How to Set a Profitable Printify Retail Price
The retail price must cover more than the number shown beside the product in the Printify Catalog.
A complete price can need to cover:
- Product production cost
- Additional print locations
- Extended-size surcharges
- Seller-paid shipping
- Printify taxes
- Marketplace fees
- Payment-processing fees
- Advertising
- Discounts and coupons
- Refunds, reprints, and chargebacks
- Software and business overhead
- Desired profit
Required retail price = total cost per order / (1 - target margin - percentage-based fees)
Printify recommends maintaining at least approximately a 40% profit margin, but the displayed Printify margin is normally based primarily on retail price and production cost. Your true net margin can be lower after shipping, platform fees, taxes, advertising, and discounts.
Contents
- Price, profit, margin, and markup
- Costs that belong in the calculation
- Printify production cost
- Shipping cost
- Printify taxes
- Marketplace and platform fees
- Payment-processing fees
- Advertising and acquisition cost
- Business overhead
- Refund and reprint allowance
- Profit formulas
- Choosing a target margin
- Complete pricing example
- Pricing with free shipping
- Pricing with separate shipping
- Pricing larger sizes
- Pricing extra print areas
- Pricing product variants
- Sales, coupons, and discounts
- Wholesale and bulk pricing
- Printify Premium
- Pricing Printify products on Etsy
- Pricing Printify products on Shopify
- Pricing Printify products on Amazon
- Currencies and conversion
- Competitor pricing
- Price endings and perceived value
- Printify pricing tools
- Testing and reviewing prices
- Free tools on this site
- Common pricing mistakes
- Pricing checklist
- Frequently asked questions
Retail Price, Profit, Margin, and Markup
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Retail price | The amount charged to the customer before or after tax, depending on the platform display |
| Production cost | The amount Printify charges to manufacture the product |
| Gross profit | Retail price minus directly counted product costs |
| Net profit | Revenue remaining after all fees, taxes, shipping, advertising, and overhead |
| Profit margin | Profit expressed as a percentage of retail price |
| Markup | Profit expressed as a percentage of cost |
Profit / retail price × 100
Markup:
Profit / cost × 100
Margin and markup are not interchangeable.
Example
A product costs $10 and sells for $15.
- Profit: $5
- Markup: 50%
- Profit margin: 33.33%
Costs to Include Before Setting the Retail Price
| Cost | Fixed or Variable |
|---|---|
| Product production | Variable by product and variant |
| Additional print areas | Variable by decoration |
| Shipping | Variable by provider, destination, and quantity |
| Printify sales tax | Variable by jurisdiction and exemption status |
| Marketplace transaction fee | Usually percentage based |
| Payment-processing fee | Usually percentage plus fixed amount |
| Listing fee | Fixed or recurring by platform |
| Advertising | Variable |
| Apps and subscriptions | Fixed monthly overhead |
| Refund and reprint allowance | Estimated percentage |
Start with the Exact Printify Production Cost
Production cost is the amount Printify charges to create the item. It can vary by:
- Product model
- Print provider
- Garment size
- Garment color
- Print method
- Number of print locations
- Printify plan
- Provider region
Review the cost of every enabled variant. Do not calculate the entire listing from only the cheapest size and color.
Include Printify Shipping Cost
Shipping is not included in the normal Printify production price. It varies by:
- Print provider
- Product category
- Destination
- Shipping method
- Package quantity
- First-item rate
- Additional-item rate
When the customer pays shipping
The shipping charge collected from the customer should be compared with the amount Printify charges you. Any difference affects profit.
When the seller offers free shipping
Add the expected shipping expense to the cost basis before calculating margin.
Read Printify Shipping Times by Print Provider for fulfillment and delivery guidance.
Account for Taxes Charged by Printify
Printify can collect applicable taxes on production orders. Treatment depends on the destination, local law, shipping taxability, and whether a valid resale certificate or exemption applies.
Possible tax bases
- Production cost
- Shipping cost
- Retail price in certain jurisdictions
- Other taxable order charges
Consult a qualified tax professional for advice about resale certificates, sales-tax registration, VAT, GST, and income taxes.
Include Marketplace and Platform Fees
Marketplace fees are usually based on the customer's payment, not the Printify production cost.
Possible platform charges
- Listing fee
- Transaction fee
- Referral fee
- Marketplace commission
- Currency-conversion fee
- Regulatory operating fee
- Offsite advertising fee
- Subscription fee
- Third-party app fee
Check current official platform rates. Do not use an old fee chart copied from a blog post.
Add Payment-Processing Fees
Payment processors often charge:
The percentage may apply to the product price, shipping, and customer tax. Check the exact processor terms.
Example structure
If a processor charges rate r plus fixed fee f:
Include Advertising and Customer Acquisition Cost
A product can appear profitable before advertising and lose money after paid traffic.
Advertising costs may include
- Meta ads
- Google Shopping ads
- Etsy Ads
- Offsite Ads
- Influencer commissions
- Affiliate commissions
- Email-platform costs
- Discounts used to acquire customers
Customer acquisition cost
Compare acquisition cost with profit per first order and expected repeat purchase value.
Allocate Business Overhead
Product-level profit can look healthy while the overall business remains unprofitable.
Overhead can include
- Store subscription
- Domain and hosting
- Email marketing
- Design software
- Mockup subscriptions
- Accounting software
- Printify Premium
- Samples
- Contractors
- Customer-service time
Monthly overhead / expected monthly orders
Add a Refund, Reprint, and Chargeback Allowance
Not every order produces permanent revenue.
Possible losses
- Customer refunds
- Seller-funded replacements
- Chargebacks
- Lost packages
- Incorrect addresses
- Damaged products
- Discounted resolutions
Estimate the percentage of revenue historically lost to these events and include a reasonable allowance.
Printify Pricing and Profit Formulas
Simplified Printify profit
Simplified Printify margin
More complete net profit
True net margin
Choose a Target Profit Margin
Printify recommends at least approximately a 40% margin based on retail price and production cost. Your required gross margin may need to be higher when:
- You offer free shipping.
- You run frequent discounts.
- You use paid advertising.
- The marketplace charges substantial fees.
- The product has a high refund rate.
- You need room for wholesale pricing.
- You sell low-volume niche products.
| Margin Level | General Interpretation |
|---|---|
| Below 20% | Little room for fees, discounts, errors, or advertising |
| 20%-39% | May work in limited cases but requires careful cost control |
| 40%-49% | Closer to Printify's general recommendation |
| 50% or higher | More room for marketing, sales, overhead, and risk |
These are planning ranges, not universal rules.
Complete Printify Pricing Example
Assume the following hypothetical order:
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Retail price | $30.00 |
| Production cost | $12.00 |
| Seller-paid shipping | $4.75 |
| Printify tax | $1.39 |
| Marketplace and payment fees | $3.00 |
| Advertising allocation | $2.00 |
| Overhead and risk allowance | $1.00 |
Total cost:
$12.00 + $4.75 + $1.39 + $3.00 + $2.00 + $1.00 = $24.14
Net profit:
$30.00 - $24.14 = $5.86
Net margin:
$5.86 / $30.00 × 100 = 19.53%
Pricing Printify Products with Free Shipping
Free shipping means the seller absorbs the shipping expense through the retail price or accepts a lower margin.
Free-shipping calculation
Then calculate the retail price needed to cover percentage-based platform fees and the target margin.
Advantages
- Simpler customer-facing offer
- Potentially lower checkout friction
- Useful for marketplace shipping incentives
Risks
- Higher displayed product price
- International shipping can erase margin
- Multi-item orders complicate shipping allocation
- Returns may not recover outbound shipping
Pricing When the Customer Pays Shipping
Charging shipping separately can keep the displayed product price lower, but the collected shipping must match the actual fulfillment expense closely enough to protect profit.
Check for
- First-item shipping cost
- Additional-item cost
- Products fulfilled by different providers
- Variant-specific shipping rates
- International rate differences
- Marketplace averaging limitations
Price 2XL and Larger Sizes Correctly
Many apparel providers charge more for extended sizes.
Pricing options
- Uniform price: All sizes use one retail price, with smaller sizes subsidizing larger sizes.
- Size surcharge: Higher-cost sizes receive a higher retail price.
- Blended price: Use expected size demand to calculate one weighted average price.
Review customer expectations and marketplace rules before adding size-based surcharges.
Include Back, Sleeve, and Neck Print Costs
Additional decoration areas can increase product cost substantially.
Possible paid areas
- Back print
- Left sleeve
- Right sleeve
- Inner neck label
- Outer neck label
- Embroidery location
- Packaging insert
Do not price a four-location garment using only the front-print catalog cost.
Use Variant-Level Pricing When Needed
Printify lets sellers edit prices at the variant level. This is useful when production costs differ by size or product option.
Use separate variant prices when
- Extended sizes cost substantially more.
- Special product finishes carry a surcharge.
- Some colors use a different provider.
- Variants have different shipping expense.
- A marketplace permits clear variant pricing.
Use one price when
- Cost differences are small.
- Simple pricing improves conversion.
- The higher-cost variants sell infrequently.
- The average margin remains acceptable.
Build Sales and Coupons into the Regular Price
A discount reduces revenue but does not normally reduce the Printify production cost.
Discounted price
Example
A $30 product discounted by 20% sells for:
$30 × 0.80 = $24
Calculate profit at $24 before advertising a permanent 20% sale.
Plan for
- Welcome coupon
- Abandoned-cart discount
- Holiday sale
- Influencer code
- Bundle discount
- Free-shipping threshold
Wholesale and Bulk Pricing
Wholesale prices must leave room for the retailer to resell the product while still covering your costs.
Wholesale evaluation
- Printify production cost
- Bulk discount eligibility
- Shipping to one destination
- Payment fees
- Sample and approval cost
- Replacement allowance
- Packaging requirements
- Minimum order quantity
Printify bulk discounts can depend on the product, quantity, provider, destination, and current program rules. Confirm the live order price before quoting a customer.
How to Price Printify Products on Etsy
Etsy pricing can require allowance for:
- Listing fees
- Transaction fees
- Payment-processing fees
- Offsite Ads fees when applicable
- Currency conversion
- Regulatory fees in applicable regions
- Etsy Ads
- Seller-paid shipping
Printify provides an Etsy Profit Calculator for eligible connected Etsy products. Use it as a starting point and verify that all of your actual fees are represented.
Related guides:
How to Price Printify Products on Shopify
Shopify costs can include:
- Monthly Shopify subscription
- Payment-processing fees
- Third-party transaction fees when applicable
- Paid apps
- Theme and development cost
- Email marketing
- Advertising
- Chargebacks
- Seller-paid shipping
Divide monthly fixed costs by expected order volume and include the result as an overhead allocation.
How to Price Printify Products on Amazon
Amazon can charge referral fees based on product category and selling price, along with additional account, advertising, refund, or fulfillment-related charges.
Review
- Correct referral-fee category
- Current percentage rate
- Monthly selling-plan cost
- Advertising spend
- Refund administration
- Handling-time requirements
- Customer-service obligations
Amazon fee structures can change by product category and price band. Use current official documentation.
Account for Currency Conversion
The customer-facing store currency and the currency Printify uses for charges may differ.
Currency risks
- Exchange-rate movement
- Card conversion fee
- Marketplace conversion fee
- Rounding differences
- Prices not updating with exchange rates
Add a buffer when costs are charged in one currency and revenue is received in another.
Use Competitor Prices as Context, Not a Formula
Competitor prices can help establish a market range, but they do not reveal:
- The competitor's production cost
- Subscription discounts
- Advertising cost
- Return rate
- Blank quality
- Print locations
- Profit target
- Whether the competitor is profitable
Compare like with like
- Same product category
- Similar blank quality
- Similar print coverage
- Similar shipping model
- Similar audience
- Similar brand positioning
Price Endings and Perceived Value
Common retail endings include:
- $24.99
- $24.95
- $25.00
- $29.00
- $30.00
The best choice depends on the brand.
| Ending | Possible Positioning |
|---|---|
| .99 | Traditional retail or value pricing |
| .95 | Retail pricing with a slightly less common finish |
| .00 | Clean, simple, or premium presentation |
Do not choose a visually attractive price that fails the profit calculation.
Use Printify Pricing Tools
Printify allows sellers to edit:
- Retail price
- Dollar profit
- Profit margin
- Individual variant prices
- Multiple product prices through supported bulk tools
Default profit margin
A default margin can be configured in store publishing preferences for future products. Existing products normally need to be updated separately.
Important limitation
The Printify pricing display may not include every external expense associated with the sale. Confirm the final store price with your own complete calculation.
Review and Test Product Prices
Pricing should be reviewed after real orders begin arriving.
Track
- Revenue per order
- Production cost
- Shipping paid
- Shipping collected
- Printify tax
- Platform fees
- Payment fees
- Advertising cost
- Refund rate
- Net profit
- Net margin
Review prices when
- Printify changes product cost.
- Shipping rates change.
- A provider is replaced.
- Marketplace fees change.
- A new discount is introduced.
- Advertising becomes more expensive.
- Currency rates move substantially.
Free Tools for Printify Product Listings
The free tools on this site can help prepare the product listing after the retail price has been calculated.
Generate product descriptions and alt text
Upload a finished product mockup to the free AI Product Description Generator to generate product-description ideas and image alt text.
Review the result and add the correct product material, fit, sizing, production, shipping, and pricing details manually.
Create a clean product URL
Use the free URL Slug Generator to turn the final product title into a readable URL.
Resize product mockups
Use the free Image Resizer to prepare product-page images, thumbnails, marketplace images, and promotional graphics.
Compress listing images
Use the free Image Compressor to reduce product-image file sizes for faster pages.
Convert image formats
Use the free Image Format Converter to convert storefront images between PNG, JPG, WebP, and AVIF.
Common Printify Pricing Mistakes
- Counting only production cost: Shipping, taxes, fees, and advertising are ignored.
- Confusing markup with margin: The product produces less margin than expected.
- Using the cheapest variant: Extended sizes lose money.
- Ignoring additional print areas: Back and sleeve charges are not included.
- Offering free shipping without funding it: The seller absorbs an unplanned expense.
- Ignoring Printify tax: Production-order tax reduces profit.
- Ignoring payment fees on shipping and tax: The processed total can exceed the product price.
- Running permanent discounts: The regular price is never actually collected.
- Ignoring advertising: Paid sales appear profitable before acquisition cost.
- Copying competitor prices: The competitor may use different costs or accept lower profit.
- Never reviewing prices: Cost increases silently reduce margin.
- Trusting the displayed Printify margin as net profit: External expenses are not fully represented.
- Using one international price without checking costs: Shipping and currency conversion erase profit.
Printify Product Pricing Checklist
- The exact product and provider were selected.
- Every enabled variant cost was reviewed.
- Extended-size surcharges were included.
- All print locations were included.
- First-item shipping was reviewed.
- Additional-item shipping was reviewed.
- Domestic and international costs were separated.
- Printify tax was estimated.
- Marketplace fees were included.
- Payment-processing fees were included.
- Advertising cost was included.
- Overhead was allocated.
- A refund and reprint allowance was included.
- The target dollar profit was selected.
- The target margin was selected.
- Markup was not confused with margin.
- The lowest planned sale price was tested.
- Free shipping was funded in the price when offered.
- Variant pricing was reviewed.
- Printify Premium savings were evaluated.
- The connected store price was verified after publishing.
- Checkout was tested with a real address.
- Actual order profit will be tracked.
- Prices will be reviewed when costs change.
Printify Product Pricing FAQ
How should I price my Printify products?
Add the production cost, seller-paid shipping, taxes, marketplace fees, payment fees, advertising, discounts, and a risk allowance. Then set a retail price that produces the target dollar profit and profit margin.
What profit margin does Printify recommend?
Printify recommends maintaining at least approximately a 40 percent profit margin. The right target can vary by product, marketplace, advertising cost, customer acquisition strategy, and business expenses.
How is Printify profit margin calculated?
A basic Printify margin calculation is retail price minus production cost, divided by retail price, multiplied by 100. This simplified margin does not include shipping, taxes, marketplace fees, payment fees, advertising, discounts, refunds, or other expenses.
Does the Printify production price include shipping?
No. Printify charges production and shipping separately. Shipping varies by product, provider, destination, quantity, and shipping method.
Should I include shipping in the product price?
You can charge shipping separately or include some or all of it in the retail price. If you advertise free shipping, the retail price must be high enough to cover the seller-paid shipping expense.
Do larger Printify sizes cost more?
Many apparel products charge more for 2XL and larger sizes. Review every variant before publishing and decide whether to use one price for all sizes or a surcharge for higher-cost variants.
Do additional print areas increase the price?
Yes. Back prints, sleeve prints, neck labels, inserts, and other decoration locations can add production cost. Include every enabled print area in the pricing calculation.
Should every Printify variant use the same retail price?
Not necessarily. Variants can have different production costs. A uniform retail price is simpler for customers, while variant pricing can protect margin on larger sizes or expensive colors.
How do Etsy fees affect Printify pricing?
Etsy can charge listing, transaction, payment-processing, advertising, currency-conversion, regulatory, and other applicable fees. Use current Etsy rates for the seller country and include them in the final pricing model.
How do Shopify fees affect Printify pricing?
Shopify pricing can include subscription cost, payment-processing fees, third-party transaction fees when applicable, app costs, advertising, and chargebacks. Allocate these costs when evaluating product profitability.
Should I use Printify Premium when pricing products?
Printify Premium can reduce eligible product costs, but its subscription cost should be included in the business calculation. Compare monthly savings with the subscription price and expected sales volume.
What is the difference between markup and profit margin?
Markup measures profit relative to cost. Profit margin measures profit relative to selling price. A 50 percent markup is not the same as a 50 percent profit margin.
How should I price products for sales and coupons?
Set the regular retail price high enough that expected discounts still leave an acceptable profit. Calculate the lowest planned promotional price before publishing the regular price.
Can I change Printify retail prices after publishing?
Yes. Printify allows retail prices, dollar profit, and profit margins to be edited for individual variants and through supported bulk-pricing tools. Confirm that updates synchronize correctly with the connected sales channel.
Related Printify Guides
Related Etsy and SEO Guides
Free Tools for Printify Product Listings
Create product copy, clean URLs, and optimized listing images without installing additional software.
Official Printify Pricing Resources
Product prices, shipping rates, subscription benefits, taxes, discounts, and marketplace fees can change. Confirm current costs before updating a large catalog.
