Costs and pricing5 min read
Clothify tools
Clothing Discount and Margin Calculator
See what a sale price leaves after costs and fees, and how many discounted orders match full-price contribution.
- Free, no account
- Break-even discount
- CSV export
See what a sale really leaves
Enter a price, production cost and discount, or try the example.
- Full price and sale receipts side by side
- Sale orders needed to match full price
- Contribution from 0 to 60% off
Need the full order with fixed costs?
Open the profit calculatorHow to use it
Enter the full price
Type the item price customers pay today and what the garment costs you to make.
Choose a discount
Type a percentage, tap a common depth or drag the slider to test deeper or lighter sales.
Add shipping and fees
Open shipping, fees and other costs and enter your platform and payment rates. They start at zero.
Compare the result
Read the sale contribution, the orders needed to match full price and the depth where the sale stops covering costs.
Worked example: 20% off a $40.00 hoodie
This is the scenario the Try an example button loads. Shipping and fees are left at zero so the arithmetic is easy to follow.
A hoodie sells for $40.00 and costs $16.00 to make. At full price each order leaves $24.00. A 20% discount takes $8.00 off the price, so the customer pays $32.00.
The production cost does not move, so the whole $8.00 comes out of what you keep. Contribution falls from $24.00 to $16.00, a 33% drop from a 20% discount. To earn the $2,400.00 that 100 full-price orders bring in, the sale needs 150 orders.
- Sale price
- $32.00
- Contribution on sale
- $16.00
- Orders to match 100
- 150
- Break-even discount
- 60%
Sale order, illustrative values
- Full item price$40.00
- minusDiscount20% of $40.00$8.00
- equalsSale price$32.00
- minusProduction$16.00
- equalsContribution per sale order$16.00
The formula
The calculator runs the same contribution formula twice, once at the full price and once at the sale price, with every cost held the same.
Contribution at the sale price
Sale priceplusShipping collectedminusProduction costminusSupplier shippingminusFeesminusOther cost per orderequalsSale contribution
- Sale price
- Full price × (1 − discount ÷ 100), rounded to the cent
- Fees
- Platform rate × sale price, plus processing rate × (sale price + shipping collected), plus the fixed fee
What it leaves out
- The discount applies to one item price, not to shipping, free shipping offers or a whole basket.
- Production, shipping and fixed fees are assumed to stay the same at the sale price.
- It does not predict how many extra orders a sale brings. Matching orders is arithmetic, not a forecast.
- Sales tax, returns, chargebacks and extra advertising spent on the promotion are not included.
- Monthly fixed costs are left out. Use the profit calculator to see how many orders cover them.
Method and sources
The example is illustrative. Use your own supplier quote for production and the rates in your own store and payment agreements for fees; Stripe pricing and Printful’s cost components show what those lines include.
Values you type are calculated in your browser and are not saved. For the full order with fixed costs, open the profit calculator.
Discount depth table
Sale price, contribution, margin and the orders needed at eight common depths. It starts with the example and switches to your numbers once the calculator has a result.
Showing the example: $40.00 item, $16.00 production, no other costs. Enter your own numbers above to update it.
| Discount | Sale price | Contribution | Margin | Orders to match 100 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full price | $40.00 | $24.00 | 60.0% | 100 |
| 10% off | $36.00 | $20.00 | 55.6% | 120 |
| 15% off | $34.00 | $18.00 | 52.9% | 134 |
| 20% offExample | $32.00 | $16.00 | 50.0% | 150 |
| 25% off | $30.00 | $14.00 | 46.7% | 172 |
| 30% off | $28.00 | $12.00 | 42.9% | 200 |
| 40% off | $24.00 | $8.00 | 33.3% | 300 |
| 50% off | $20.00 | $4.00 | 20.0% | 600 |
Questions
How do I calculate a discount on clothing?
Multiply the full price by the discount percentage and subtract it. 20% off $40.00 is $8.00 off, so the sale price is $32.00. Then subtract your production, shipping and fees from the sale price to see what each order still leaves you.
How much can I discount without losing money?
Up to the break-even discount, the depth where the sale price only just covers production, shipping and fees. The calculator finds it to a tenth of a percent and marks it on the chart. Past that depth every order costs you money before any fixed costs.
Why does a 20% discount cut my profit by more than 20%?
Because the discount comes out of the price while your costs stay the same. In the example a 20% discount removes $8.00, and all of it comes out of the $24.00 you keep, a 33% drop. The lower your margin, the larger that effect.
How many more sales do I need to make up for a discount?
Divide full-price contribution by sale contribution and multiply by the orders you would have had. In the example, 150 sale orders leave the same total as 100 full-price orders. Whether the sale actually brings in that many extra orders is something to test, not assume.
Should I offer free shipping or a percentage off?
Both cost you money per order. Free shipping means shipping collected is zero while the supplier still bills you for it. Enter the shipping lines in the calculator to compare a percentage off with absorbing the shipping cost yourself.
Do payment fees go down when I discount?
Percentage fees do, because they are charged on a smaller amount. Fixed fees per payment stay the same. The calculator recalculates the platform and processing percentages at the sale price and keeps the fixed fee.
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