Costs and pricing5 min read
Clothify tools
Print-on-Demand Profit Calculator
See where each sale goes. Calculate production, shipping, fees and contribution before fixed costs.
- Free, no account
- Break-even price
- CSV export
See where each sale goes
Enter a price and your costs, pick a garment, or try the example.
- Contribution per order and margin
- Break-even price
- Price ladder across nearby prices
Want the dataset behind the garment presets?
Open the cost researchHow to use it
Enter your price
Type the item price and what the customer pays for shipping. Leave sales tax out.
Add production cost
Use your supplier’s price for the garment and print, or tap a garment to fill a dated snapshot value.
Add fees
Open fees and other costs for your platform rate, payment processing and any packaging cost per order.
Read the result
Check contribution, margin and break-even price, then compare nearby prices on the price ladder.
Worked example: a $30 T-shirt
This is the scenario the Try an example button loads. The receipt uses the same formula as the calculator, so you can check every line.
A customer pays $30.00 for a shirt plus $5.00 shipping, so the order brings in $35.00. The supplier charges $12.00 to print it and $5.00 to ship it. The store platform takes 3% of the item price and payment processing takes 3% of the whole payment plus $0.30.
That leaves $15.75 per order to pay for everything else. With $50.00 of monthly fixed costs, the fourth order of the month is the first one that adds to profit.
- Contribution
- $15.75
- Margin
- 45.0%
- Break-even price
- $13.25
- Orders for $50.00 fixed costs
- 4
One order, illustrative values
- Item price$30.00
- plusShipping collected$5.00
- minusProduction$12.00
- minusSupplier shipping$5.00
- minusPlatform fee3% of $30.00$0.90
- minusPayment processing3% of $35.00 plus $0.30$1.35
- equalsContribution per order$15.75
The formula
Contribution is what one order leaves after the costs that come with it. Fees round to the cent, the same way a payment statement does.
Contribution per order
Item priceplusShipping collectedminusProduction costminusSupplier shippingminusPlatform feeminusPayment processingminusOther cost per orderequalsContribution
- Platform fee
- Platform rate × item price, rounded to the cent
- Payment processing
- Processing rate × (item price + shipping collected), plus the fixed fee
What it leaves out
- Sales tax and VAT are left out, and so are fees some providers charge on the tax they collect.
- Returns, reprints, chargebacks and discount codes are not counted. Use the discount calculator for sales.
- Currency conversion, duties and international shipping differences are not included.
- Supplier prices change with region, volume and time. The garment presets are a dated snapshot.
- Advertising, samples and your own time only count if you enter them as fixed or per-order costs.
- A healthy margin does not show that people will buy at that price.
Method and sources
The garment presets come from Clothify’s print-on-demand cost snapshot, recorded November 7 to 8, 2026 for one print placement in USD. They are historical observations, not live quotes.
Check your actual terms on Clothify pricing, your payment agreement, Printful’s cost components and Stripe pricing. Values you type are calculated in your browser and are not saved.
Contribution at five price points
What one sale leaves for four common garments at prices from $20 to $40, using the same shipping and fee assumptions as the worked example.
| Garment | Production | At $20 | At $25 | At $30 | At $35 | At $40 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-shirt | $11.92 | $6.43 | $11.13 | $15.83 | $20.53 | $25.23 |
| Hoodie | $22.63 | −$4.28 | $0.42 | $5.12 | $9.82 | $14.52 |
| Sweatshirt | $19.17 | −$0.82 | $3.88 | $8.58 | $13.28 | $17.98 |
| Cap | $17.23 | $1.12 | $5.82 | $10.52 | $15.22 | $19.92 |
Questions
What is a good profit margin for print on demand?
There is no single right number. A margin is good when the contribution from each order covers your monthly fixed costs, returns and advertising at a number of sales you can realistically reach. Enter your monthly fixed costs to see how many orders that takes, then compare a few prices on the price ladder.
What is the difference between contribution and profit?
Contribution is what one order leaves after the costs that come with that order: production, shipping, fees and other per-order costs. Profit is what remains once fixed costs such as subscriptions, software and advertising are paid as well. This calculator shows contribution and how many orders cover your fixed costs.
Should I charge customers for shipping?
You can charge shipping separately or build it into the item price, but the supplier bills you for shipping either way. Enter what the customer pays as shipping collected and what the supplier charges as supplier shipping. Free shipping means shipping collected is zero, so the item price has to absorb the cost.
Which fees should I include?
Include every fee charged on each order: your platform or marketplace percentage, the payment processing percentage and any fixed fee per payment. Here the platform rate applies to the item price and processing applies to the item price plus shipping. Use the rates in your own account agreements.
How do I price a print on demand shirt?
Start from the break-even price, the lowest price that covers your per-order costs, and choose a price far enough above it to leave room for fixed costs, discounts and returns. Then check that the price fits what comparable shirts sell for. The clothing pricing guide works through real margins on 12 pieces.
Does the calculator include sales tax?
No. Sales tax and VAT are collected for the government, so they are left out of both the price and the result. Some payment providers also charge their fee on the tax amount, which this calculator does not count.
Keep reading
Starting a clothing brand4 min read
Start a brand with print on demand
Costs and pricing4 min read