The online print creation and ordering firm informed customers earlier this week that it was ceasing to sell its products and has laid off the majority of its staff.

In a letter to customers, chief executive Oliver Pflug said: "We hope that in the next few weeks we will be able to announce a transaction that will enable us to continue and expand our business. However, if our efforts in this regard are unsuccessful, then we want to provide you with sufficient time to make alternative arrangements."

At the time of writing (12 September) no one from the firm was available for further comment and it had not posted any information on its website.

Several firms are have already expressed an interest in the ailing e-commerce company including httprint.

Earlier this year the firm announced that it was cutting costs, which included making redundancies.
It was one of the original print e-commerce providers and had a UK presence from 1999 when it signed up Dudley Print as its first UK customer.

Compared to many of the other printing dotcoms the firm could be regarded as successful, outlasting many of the firms that were launched during the dotcom boom.

One industry expert told PrintWeek that they felt that Printchannels problems came from sticking to its per transaction pricing structure and targeting printers rather than print buyers as its target market.