Out of Print
Out of Print is a New York-based direct-to-consumer e-commerce brand that designs and sells apparel and accessories featuring licensed literary properties for book lovers, families, and educators across the US and Canada.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What Out of Print does
Out of Print is a New York-based direct-to-consumer e-commerce brand founded in 2010 that designs and sells book-themed apparel and accessories featuring licensed literary properties. The company occupies a clearly defined vertical niche, transforming iconic book titles, authors, and characters into wearable and usable merchandise such as graphic t-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, hats, socks, mugs, bookmarks, puzzles, and enamel pins. Pricing is structured as one-time unit purchases ranging from roughly $22 for standard accessories to $43.50 for premium large zippered totes, with most standard apparel produced in the USA from 100% cotton. The product catalog spans over 20 licensed properties, including Dr. Seuss, Sesame Street, Mo Willems, Eric Carle, Richard Scarry, Reading Rainbow, and contemporary bestsellers such as The Hunger Games and Fourth Wing.
The company's operations are built on a Shopify storefront with a print-on-demand module (The Print Shop) fulfilled through Printful using Direct-to-Garment printing for custom designs. Customer acquisition is driven by organic social media (Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram) and email newsletters, with merchandising organized by literary title, author, genre, and special collections (Halloween, Banned Books, LGBTQ+ Pride, Library). A wholesale distribution channel supplements DTC sales for retail distribution to bookstores and gift shops. Geographic reach is primarily the United States and Canada, with shipping restrictions on certain products.
Out of Print's business model is a one-time-purchase retail model reliant on licensing agreements with major publishing houses, literary estates, and brand owners. The customer base is segmented into book lovers (primary), parents and families, and educators/librarians. Revenue is generated through (1) direct e-commerce sales via outofprint.com and (2) wholesale accounts to retail resellers. The company has 11-50 employees, no disclosed funding, and operates as a private, independent business.
Out of Print firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Out of Print
- Website
- https://outofprintclothing.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Out of Print is a New York-based direct-to-consumer e-commerce brand that designs and sells apparel and accessories featuring licensed literary properties for book lovers, families, and educators across the US and Canada.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Out of Print industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Licensed Apparel and Accessories
- NAICS
- Clothing, Clothing Accessories, Shoe, and Jewelry Retailers (458), Office Supplies, Stationery, and Gift Retailers (4594), Hobby, Toy, and Game Retailers (459120)
- SIC
- Retail-Miscellaneous Shopping Goods Stores (5940), Retail-Apparel & Accessory Stores (5600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Pop Culture, Licensed & Fandom Gifts Retail (CRALAJAK)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Gift, Novelty & Souvenir Variety Stores (CRAGAJAG)
Keywords
Where Out of Print is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Out of Print business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Licensing or Royalties, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Direct Product Sales: Revenue generated from selling apparel and accessories including t-shirts, sweatshirts, raglans, tote bags, hats, socks, bookmarks, mugs, notebooks, puzzles, playing cards, and enamel pins featuring licensed book-themed designs. Products are sold as one-time purchases with individual SKU-based pricing.
- Wholesale Distribution: The company maintains a wholesale accounts program for retail distribution, suggesting B2B revenue through selling bulk inventory to bookstores, gift shops, and other retailers.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Youth T-Shirts |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Unisex/Adult T-Shirts |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Tote Bags |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Accessories |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels5 records
Out of Print product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Out of Print designs, sources, and sells licensed book-themed apparel and accessories including t-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, hats, socks, mugs, bookmarks, notebooks, puzzles, and enamel pins featuring literary properties such as Dr. Seuss, Sesame Street, Mo Willems, Eric Carle, Richard Scarry, Reading Rainbow, and contemporary bestsellers. Products are sold primarily through its own e-commerce storefront with a secondary wholesale channel for retail distribution.
Product overview
Out of Print is a book-themed merchandise company offering licensed products featuring literary brands, children's book characters, and reading-themed designs. The product portfolio includes T-Shirts & Raglans (with both standard and print-on-demand options via The Print Shop), Tote Bags (including Large Zippered Totes), and Hats. Key licensed collections span Reading Rainbow, Summerween/Halloween, Dr. Seuss, Sesame Street, Mo Willems (Elephant & Piggie), Richard Scarry, and Eric Carle (The Very Hungry Caterpillar). Products are primarily 100% cotton with Made in USA manufacturing for most standard items, while print-on-demand products ship from separate fulfillment centers.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Reading Rainbow Collection Licensed t-shirts and raglan shirts featuring the Reading Rainbow logo, available in multiple colors for adults and youth, celebrating the literacy brand's revival with episodes hosted by Mychal Threets.
- Summerween Halloween Collection Halloween-themed merchandise featuring bookish designs including Pumpkin Patch Book Club and Witchy Cat themed t-shirts, tote bags, and caps designed for autumn and Halloween readers.
- Large Zippered Totes 100% cotton canvas gusset tote bags with full-length zipper closure and inner pocket, measuring 18" w x 12" h x 4" d, featuring licensed book and character artwork including Dr. Seuss, Elephant & Piggie, Sesame Street, and Richard Scarry designs.
- Tote Bags 100% cotton canvas flat tote bags with inner pocket, measuring 15" w x 17" h with 11" straps, featuring licensed book-themed artwork for everyday use.
- Dr. Seuss Collection Licensed Dr. Seuss merchandise including t-shirts, totes, and accessories featuring characters and titles such as The Cat in the Hat and Sing the 50 United States.
- Sesame Street Collection Licensed Sesame Street merchandise featuring The Monster at the End of This Book and other Sesame Street character merchandise.
- Mo Willems Collection Licensed merchandise featuring Elephant & Piggie characters from Mo Willems books, including totes and apparel with repeat patterns.
- Richard Scarry Collection Licensed merchandise featuring Richard Scarry's Cars and Trucks and Things That Go classic, including totes with vehicle-themed Busytown character designs.
- Eric Carle Collection Licensed merchandise featuring Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar and other characters from The World of Eric Carle.
- Hats 100% cotton baseball caps with adjustable closures featuring embroidered book-themed designs for readers.
- The Print Shop (Print-on-Demand) Print-on-demand t-shirt service producing items as orders are placed using Direct-to-Garment printing technology through Printful fulfillment. Ships only to US and Canada with 2-5 business days processing time.
- Socks Book-themed socks available across women, men, kids, youth, and baby categories featuring literary character designs.
- Sweatshirts Book-themed sweatshirts and crewnecks offered across women, men, unisex, and youth categories.
- Home and Office Items Book-themed home and office products including mugs, bookmarks, notebooks and journals, puzzles, playing cards, and books with slipcases.
- Enamel Pins, Pouches, and Keychains Small accessories including enamel pins and pin sets, pouches, and keychains featuring book-themed artwork.
Companies that use Out of Print
Customer profileSegments3 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Out of Print technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Out of Print partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and flagship.
- Printful (Print-on-Demand)supportingPrintful serves as the fulfillment partner for print-on-demand products in The Print Shop section, providing direct-to-garment printing capabilities for custom designs.
- Mychal ThreetsflagshipAward-winning librarian and author Mychal Threets is the host of the revived Reading Rainbow and has a dedicated collection (Mychal Threets Collection) with Out of Print, representing a content creator partnership to promote literacy and library joy.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Out of Print competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- FYE (For Your Entertainment): Specialty retailer of licensed entertainment merchandise including apparel, collectibles, and gifts. Comparable as a licensed merchandise retailer targeting fan communities, though with a broader entertainment focus and larger physical retail footprint than Out of Print.
- ModCloth: Vintage and literary-inspired apparel retailer with strong book-lover customer overlap. Comparable audience demographics and DTC e-commerce model, though ModCloth focuses on original vintage-inspired designs rather than licensed literary IP.
- Hot Topic: Established licensed pop culture apparel and accessories retailer serving fandoms across music, gaming, anime, and entertainment. Comparable business model of leveraging licensed IP to drive apparel sales, with a much broader fandom scope than Out of Print's literary focus.
Direct peers
- BoxLunch: Hot Topic-owned retailer selling licensed pop culture, fandoms, and entertainment apparel and accessories. Closely comparable to Out of Print's model of monetizing licensed IP through apparel and gift items, though BoxLunch focuses on TV/film/music rather than literary properties.
- Society6: Online marketplace for artist-designed print-on-demand apparel, home goods, and accessories. Directly comparable to Out of Print's Print Shop offering, with similar print-on-demand model for apparel and accessories, though Out of Print focuses specifically on licensed literary content.
- TeePublic: Print-on-demand apparel marketplace known for fandom, pop culture, and pop-reference graphic tees. Highly comparable to Out of Print's licensed design approach on apparel, with similar price points and audience of pop culture enthusiasts.
- Zazzle: Custom products marketplace offering print-on-demand apparel, accessories, and home goods. Comparable on the customization and print-on-demand fulfillment model, with overlapping product categories (t-shirts, tote bags, mugs, notebooks).
- Redbubble: Global print-on-demand marketplace for apparel and accessories featuring independent artist designs. Comparable on the print-on-demand fulfillment model and broad product assortment across apparel, totes, and home goods, with overlapping customer demographics of niche interest buyers.
Emerging players
- Punker Bar (and other Bookish/OutOfPrint-style Etsy sellers): Aggregation of independent book-themed apparel and accessories sellers on Etsy that compete for the same bibliophile customer base. While individually small, collectively these emerging sellers represent a fragmented competitive threat to Out of Print's niche dominance.
Regional players
- Penguin Random House Merchandise: Publisher-driven merchandise programs for Penguin Random House titles, including book-themed apparel and gifts. Directly comparable in literary merchandise focus but limited to in-house titles, lacking Out of Print's cross-publisher licensing breadth.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Out of Print social profiles
Digital presenceOut of Print financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Out of Print leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Out of Print funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Out of Print M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Out of Print
What does Out of Print do?
Out of Print designs, sources, and sells licensed book-themed apparel and accessories including t-shirts, sweatshirts, tote bags, hats, socks, mugs, bookmarks, notebooks, puzzles, and enamel pins featuring literary properties such as Dr. Seuss, Sesame Street, Mo Willems, Eric Carle, Richard Scarry, Reading Rainbow, and contemporary bestsellers. Products are sold primarily through its own e-commerce storefront with a secondary wholesale channel for retail distribution.
Is Out of Print a public or private company?
Out of Print is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Out of Print founded?
Out of Print was founded in 2010. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Out of Print based?
Out of Print is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Out of Print make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Direct Product Sales are the primary driver. The others are wholesale Distribution.
Who are Out of Print's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are FYE (For Your Entertainment), ModCloth and Hot Topic. Direct peers are BoxLunch, Society6, TeePublic, Zazzle and Redbubble. Punker Bar (and other Bookish/OutOfPrint-style Etsy sellers) is listed as an emerging player. Penguin Random House Merchandise is listed as a regional player.
Does Out of Print have an API?
No public API is recorded for Out of Print.
What industry is Out of Print in?
Out of Print's product category is Licensed Apparel and Accessories. Its primary akta.pro industry code is CRALAJAK, Pop Culture, Licensed & Fandom Gifts Retail, with a secondary code of CRAGAJAG, Gift, Novelty & Souvenir Variety Stores. Its NAICS code is 458 and its SIC code is 5940.