Print-on-Demand Profit Calculator
Calculate your profit margins for print-on-demand products after production costs and platform fees.
How Print-on-Demand Profit Works
In a print-on-demand (POD) business, you design products and a third-party supplier (Printful, Printify, etc.) prints and ships them only when a customer orders. You never touch inventory — but every sale has multiple cost layers.
Fee Structure Platform/marketplace fee: charged by Etsy, Shopify, or Redbubble as a percentage of sale price. Etsy charges 6.5% transaction fee + 3% + $0.25 payment processing. Redbubble and similar platforms have a built-in margin — you set a percentage above their base price.
Payment processing: usually 2.9–3% + $0.25–$0.30, charged by Stripe, PayPal, or the marketplace.
Production cost: what you pay the POD supplier per item. This varies widely — a basic t-shirt might cost $12–$15; a mug $8–$12; art prints $4–$10.
Advertising cost: if you run paid ads (Facebook, Pinterest, Etsy Ads), divide your total ad spend by the number of sales to get a per-sale ad cost.
Profit Formula Platform cut = sale price × platform fee % Payment cut = sale price × payment fee % + fixed fee Net revenue = sale price − platform cut − payment cut Profit = net revenue − production cost − advertising cost per sale Margin = (profit / sale price) × 100
Target Margins Healthy POD margin: 25–40% Competitive on marketplaces: at least 20% Below 15%: consider raising price or cutting ad spend