bank).
2. Shopify Store: Create your online store in the name of your US LLC. Custom domain (yourstore.com). Shopify subscription: 39-299 USD/month. Configure Stripe in the name of the US LLC → Mercury Bank.
3. Printful/Printify: Create a Printful or Printify account in the name of the US LLC. Connect it to your Shopify store (automatic integration). When a customer buys, Shopify notifies Printful → Printful prints and ships → Printful invoices the US LLC (Mercury Bank).
4. The Financial Flow: Customer pays 29.99 USD (Stripe) → Mercury Bank. Printful charges 12 USD (printing + shipping) → Mercury Bank. Net margin: 29.99 - 12 - ~1 USD (Stripe fees) = ~17 USD per sale. This is 2-3x more profitable per sale than marketplaces (but requires your own traffic).
5. Shopify VAT: If you sell to EU customers via Shopify, VAT applies (B2C). Solution: Use Shopify Tax (limited but sufficient to start) or a specialized service (Avalara, TaxJar). Alternative: Primarily sell to the USA (no federal VAT - sales tax managed by Shopify Tax).

Etsy + Printful/Printify: The Ideal Compromise

Etsy offers a compromise between marketplaces (traffic brought by the platform) and Shopify (control over branding and margin):

• Traffic: Etsy is the 4th largest e-commerce marketplace in the USA (after Amazon, Walmart, eBay). ~90 million active buyers. Etsy brings traffic - you don't need to do marketing (or less).
• Margin: You set the selling price on Etsy. Margin = selling price - Printful cost - Etsy commissions (~10% all-inclusive). For a t-shirt sold for 24.99 USD, Printful cost ~12 USD, Etsy commission ~2.50 USD → net margin ~10.50 USD. This is more than Merch by Amazon (~4-8 USD) and less than Shopify (~17 USD) but with free traffic.
• VAT: Etsy collects and remits EU VAT since 2022 (Etsy is MoR for VAT in the EU, UK, and several other countries). No VAT obligation for you → massive simplification.
• US LLC Registration: Create an Etsy shop in the name of your US LLC. Connect Printful/Printify. Configure Etsy Payments → Mercury Bank. W-9 provided to Etsy.
• Taxation: Etsy (USA) pays via Etsy Payments → Mercury Bank (US LLC) → foreign source → 0% in Paraguay.

Intellectual Property in POD

The Risk of Copyright Infringement

The #1 problem with POD is intellectual property infringement. Many beginner creators upload designs containing:

• Copyrighted characters: Mickey Mouse (Disney), Spider-Man (Marvel), Pikachu (Nintendo). These characters are protected - you CANNOT use them on your products without a license.
• Brands: Nike, Adidas, Apple, Supreme logos. Registered trademarks are protected - even the name written as text is a violation.
• Copyrighted phrases: Some phrases are registered trademarks ("Just Do It" - Nike, "I'm Lovin' It" - McDonald's). Using them on a t-shirt is a violation.
• Designs by other artists: Copying or tracing another artist's design is a copyright violation - even if you modify it slightly.

Consequences of a violation:

• On marketplaces: Merch by Amazon, Redbubble, and others immediately remove the infringing design. In case of recidivism: suspension or permanent account closure. Merch by Amazon is particularly strict - a single violation can lead to account closure (and loss of all your designs and tier history).
• Legally: The rights holder can sue you for infringement (damages, injunction, seizure of profits). Large brands (Disney, Nike) have armies of lawyers specializing in tracking down online infringers.

Best Practices

• Create 100% original: Each design must be your original creation. No copying, no tracing, no "too close for comfort inspiration."
• Check trademarks: Before publishing a design containing text, verify that the words are NOT registered trademarks (search on USPTO - United States Patent and Trademark Office, TESS database - free). Tools like Merch Informer and Marmalead automate this verification.
• No proper nouns: Avoid names of celebrities, fictional characters, sports teams, brands. Even a subtle reference can be a violation (the silhouette of Michael Jordan dunking is a registered trademark of Nike/Jordan Brand).
• AI and copyright: AI-generated images (Midjourney, DALL-E) can inadvertently reproduce protected elements (if the AI was trained on copyrighted images). Manually check each AI design before publishing it. When in doubt, do not publish.

Multi-Platform POD Strategy from Paraguay

The 3-Phase Strategy

Phase 1 - Marketplaces (months 1-6):

• Focus on Merch by Amazon (highest volume) and Redbubble (widest product diversity). Upload 5-20 designs per day (within your Merch tier limit). Test different niches (animals, professions, humor, seasonal niches). Identify niches that sell.
• Goal: 200-1,000 active designs in 6 months. Expected revenue: 500-3,000 USD/month.

Phase 2 - Etsy + Printful (months 6-12):

• Open an Etsy shop connected to Printful. Reuse your best designs (those that sell on Merch/Redbubble) on Etsy with higher-margin products (premium t-shirts, hoodies, posters, mugs). Optimize Etsy listings (Etsy SEO: titles, tags, descriptions).
• Goal: 100-500 Etsy listings. Additional revenue: 1,000-5,000 USD/month.

Phase 3 - Shopify + Brand Building (months 12+):

• If a niche stands out (e.g., your dog breed designs sell massively), create a brand around that niche (brand name, logo, dedicated Shopify site). Sell via Shopify + Printful at maximum margins. Invest in advertising (Facebook Ads, Pinterest Ads, Google Ads) to generate targeted traffic. Build an email list for new design launches.
• Goal: 1 niche brand with 50-200 products. Additional revenue: 2,000-10,000+ USD/month.

Combined Revenue

Channel	Monthly Revenue (after 18 months)	Maintenance Effort
Merch by Amazon	2,000-8,000 USD	Low (uploading new designs, optimizing listings)
Redbubble + Teepublic	500-3,000 USD	Very low (almost passive after upload)
Etsy + Printful	1,000-5,000 USD	Moderate (Etsy SEO optimization, listing management)
Shopify + Printful (brand)	2,000-10,000 USD	High (advertising, branding, email marketing)
Combined Total	5,500-26,000 USD/month

All these revenues are from foreign sources (Amazon USA/Luxembourg, Redbubble Australia, Etsy USA, Shopify/Stripe USA) → all at 0% in Paraguay. Multi-platform diversification protects against the risk of dependence on a single platform (if Amazon closes your Merch account, you still have Redbubble, Etsy, and Shopify).

POD Scalability: From Solo Artist to Operation

Automate and Delegate

High-income POD is not a one-person show - top creators automate and delegate:

• Freelance Designers: Hire designers on Fiverr or Upwork to create designs in bulk (1-5 USD per design for simple typographic designs, 10-50 USD for illustrations). Paid via the US LLC. If you upload 50 designs/day (via freelancers), you add 1,500 designs/month to your catalog - a passive income machine.
• VA (Virtual Assistant): A virtual assistant (Philippines, India, LATAM) can manage uploads, listing optimization (titles, tags, descriptions), sales tracking, and customer service (if Etsy/Shopify). Cost: 300-800 USD/month for a full-time VA.
• Automation Tools: Merch Informer (niche research, competitor analysis, Merch by Amazon sales estimates - ~10 USD/month), Flying Upload (bulk upload to Merch - ~10 USD/month), Productor by Vela (Etsy listing management - free).
• AI for Design: As mentioned, generative AI accelerates design creation. An optimized workflow: AI (draft) → human designer (finalization/vectorization) → bulk upload → listing optimization → passive income.

Local Designers in Paraguay

If you employ local (Paraguayan) designers to create designs:

• Freelance: Pay them via your US LLC (international transfer to their PY account) if it's a one-off contract. Cost: 300-1,000 USD/month for a junior Paraguayan designer (vs 2,000-5,000 USD for a European designer).
• Employee: If you hire a full-time designer, do so through your Paraguayan SRL (Paraguayan employment contract, IPS, employer contributions ~16.5%). Salary of a junior designer in Asunción: 3,000,000-6,000,000 PYG/month (~400-800 USD).
• The Advantage: The low cost of Paraguayan labor allows you to scale your design production at a lower cost. A Paraguayan designer at 600 USD/month who produces 10 designs/day = ~300 designs/month. If each design generates an average of 2 USD/month in royalties over its lifespan → 300 designs × 2 USD = 600 USD/month in additional passive income. The designer "pays for themselves" in 1 month - and the income continues indefinitely.

The POD Creator's Wealth Trajectory

Year	Cumulative Active Designs	Monthly Net Income	Annual Invested Savings	Cumulative Wealth (7%/year)
1	500	1,500 USD	9,000 USD	~10,000 USD
2	2,000	4,000 USD	24,000 USD	~45,000 USD
3	5,000	8,000 USD	48,000 USD	~115,000 USD
5	12,000	15,000 USD	90,000 USD	~380,000 USD
7	20,000	18,000 USD	108,000 USD	~720,000 USD
10	30,000+	20,000 USD (plateau - some older designs decline, compensated by new ones)	120,000 USD	~1,250,000 USD

In 10 years of POD in Paraguay, a disciplined creator can build wealth of ~1.25 million USD. POD income is partially passive (older designs continue to sell effortlessly) and partially active (you regularly upload new designs to maintain growth). The invested wealth (ETFs via Interactive Brokers) generates additional income at 0% in Paraguay (dividends = foreign source). The same creator in France would have wealth of ~400,000 USD (after 50-60% taxes and charges). Paraguay generates ~850,000 USD in additional wealth.

Conclusion

Print on demand is e-commerce without the constraints of traditional e-commerce: no stock, no logistics, no significant upfront investment. Platforms (Merch by Amazon, Redbubble, Etsy, Shopify + Printful) manage everything - printing, shipping, customer service, VAT. You create designs and collect royalties or margins. In France, these revenues are taxed at 45-60%. In Paraguay, they are at 0%.

The structuring is the same as for any digital business: US LLC (Merch/Redbubble/Etsy/Shopify accounts in the LLC's name, Mercury Bank, PayPal Business) + Paraguayan residency (cédula, RUC, DNIT certificate) + DNIT accounting (€30/month). Merch by Amazon (USA) and Zazzle (USA) pay via ACH → Mercury Bank. Redbubble (Australia) and Teespring (USA) pay via PayPal → Mercury Bank. Etsy (USA) pays via Etsy Payments → Mercury Bank. All sources are foreign → 0%.

POD is a business of patience and volume. The first few months are modest (a few tens of dollars). But design after design, month after month, the catalog grows, sales multiply, and revenues become significant. And in Paraguay, every dollar of royalty is a dollar kept - not a dollar shared with the tax authorities. Patience is the entry cost. 0% is the guaranteed return.

You create designs and want 0% on your POD royalties? Contact our team: Paraguayan residency (from €1,400), US LLC, bank account, DNIT accounting (€30/month). Design from Asunción. Sell on Amazon, Redbubble, Etsy. Print worldwide. Keep 100% after taxes. Print on demand is creative freedom - and in Paraguay, it's tax freedom.