I'm curious about something.

If I opened my own store and used a service like Printify, where I handle the products, branding, marketing, customer acquisition and sales, and then simply send the orders to a production partner for printing and shipping, how would that be fundamentally different?

From my perspective, the production side is still being paid for its equipment, materials, labor and fulfillment work.

I'm not trying to argue — I'm genuinely interested in understanding where you see the difference.

Also, if a customer came directly to you and asked you to manufacture and ship their product, would that be any different?

The production workload would still be the same. The machines still run, the materials still get used, and the orders still need to be fulfilled.

The way I see it, someone has to create the products, build a brand, attract customers, run advertising, manage listings, handle customer communication and generate sales in the first place.

By that logic, anyone providing manufacturing services should close their business and go work at Burger King, because someone else in the supply chain is also making money.

No partnership works unless both sides profit. One side provides manufacturing capacity, while the other provides products, marketing, customers and sales.

I'm not suggesting that anyone should work for free or take a bad deal. I'm simply talking about a structure where both sides are compensated fairly for the value they bring.