EMPIRE / Free tools / Print-on-demand math

Print-on-demand math

Whether a shirt at your price is genuinely worth printing — before you build a whole store around it.

A product photographed for an online shop
—Net per item
—Margin
—Sales to clear $1,000
—Verdict

Card fees of 2.9% + $0.30 are applied to the full amount the customer pays, including shipping.

The honest version of print-on-demand

Print-on-demand removes inventory risk, which is genuinely valuable. What it doesn't do is produce the margins most courses imply. A blank shirt plus printing typically lands around $10–14 before shipping, so a $22 tee is barely worth packing.

What actually moves the number

  • Price higher than feels comfortable. $29–35 is normal for a printed tee with a real brand around it.
  • Build shipping into the price where you can — "free shipping" converts better than a $6 line item at checkout.
  • Sell heavier items. Hoodies and sweatshirts carry far better absolute margin than tees.
  • Design for repeat buyers. Acquiring a customer costs the same whether they spend $29 once or $29 four times.

Under roughly 30% margin, a single reprint or refund wipes out several sales. If your numbers land there, raise the price before you build the store around it.