Skip to content
Crafter.Margin
Print on Demand

POD Margin Calculator

Written by Maya Reeves. Reviewed 2026-04-21.

Print-on-demand looks simple until shipping and channel fees appear. A $25 tee on Printful costs $13 plus $4.69 shipping, and what lands in your bank depends entirely on which channel you sell on. Etsy takes one cut, Shopify takes another, direct sales take none. This calculator compares all of them side by side.

Works for Printful, Printify, Gelato, SPOD, and custom providers. Channels: Etsy, Shopify, TikTok Shop, Amazon Handmade, direct. Shows net profit, break-even price, and a comparison table so you can see exactly where you make most money.

Step 1 of 3: Product

Presets

Product + POD provider

$
$

Quick answer

A $25 Printful tee with $5 shipping lands near $4 profit on Etsy, $7 on Shopify, and $12 direct. A $49 Printify hoodie with free shipping lands near $15 on Shopify and $20 direct. Channel choice moves the needle hard.

How to use this calculator

  1. Pick your POD provider. Defaults preset typical provider cost and shipping for common product types.
  2. Override cost and shipping. Providers show exact costs in their dashboards. Use those numbers.
  3. Sales channel. Etsy, Shopify, TikTok, Amazon, or direct.
  4. Listed price and shipping charged. What the buyer sees at checkout.
  5. Read the comparison. Same product, same price, different channel. See what you would make on each.

Three real scenarios

Printful tee on Etsy

Bella+Canvas 3001 tee from Printful. Provider cost $13, provider shipping $4.69. Listed at $25 with $5 shipping to buyer. Gross $30. Etsy fees $3.20 (transaction + payment + listing). After fees $26.80. Minus provider cost $17.69, you net $9.11. At 30% margin that is a clean Etsy POD sale.

Printify hoodie on Shopify

Gildan hoodie from Printify standard. $22 product cost + $6.50 shipping. Listed at $49 with free shipping. Shopify fees: $1.72 (2.9% + $0.30). Provider cost $28.50. Net $49 - $1.72 - $28.50 = $18.78, or 38% margin. Strong for hoodies.

Gelato poster direct

A3 poster from Gelato. $9 product + $5.50 shipping. Listed at $28 with $7 shipping. Direct sale, no channel fees. Gross $35. Provider $14.50. Net $20.50, or 58% margin. Why direct posters through a personal site can work even at modest traffic.

What goes into the price

Revenue minus channel fees minus provider cost equals profit. No labor line because most POD sellers only list and support, not produce. Channel fees vary: Etsy 9.75% blended plus $0.20 listing, Shopify 2.9% plus $0.30, TikTok 5% plus $0.30, Amazon 15%, direct 0%.

Reference: channel fee rates

2026 channel fee rates, reviewed 2026-04-21.
ChannelRate
Etsy6.5% + 3% + $0.25 + $0.20
Shopify2.9% + $0.30 per order + monthly plan
TikTok Shop5% + $0.30
Amazon Handmade15%
Direct (own site)0% (ads and traffic cost separate)

What to do if your number looks off

  • Losing money. Raise list price. POD provider costs are fixed, only price and channel choice are yours to control.
  • Tight margin warning. Under 15% is risky. Switch channels, raise price, or find a cheaper provider variant.
  • Direct margin much higher. Consider building a simple Shopify or direct site for your highest-margin items.
  • Amazon losing big. 15% fee is brutal. Usually only worth it for volume, not margin.

FAQs

Sources

  1. Printful product pricing catalog, printful.com, reviewed 2026-04-21.
  2. Printify marketplace provider pricing, printify.com, reviewed 2026-04-21.
  3. Etsy and Shopify fee documentation, reviewed 2026-04-21.
  4. TikTok Shop seller fee structure, tiktokshop.com seller docs, reviewed 2026-04-21.
  5. Amazon Handmade referral fee policy, amazon.com/handmade, reviewed 2026-04-21.

Is this right for you?

Etsy profit deep dive

Add your own labor and materials on top of POD provider cost.

Etsy profit calculator

Shopify vs Etsy

See at what volume moving off Etsy to Shopify pays.

Etsy vs Shopify

Thinking in-house?

Compare POD cost against in-house sublimation or HTV.

Sublimation pricing

Three real scenarios

See the same calculator pre-filled with seller inputs we actually use.

Printful tee Etsy

$25 + $5 ship, Etsy buyer.

Provider cost
$17.69
Fees
$3.20
Recommended$9.11

30% margin on a mid-tier PODtee.

Printify hoodie Shopify

$49, free shipping.

Provider cost
$28.50
Fees
$1.72
Recommended$18.78

38% margin, strong for hoodies.

Gelato poster direct

$28 + $7 ship, own site.

Provider cost
$14.50
Fees
$0
Recommended$20.50

58% margin, direct ceiling.

Read next

calculator

Etsy Fee Calculator

POD fee detail per sale.

Open

cross calculator

Etsy vs Shopify

Volume crossover point.

Open

guide

Printful vs Printify

Detailed provider comparison.

Open

reference

Supplier comparison

POD and blank suppliers.

Open

Want to see how we calculate this? Read our methodology.