How much to start print on demand, and where the money goes
Print on demand can start for under $25 plus shipping, using free Printful, Printify and Canva plans. Here’s where the money goes, sale by sale.
You can start print on demand for close to nothing in platform fees, because Printful, Printify and Canva all have free plans. A careful first budget, with a couple of samples and a handful of Etsy listings, comes in under $25 before sample shipping and any one-time Etsy setup fee.
Upfront work: a few unhurried weekends to make 5 to 10 designs, order a sample, and write your first listings. Ongoing work: a few hours a week on promotion, fresh designs and the occasional customer message, for as long as you want sales to keep coming.
Most of what you put in is time, plus some patience while a small shop finds its first buyers.
Where the first dollars go
Most of these costs are optional at the start.
Start with the supplier. Printful’s Free plan costs $0 a month, allows unlimited stores, and gives you 20% off one sample order a month (up to 3 items). Printify’s Free plan is also $0, with 5 stores and unlimited designs, and Printify states there are “no platform fees, listing fees, or hidden charges.”
For designs, Canva Free is $0. Canva Pro is $144 a year for one person, and you don’t need it on day one.
Samples are the one spend worth protecting. Holding the shirt tells you things a mockup never will: how the ink sits, how the fabric hangs, whether your colors survived the trip from screen to cotton.
On the marketplace side, Etsy charges $0.20 per listing, and each listing lasts four months or until it sells. Etsy also says you may be required to pay a one-time setup fee during shop setup. The amount has changed over time, so you’ll see the real figure when you open your shop.
Then there’s paperwork. An EIN from the IRS is free. The IRS says you never have to pay for one, and warns about websites that charge for it. Seller’s permits and LLC filings vary by state, so check your state’s revenue and business agencies for current fees.
Age matters too. Printify requires users to be 18 or older, and Etsy lets 13 to 17 year olds sell only through a parent or guardian’s account.
A first budget, worked through
Here’s a deliberately small launch: two sample tees and ten Etsy listings.
- Two Printful sample tees at 20% off the $13.27 base price: about $10.62 each, or $21.23
- Ten Etsy listings at $0.20: $2.00
- Canva Free: $0
That comes to about $23.23, plus sample shipping and Etsy’s setup fee if your shop is charged one.
If you’d like more room later, there are paid tiers. Printful Growth is $24.99 a month (with a 14-day free trial) and becomes free once you reach $12K a year in sales. Printify Premium is $39 a month, or $24.99 a month billed yearly.
It’s worth asking yourself whether your sales justify these yet. For most new shops, they don’t quite.
What one t-shirt costs you
On Printful, the Bella+Canvas 3001 Unisex Staple T-Shirt is listed at $13.27, with no minimums. That’s the base price before shipping, which varies, so check Printful’s shipping page for current US rates.
Small extras add up:
- Inside label: $0.99. Outside label: $2.49
- Premium images: $1 per image, placement and item sold
- Embroidery digitization: $2.95 to $6.50 per design, one time
Printful’s Growth plan takes up to 33% off product pricing. On Printify, the base price depends on the print provider, the garment color and the size, so compare a few providers in the catalog before you commit. Printify Premium takes up to 20% off all products.
Where the shirt is printed matters more than it used to. Duty-free de minimis treatment has been suspended for imports arriving by any route other than the international postal network, so a shirt shipped from abroad may pick up customs charges. Printful fulfills locally in the US and says most of its orders aren’t subject to cross-border tariffs. On Printify, choosing a US-based print provider avoids the question.
The per-sale math on Etsy
Assume a $28 tee on the free Printful plan, with shipping left out for clarity. Etsy’s fees, as summarized in Printify’s guide:
- Transaction fee, 6.5%: $1.82
- Payment processing, 3% + $0.25: $1.09
- Listing fee: $0.20
That’s $3.11 in fees and $13.27 for the shirt, which leaves $11.62 before shipping, labels and tax. Etsy’s transaction and processing fees also apply to any shipping you charge, so your real fees will be a little higher.
If the sale comes through Etsy’s Offsite Ads, add 15% ($4.20 here), which leaves you $7.42. Shops with $10K or more in annual sales pay 12% instead and can no longer opt out.
Where to sell
| Platform | What you pay | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Etsy | $0.20 listing, 6.5% transaction, 3% + $0.25 processing | Offsite Ads 15%, or 12% at $10K+ sales |
| Shopify | Monthly plan plus payment processing | You bring every visitor yourself |
| Amazon Merch on Demand | Paid as royalties | Rates tied to royalty incentive groups since June 1, 2026 |
| Zazzle | You set a 5% to 50% royalty on physical items | Marketing royalty fee of 35% to 50% of gross royalties; $50 PayPal payout minimum |
| Spring | Fee built into the base cost | $25 payout minimum, PayPal or Payoneer |
Amazon Merch on Demand
You upload designs, and Amazon pays you a royalty when one sells. From June 1, 2026, Amazon tied royalty rates to “royalty incentive groups,” based on how many of your sales come from traffic you drive yourself (non-organic traffic). Seller reports say the groups use a trailing two-month average and update monthly.
Read Amazon’s own Merch on Demand resources for current rates and how to sign up before you plan around a specific royalty.
Shopify
Shopify charges a monthly plan fee plus payment processing on each sale. The amounts depend on your plan and billing cycle, so check Shopify’s pricing page from a US connection before you budget. The Printful and Printify free plans both connect to it.
The quieter costs sit around the subscription. A Shopify store has no built-in marketplace audience, so every visitor comes from your own marketing.
Sales tax is also your job. Marketplace facilitator laws require marketplaces such as Etsy and Amazon to collect sales tax in 45 states plus DC, but those laws don’t cover sales on your own site. Rules differ by state, so confirm yours with your state’s tax agency. Printful also charges you sales tax on orders to most states unless you register for a seller’s permit and upload a resale certificate under Billing, then Tax information.
Licenses before launch
These rules cost nothing to follow, and ignoring them can cost you the shop.
Every font and image in a design needs a license that allows commercial use on products you sell. Free to download doesn’t mean free to print on a shirt. Read the license, and keep a copy.
AI art has its own limits. The US Copyright Office says AI output is protected only where a human author has determined enough of the expressive elements, and prompts alone don’t count, so a purely generated design may be easy for others to copy. If you design with AI tools, this honest look at ChatGPT and Canva covers where human input matters. Printify’s terms ban uploads that infringe anyone’s IP, including AI-generated content, and Printify can close accounts at its discretion.
Before you print a catchy phrase, search it in the USPTO’s free Trademark Search system. Never upload other people’s designs or PLR artwork unless you clearly have the rights to it.
On Etsy, name your production partner in shop settings and on the relevant listings. Several 2026 seller guides also say AI-assisted designs must be disclosed, so read Etsy’s Creativity Standards before you list.
A quiet word on tax
This is general information, not tax advice. Talk to a tax professional about your own situation.
Print on demand profit is generally self-employment income. Self-employment tax is 15.3%, and you file Schedule SE once net earnings reach $400. Platforms send a 1099-K only when payments exceed $20,000 and 200 transactions, but your income is taxable even if no form arrives. If you expect to owe $1,000 or more, you’ll generally need to pay estimated tax during the year.
Keep tidy records from your first sale. When the IRS decides whether you’re running a hobby or a business, it looks at things like businesslike records and profit intent.
Who this budget suits
Print on demand sits close to pure digital products. The design file is the asset you make once, and the supplier handles the physical side. The difference is that every sale carries a base cost and shipping, which a template or printable doesn’t. If you’re weighing the two, this comparison of print on demand and digital products shows where the work and margins go. For setup steps beyond the budget, see a calm guide to starting a print on demand business.
The not-so-passive part
Once the listings are live, the work keeps going in a quieter form. New designs keep a shop visible. Promotion brings buyers to Shopify and helps you on Etsy. Customers ask about sizing, and late parcels need a kind reply.
Be wary of coaching programs that promise effortless income, which can cost far more than any sample. The FTC banned Ascend Ecom, which sold AI-powered “passive income” stores, after consumers lost at least $25 million. You can start with nothing more than the free plans described above.
Ship a tiny version
This week, make one design you’d happily wear. Put it on a single Bella+Canvas 3001 tee in Printful and order one discounted sample.
While it ships, open your Etsy shop and add Printful as your production partner. When the shirt arrives, take your own photos and write one honest listing.
That first listing costs roughly the price of a nice lunch, plus shipping. Watch how it does, then make the second design.