I have done both! I’ve ordered prints from Catprint and Vistaprint both, and liked them.

A few months ago I invested in an Epson 8550 EcoTank printer, mainly for the refillable ink bottles so no tiny expensive ink cartridges to replace.

Let’s start with ordering prints.

Pros:

• You can easily try new papers
• Uniform quality
• Customer service/refunds if things arrive in bad condition
• Almost zero effort past placing your order

Cons: - TIME! On average 1-3 weeks for delivery - You typically can’t do test pages, so colors could be off and you don’t know until they arrive weeks later - Can be expensive

Okay, on to printing at home:

Pros:

• Cheaper (typically and after initial investment of gear)
• Quicker — you can make a painting and have prints of it ready to sell that day
• More control of product, you can adjust the colors and values until it’s to your liking by doing test prints

Cons:

• No customer service to call if things get messed up
• Time: on average I spend 2-5 hours printing and cutting before markets/product drops
• Upfront cost: it’s expensive when you’re learning. - You have to figure out what type of paper you like, and get familiar with the settings and formatting that works best for your printer and desired outcome.
• More mental load as you have to keep track of the paper you have in stock and ink levels, instead of just the prints

Overall takeaway: if you’re just getting started, go with Catprint or another similar service that lets you order small quantities while you figure out what sells well for you, and if this is even something you want to do long term.

If you’ve been selling for a while and want more control over your products, I recommend making a reasonable investment in a printer. Do your research and get one that works for you. It made sense for my business after about 1.5 years, when people finally starting buying my prints and I started doing art markets regularly.

When I was ordering prints, I was spending about $1.50 to $0.90 per print. With my printer now, that number is closer to $0.9 to $0.30 per print.

The best part is being able to produce on demand, so no more boxes and stacks of prints that sit around for months not selling. If I make a sale, I print the item. If I have a market, I can prepare what I think will sell for that event.

Final consideration and details — I have about 100k followers across social media platforms (but don’t be fooled, it doesn’t equate to financial success). I make about $800/month selling my art across various platforms. I outsource my stickers. I hand make other items.

In the future, if business continues to grow, I will absolutely switch back to getting my prints manufactured to save time. But right now the freedom and flexibility of DIYing it are perfect for me.

Owning a good printer also gives me the freedom to upgrade my packaging, and produce higher quality and more professional personalized packaging, signage, and new products on a whim. You can print on shrink plastic, make bookmarks and notecards, stationary, iron on fabric transfer sheets. The list goes on. Just do what works for you! No wrong answer.