How to price print on demand on Etsy, Amazon, TikTok Shop and Shopify

What is the right way to price print on demand?

Start from what buyers already pay for the same product, then subtract the marketplace's fees and your cost. With a $9.49 shirt (a Gildan 5000 printed and shipped) and $4.99 shipping, a 30% margin needs about $11.99 on Etsy, $9.99 on Amazon, $9.99 on TikTok Shop and $9.99 on Shopify.

Most sellers price from their cost: “it costs me $12, so I charge $25.” That ignores the two things that decide whether a listing sells and makes money: what buyers already pay for the same thing, and how much each marketplace takes before you see a cent.

The order that works is market first, fees second, margin third. The rest of this guide walks through each step with the numbers the price check and the profit calculator use.

How do you find the market price for a product?

Look at the best-selling listings for your exact product, not all listings. The price check shows the median and the middle half of prices on Etsy, the closest Amazon niche, TikTok Shop's best-sellers and Shopify stores for any keyword.

The median is the price in the middle: half of the best-sellers charge less, half charge more. The middle half (the 25th to 75th percentile) is where most buyers already shop. A price inside that band needs no explanation; a price above it needs a reason the buyer can see, like a heavier blank, a bigger print, personalisation or a gift-ready bundle.

Check the exact phrase buyers type. “Cat mom shirt” and “cat shirt” are different markets with different prices. Each keyword you check gets its own page, for example funny dad shirt, so you can come back to it.

Which fees does each marketplace take?

All four charge on the item price plus the shipping you charge. On a $24.99 shirt with $4.99 shipping, Etsy takes $3.30, Amazon $5.10, TikTok Shop $1.80 and Shopify Payments $1.17.

• Etsy: $0.20 listing fee, 6.5% transaction fee and 3% + $0.25 payment processing in the US, plus Offsite Ads (15%) when a sale comes from an Etsy ad on another site. See the Etsy fee calculator.
• Amazon: a referral fee; clothing pays 5%, 10% or 17% depending on price plus shipping, most other categories 15%. See the Amazon fee calculator.
• TikTok Shop: a referral fee of 6% in the US on what the buyer pays, plus any creator commission you agree to. See the TikTok Shop fee calculator.
• Shopify: no commission, but 2.9% + $0.30 card processing with Shopify Payments on the Basic plan, plus the monthly plan. See the Shopify fee calculator.

What price keeps a 30% margin on each marketplace?

Work backwards from the margin: the price where fees plus your cost leave 30% of what the buyer pays. The table does this for a $9.49 cost per item (a Gildan 5000 printed and shipped) and $4.99 shipping, rounded up to the next .99.

With a $9.49 cost per item and $4.99 shipping. Public US fee rates; Shopify excludes the monthly plan, Amazon uses clothing referral tiers.

Margin here means what you keep divided by what the buyer pays (price plus shipping). Amazon's tiers make its line jump: crossing $20 in price plus shipping moves the whole order from 10% to 17%, so a cheaper price can keep more money. Try both in the Amazon fee calculator.

Put in your own cost per item in the profit calculator: it shows the break-even price and the price for any margin you choose.

What if the price you need is above the market?

Change one of three things: lower your cost per item, sell where fees are lower, or add something that justifies a higher price. If your price lands in the middle of the market, you have room to run ads.

• Lower the cost: compare print suppliers for the same blank; the gap between the cheapest and the dearest is often several dollars. A lighter blank or a smaller print area also helps.
• Move the sale: the same shirt keeps more on your own Shopify store than on a marketplace, but you pay for traffic. Many sellers list on a marketplace for demand and send repeat buyers to their store.
• Add value: personalisation, a premium blank or a bundle can carry a price above the middle half, if the listing shows it in the first photo.

How often should you re-check prices?

Before each season and whenever your cost per item changes. Prices move around Q4 holidays, Mother's and Father's Day, and back-to-school, and marketplaces change their fees a few times a year.

Fee rates on this site are checked against each marketplace's own pages; the date is shown under every fee table. Market prices from the price check are kept for a day, so a keyword someone checked today shows at once.

Which marketplaces should you compare first?

The two most common choices for print on demand are compared side by side in Etsy vs Amazon fees and Etsy vs Shopify fees.