Print on Demand Profit Calculator
See what you actually earn per sale on Redbubble, TeePublic, Amazon Merch, and Etsy — each platform pays differently, so the numbers do too. Then find out how many sales it takes to hit your income goal.
Redbubble's default markup is 20%. You can go higher, but earnings from the part above 20% are cut in half — so the calculator applies that penalty automatically.
You earn per sale
$4.00
≈ 17% of the $24.00 a buyer pays
You'd need about 250 sales a month at $4.00 each.
Reality check: in a researched, non-saturated niche a single design tends to sell only a handful of times a month at best, so that sales number usually means a catalogof dozens to hundreds of designs — not one. POD is a volume game played over time.
These are estimates based on verified 2026 figures. Real royalties shift with product type, size upcharges, sales, traffic tier, and each platform's current fees — treat the numbers as a planning guide, then confirm against your own dashboard.
Per-platform math
Redbubble's margin model, TeePublic's fixed royalty, Amazon's list-minus-cost, and Etsy's fee stack — each calculated the right way, not one generic formula.
100% private
Runs entirely in your browser. No account, no email, nothing sent to a server. Ever.
Honest by default
It shows the fee breakdown and a realistic note that one design rarely carries a goal — so you plan with real numbers, not hype.
How each platform pays you
The number-one reason new sellers misjudge their income is assuming every marketplace pays the same way. They don't. Here's the model behind each one, which is exactly what this calculator switches between:
| Platform | How your earnings are set | Typical t-shirt earning |
|---|---|---|
| Redbubble | Base price × your markup % (20% default; over 20% is penalized) | ~$4 (at 20%) |
| TeePublic | Fixed royalty per item, halved on sale | ~$4 (~$2 on sale) |
| Amazon Merch | Tiered royalty by traffic (Creator / Plus / Premium) | ~$2.44–$5.27 |
| Etsy + Printful | Retail − item base cost − Etsy fees | You set it |
Per-sale profit is only half the picture
Knowing you make $4 a sale is useful, but the question that actually matters is: how many sales can you realistically get?A $4 margin sounds fine until you realize a single design in a decent niche might sell a handful of times a month. That's why the income-goal box is there — it turns your margin into a sales target, and that target into the honest truth about POD: it's a volume game. Meaningful income comes from a catalog of researched designs compounding over time, not one lucky listing.
The calculator can't tell you what will sell
Here's the honest limit of any profit calculator: it does the arithmetic, but it has no idea whether anyone wants your design. You can have a perfect margin on a product in a niche so saturated your listing never gets seen — and your real income is then $0, no matter what the math says.
That demand-and-saturation question is the one that actually decides whether the sales happen. It's exactly what Trendlytic is built for: it shows what's actually selling across Redbubble, TeePublic, and Amazon Merch so you can gauge real demand before you design — and it runs a live USPTO trademark check on every keyword so you don't build a catalog on a phrase that gets your account banned. It's $5/month for 100 searches, with a free trial and no card required. The calculator tells you what a sale is worth; Trendlytic helps you pick niches where the sales are real.
Frequently asked questions
How is print-on-demand profit calculated?
Your profit per sale is what the buyer pays minus the platform's costs, and every platform calculates it differently. On Redbubble it's your base price times your markup percentage. On TeePublic it's a fixed royalty per item (halved during sitewide sales). On Amazon Merch it's a tiered royalty based on the traffic you drive (Creator, Plus, or Premium, as of June 2026). On Etsy with Printful or Printify it's your retail price minus the item's base cost minus Etsy's fees (6.5% transaction, 3% + $0.25 payment, and $0.20 listing).
How much do Redbubble artists actually make per sale?
On a standard t-shirt with the default 20% markup, a Redbubble artist earns about $4 per sale (the classic-tee base price is around $20, and you earn the 20% on top). You can raise your markup to earn more per sale, but Redbubble cuts earnings from the portion above 20% in half, and a higher price can reduce how often you sell. Stickers earn cents; premium products like canvas prints earn more.
How much does Amazon Merch pay per shirt in 2026?
It now depends on your traffic tier. Since June 1, 2026, Amazon Merch on Demand uses a tiered royalty based on how much external traffic you drive: on a $19.99 t-shirt, the Creator tier (the default for new sellers) earns about $2.44, the Plus tier about $4.88, and the Premium tier about $5.27. Most new sellers are on Creator, so plan around the ~$2.44 figure until you're driving outside traffic.
Is this profit calculator free?
Completely free, with no account and no sign-up. It runs entirely in your browser — nothing is sent to a server. Pick your platform, edit the numbers to match your product, and see your profit instantly.
Why is my Etsy print-on-demand profit so low?
Etsy stacks several fees on top of your item's base cost: a 6.5% transaction fee, payment processing (~3% + $0.25), and a $0.20 listing fee. On a print-on-demand item where the base cost is already $10-13, those fees can leave a thin margin unless you price for it. The calculator shows each fee so you can price to actually profit.
How many sales do I need to make $1,000 a month?
It depends entirely on your profit per sale. At $4 profit you'd need about 250 sales a month; at $2 profit, around 500. Because a single design in a researched niche usually sells only a handful of times a month, hitting that number realistically means building a catalog of dozens to hundreds of designs over time, not relying on one.