The money
What you actually keep on a print on demand sale
One shirt, every fee, all the way down. Most calculators in this niche quietly leave out the payment processing fee, which is why the number in your head is higher than the one in your bank.
Worked example
One $24.99 t-shirt
Etsy's figures are from Etsy's fee pages. The base cost is a stand-in — replace it with yours.
What the buyer pays Your listing price, shipping included in the price | $24.99 |
Etsy listing fee $0.20 per listing, and again on each renewal | − $0.20 |
Etsy transaction fee 6.5% of the order total, including shipping if you charge it | − $1.62 |
Payment processing 3% + $0.25 in the US. Varies by the country of your bank | − $1.00 |
Printify base cost + shipping An example. Yours differs by blank and print provider — check it | − $14.00 |
You keep about 33% of what the buyer paid | $8.17 |
Change the base cost and everything moves. That line is the one you control — by the blank you pick and, more than most beginners realise, by the print provider you pick for it.
Fee by fee
Who takes what
Listing fee
Charged per listing, and again every time a listing renews. Small until you have hundreds of them.
Transaction fee
On the whole order total, including shipping and gift wrap if you charge for them.
Payment processing
In the United States. It varies by the country your bank account is in, so check yours.
Offsite Ads
Only on orders that came through Etsy's offsite advertising. Capped at $100 per order.
Between the transaction fee and processing, Etsy takes roughly ten percent of everything before your costs. Price as though that is a fact, because it is.
Where the margin goes
Three things that quietly cost more than the fees
Free shipping that is not free
Building shipping into the price is fine and often necessary, but the buyer's total is what the 6.5% is charged on. It is a cost you absorbed, not one you avoided.
The wrong print provider
The same blank at two print shops can differ by a few dollars an item. Across a hundred orders that difference is larger than every Etsy fee on this page combined.
Returns from surprises
A garment that arrives a different shade than the listing showed comes back, and you pay twice. Showing the real colour is cheaper than handling the return.
FAQ
Fees and pricing questions
- What are Etsy's fees for a print on demand seller?
- A $0.20 listing fee per listing, a 6.5% transaction fee on the order total including shipping, and payment processing of 3% + $0.25 in the United States — processing varies by the country your bank is in. Offsite Ads fees apply separately and only to orders that came through those ads.
- How much should I charge for a print on demand t-shirt?
- Work backwards rather than guessing. Take your base cost plus shipping, add the roughly 10% Etsy takes in transaction and processing fees, then add the profit you want. If that price is far above what is already ranking for your search term, the problem is usually the print provider's cost, not your greed.
- What is a good profit margin on print on demand?
- In the worked example above the seller keeps $8.17 on a $24.99 shirt, which is about 33%. Thirty to forty percent is a realistic band for apparel once every fee is counted. Anything advertised far above that is usually quoting before fees, or before shipping.
- Do I pay Etsy fees on shipping?
- Yes. The 6.5% transaction fee applies to the total the buyer pays, which includes shipping and gift wrapping if you charge for them. Building shipping into the item price does not avoid the fee — it just moves which line it is charged on.
- What are Offsite Ads fees?
- A fee on orders that came from Etsy advertising your listing off the site. It applies only to those attributed orders and is capped at $100 per order. If your shop has never made $10,000 in any 365-day period you can opt out; past that it is mandatory.
- Does Printify Premium make sense?
- It discounts base costs for a monthly fee, so it pays off above a certain number of orders and loses money below it. Divide the monthly fee by the per-item saving on the blank you sell most — that is how many items a month you need before it is worth it.
Fees change. Check Etsy’s own fee page before you price a product on these numbers.
Better listings, same fees. See pricing