Affiliate T-Shirt Marketplace Development

I’m launching an online marketplace where independent artists can upload their work, place it on T-shirts, hoodies, mugs and other print-on-demand items, and earn a commission on every sale that comes through their unique affiliate links. The core of the build is an e-commerce site that feels effortless for both shoppers and contributors, yet powerful enough to track royalties and payouts automatically.

Artists must be able to upload both images and illustrations, then tweak positioning, colours and sizing inside a simple, browser-based editor—think drag-and-drop with basic layers, filters and mock-up previews. Once they hit save, the artwork should flow straight into product listings that display live variants, stock levels and pricing.

Key pieces I need you to weave together:
• A flexible e-commerce foundation (I’m open to Shopify, WooCommerce or a custom stack—convince me of the best route).
• The built-in image editor described above.
• An affiliate module that creates trackable links per artist, records conversions and calculates their commission automatically.
• Print-on-demand fulfilment integration so orders are routed to the supplier the moment payment clears.
• A clean, mobile-first storefront with fast checkout, multiple payment gateways and automated tax/shipping calculations.
• A back-office dashboard where I can approve new artists, view sales analytics, and trigger payouts.

Acceptance criteria
1. Artist uploads and edits a design entirely in-browser, publishes to at least one garment, and the product appears in the store ready for purchase.
2. A test purchase using an artist’s affiliate link logs correctly, splits revenue according to a configurable percentage, and shows in both admin and artist dashboards.
3. Order data travels to the POD supplier and returns tracking info automatically.

If this sounds like your kind of build, outline the tech stack you recommend, any similar marketplaces you’ve implemented, and a rough timeline to MVP.