List crewneck sweatshirts first if your designs are text-led gifts that need a wide, clean print area at a lower base cost, and add hoodies when your buyers want a casual, outdoor or campus look and will pay more for it. Once a design sells on one garment, offering it on the other is a cheap test, either as a separate listing or as a style variation in the same listing.
Sweatshirts and hoodies are what buyers look for when the weather turns cold, and they carry a print-on-demand apparel shop through autumn and winter. This comparison is for sellers adding their first warm apparel who want to know which blank to set up first, how to price it and how to present both without splitting their effort.
Price point: what each one costs you
A hoodie uses more material than a crewneck: a hood, a drawcord and a front pocket on top of the body and sleeves. That shows up in the base price. In the Alomations catalog, the Gildan 18000 crewneck starts from $10.90 and the Gildan 18500 hoodie from $13.90, read on October 17, 2026, with shipping quoted separately (catalog). Other providers and blanks price differently, so compare like with like.
The higher base cost has to reach your retail price, or the hoodie earns less per sale than the sweatshirt. Etsy's fees are percentages, so they grow with the price: the transaction fee is "6.5% of the total order amount" (Etsy fee schedule), and it applies to shipping too (Etsy Help). Payment processing adds a set rate plus a percentage, for example 3% + 0.25 USD for a US bank account (Etsy Help). Run both garments through the same margin calculation before you set prices. Our margin math for POD on Etsy walks through it step by step.
Season and timing
Both garments sell when the weather cools and both ride the gift season, so the publishing deadline is the same. In 2026, Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26 (OPM), Black Friday on November 27 (Wikipedia) and Cyber Monday on November 30 (Wikipedia). Etsy says a new listing may take up to 48 hours to appear in search (Etsy Help), and you want listings to have collected views and favorites before those dates, so publish weeks ahead. The Etsy Q4 calendar lays out the months.
The difference is in how people wear them. A crewneck layers under a coat and reads slightly dressier, which suits holiday, family and occasion designs. A hoodie is for game days, campus, travel and the outdoors, and it often stays in use as an outer layer into spring.
Print area and how designs fit
The crewneck gives you an uninterrupted front from collar to waistband, which suits wide text, stacked phrases and full-front artwork. The hoodie's front is shorter in practice. The Gildan 18500 has a "Double-lined hood with dyed-to-match drawcord" and a "Front pouch pocket" (Gildan spec sheet, hosted by Blankstyle), so a front design has to sit between the drawcord ends and the top of the pocket. Designs that are wide and short fit hoodies best. Both garments take back prints, and sleeve options depend on your provider.
The fabric itself is the same. Gildan's European spec sheets list both the 18000 and the 18500 as "50% U.S. Cotton, 50% Polyester, 280 G/SqM" (18000 sheet, hosted by PenCarrie, 18500 sheet, hosted by PenCarrie). That blend matters for the print method: DTF "can print on cotton, polyester, nylon, and blends alike", while DTG "needs 100% cotton or high-cotton garments" (Printify).
| Factor | Crewneck sweatshirt (Gildan 18000) | Hoodie (Gildan 18500) |
|---|---|---|
| Fabric (Gildan Europe spec sheets) | 50% cotton, 50% polyester, 280 g/m² | 50% cotton, 50% polyester, 280 g/m² |
| Front print space | Uninterrupted from collar to waistband | Between the drawcord and the pouch pocket |
| Construction | Classic fit crewneck | Double-lined hood, drawcord, pouch pocket, rib cuffs and waistband with spandex |
| Alomations catalog price | From $10.90 | From $13.90 |
| Gift angle | Family, holiday and personalized occasion designs | Casual, campus, outdoor and couple designs |
| Print method that suits the blend | DTF | DTF |
Gift appeal: who buys which
Crewnecks carry personalized gifts well: grandchildren's names on a grandma sweatshirt, a family surname for matching holiday sets, a phrase for a teacher or a nurse. The wide, flat front gives lettering room to breathe. Hoodies suit gifts that say something about how the wearer spends their time: hiking, a hobby, a campus feel or a matching pair for a couple.
Keep these designs original. Team names, school logos and brand marks belong to their owners, and a design of your own is the one you can sell with confidence.
One listing or two
Etsy's September 2026 update lets sellers "Add up to three distinct variations, like size, color, and style" (Etsy updates), so a single listing can offer both a sweatshirt and a hoodie, with the price set per variation (Etsy Help). Listings with three variation types can have up to 2,500 option combinations (Etsy Help), enough for style, size and colour on most apparel.
One listing keeps reviews, favorites and sales history together and costs one $0.20 listing fee instead of two (Etsy fee schedule). Separate listings let each title open with the garment the buyer searched for, since Etsy advises you to "Clearly describe your item at the beginning of the item title" (Etsy Help), and each can sit in its own most specific category. If you set up the garment choice as a custom variation, keep in mind that Etsy says buyers cannot filter search results by custom variations (Etsy Help).
A sensible path: test a new design with both styles in one listing, then give a proven seller its own hoodie listing with its own title and mockups. One listing with many colours or separate listings applies the same reasoning to colours.
How the Alomations catalog fits this decision
The Alomations catalog includes both garments in this comparison, the Gildan 18000 crewneck and the Gildan 18500 hoodie, next to Gildan, Bella+Canvas and Comfort Colors tees. Apparel is printed with DTF, which suits the 50/50 blend, and production for US orders is in the US. Each product shows its "from" price on the catalog, with shipping quoted separately. Our Gildan 18000 guide and Gildan 18500 guide cover each blank in depth.
You set up a template once per garment (sizes, colours, price, SKUs, shipping and processing profiles), so sending one design to a crewneck listing and a hoodie listing takes two runs rather than two afternoons. Every design arrives in light and dark versions, so it reads on heather grey and on black. When an order comes in, the orders screen shows item cost and shipping separately before you pay, on every plan, Free included.
Frequently asked questions
Do hoodies or sweatshirts sell better on Etsy?
We have no reliable public figure to quote, and the answer depends on your designs and buyers. Test both with a design that already sells, then put more listings behind the garment that brings in orders.
Can I sell a sweatshirt and a hoodie in the same listing?
Yes. Since Etsy's September 2026 update, a listing can have up to three variation types, such as size, colour and style (Etsy updates), and the price can vary by variation.
Does the same design print well on both?
On the Gildan pair the fabric is the same 50/50 blend, so print quality is similar. The difference is space: a hoodie's front is shorter between the drawcord and the pocket.
When should I publish them for the holidays?
Weeks before Black Friday, which falls on November 27, 2026 (Wikipedia). Listings need time to appear in search and collect favorites.
Set up a sweatshirt or hoodie template and publish your first cold-weather listings on the free plan.