POD Profit Calculator

Display currency

All amounts are shown and entered in USD. Defaults are based on USD pricing — adjust for your region.

Not sure where to start?

Tap a preset — we'll fill in realistic 2025 defaults.

Step 1

Your product

Product typePOD providerBase product cost ($)

Shipping cost to customer ($)

Your selling price ($)

Shipping charged to buyer ($)

Enter 0 if you offer free shipping

Selling platform

6.5% transaction + $0.20 listing + ~3% payment processing

Include Offsite Ads fee (12–15%)Etsy charges this when they drive a sale through Google, Facebook, etc.

Step 2

Your goal

Monthly income goal ($)

Self-employment tax rate (%)

Standard SE tax for US self-employed. Adjust if you're in a different situation.

$11.63

Profit per sale

41.6%

Profit margin

healthy = 30%+

$27.99

Revenue per sale

Sales needed / month

to reach your $500.00/mo goal

Save these results

Export a PDF report with all inputs, fees, and goals in USD.

Where your money goes (per sale)

Selling price (revenue)$27.99

− Base product cost−$9.00

− Shipping (net after buyer pays $0.00)−$4.50

− Platform fees (Etsy)−$2.86

Total costs$16.36

= Your profit$11.63

To reach your goal of $500.00/month:

43 sales per month needed

1.4 sales per day

After SE tax, your take-home: $423.50 /mo

Recommended price for 40% margin: $27.13

Want to see how this stacks with your other income streams? Use the Creator Stack Income Estimator →

How to use this calculator

Base cost is what your print-on-demand provider (Printify, Printful, Gelato) charges you to produce a single item. Shipping cost is what they charge to ship that item to your customer. Both come straight out of your revenue, so they're the foundation of every margin calculation.

Platform fees stack. Etsy is the worst offender: a 6.5% transaction fee, a $0.20 listing fee, ~3% payment processing fee, and an additional 12–15% Offsite Ads fee if Etsy drives the sale through Google or social. Shopify and your own site only charge payment processing (~2.9% + $0.30) — but you have to drive your own traffic.

A healthy POD margin is 30–50%. Anything under 15% is fragile — one refund or chargeback wipes out a month of profit. Aim higher than you think you need to.

Most POD sellers obsess over traffic but never reverse-calculate how many sales they actually need to hit their income goal. This tool does that math instantly so you know whether your store has a pricing problem, a traffic problem, or both.