How to use the T-shirt pricing calculator
- Choose what you want to know: your profit at a price, or the price for a margin.
- Pick where you sell. The fee fields fill in for Etsy, eBay and a store that takes cards with Stripe. For Shopify and TikTok Shop, enter the rates of your plan or category.
- Enter your print provider's base cost and shipping, and the shipping the buyer pays you.
- Add your ad cost per order if you advertise. Ad spend divided by the orders it brings is enough.
Every field stays editable, so you can match the fees in your own statements, add an app subscription spread over your orders, or test a sale price.
Fee presets as of November 2026
| Channel | Preset | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Etsy (US shop) | 6.5% + 3% + $0.45 per order ($0.25 processing, $0.20 listing renewal) | Etsy fees, Etsy Payments |
| eBay | 13.6% final value fee, payments included, + $0.40 per order over $10 ($0.30 at $10 or less) | eBay selling fees |
| Own store with Stripe | 2.9% + $0.30 per domestic card payment | Stripe pricing |
| Shopify, TikTok Shop | Left empty: rates depend on your plan or category | Your plan or Seller Center |
eBay's 13.6% applies to most categories, T-shirts included, on the total sale up to $7,500, and its total also counts sales tax, so your real eBay fee is slightly higher than shown. Etsy's preset leaves out Offsite Ads; the Etsy fee calculator covers those and other countries in detail.
Worked example: a $24.99 shirt on Etsy
Your provider charges $11.50 for the shirt and $4.75 to ship it. You list it at $24.99 and charge $4.99 shipping, so the buyer pays $29.98.
- Fees: 6.5% × $29.98 = $1.95, 3% × $29.98 = $0.90, plus $0.45 fixed: $3.30
- Costs: $11.50 + $4.75 = $16.25
- Profit: $29.98 − $3.30 − $16.25 = $10.43
- Margin: $10.43 ÷ $29.98 = 34.8%. Markup: $10.43 ÷ $19.55 = 53.4%
Below $13.47 this shirt loses money. For a 30% margin, the item price is $22.62.
Margin or markup?
Margin compares profit with what the buyer pays. Markup compares profit with what you pay out. The same shirt has a 34.8% margin and a 53.4% markup, and mixing them up is how sellers think they earn more than they do. A "50% markup" is only a 33% margin.
Mistakes to avoid
- Pricing from the base cost alone. Provider shipping often adds a third to the cost of a shirt.
- Forgetting fees on shipping. Percentage fees apply to the shipping you charge too.
- Leaving out ads. If half your sales come from ads, spread that spend over every order.
- Copying a competitor's price. Their costs and fees are not yours. Check your own profit first.
Selling on Amazon Merch on Demand instead? Amazon pays you a royalty, so use the Merch royalty calculator. To check your ad budget, the break-even ROAS calculator shows how much ads can cost before a sale loses money.
Facts checked and page updated on .
