POD Break-Even Calculator (2026)
Find the minimum listing price to break even on print-on-demand orders after fulfillment cost, shipping, and selling platform fees.
By Marginory team · Online sellers with hands-on experience across Etsy, Shopify & PODUpdated Fee data verified against official platform documentation
Costs
$
$
$
$
Price & Fees
$
%
%
$
Break-Even Analysis
Break-even price (per unit)$9.12
Contribution margin per unit$14.38
How this is calculated
Break-even price: (POD cost + Shipping + Fixed fees) / (1 − Platform fee rate − Payment fee rate)
Assumptions:
- Enter POD base cost as 'Variable cost per unit (COGS)'
- Enter POD shipping as 'Shipping cost per unit'
- No fixed monthly costs for most POD setups (Printify Free / Printful Free)
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you calculate the break-even price for a POD product?
Break-even price = (POD base cost + Shipping + Fixed fees) ÷ (1 − Platform fee rate − Payment fee rate). The fees are a percentage of the sale price, so you can't just add them to cost — you divide by what's left after fees. For a $11.55 Printify tee with $4.49 shipping sold on Etsy (~9.5% + $0.45 fixed), break-even is roughly $18.20; anything above that is profit.
Why is my POD break-even price higher than cost plus shipping?
Because marketplace fees scale with your price. If you set the price at exactly cost + shipping, the platform still takes its percentage of that price, pushing you into a loss. The break-even formula 'grosses up' the price so that after Etsy, Shopify, or TikTok Shop takes its cut, you're left with exactly your costs covered.
Do I need to include a monthly fee in POD break-even?
Usually no. Printify and Printful both have free plans with no monthly cost, so there's no fixed fee to spread across orders. If you're on Printify Premium ($39/mo, or $24.99/mo billed annually) or Shopify (a paid plan), enter that monthly cost divided by your expected monthly orders as a fixed cost per unit to get an accurate break-even.
Should break-even include ad spend?
If you run ads, yes — add your average ad cost per order to the fixed fees. A product that breaks even at $18 on organic traffic might need $24+ once you factor in $6 of ad spend per sale. Break-even that ignores ads is the reason many POD sellers think they're profitable when they aren't.
How is POD break-even different across Etsy, Shopify, and TikTok Shop?
The fee rate in the denominator changes. Etsy takes ~9.5% + fixed fees, Shopify ~2.9% + $0.30 (plus a monthly plan), and TikTok Shop a flat ~6% referral fee. Same POD cost, different break-even: the higher the platform's percentage cut, the higher your minimum viable price. Switch the platform in the calculator to compare.