Merch Profit Margins: What Local Businesses Actually Earn
By The Merch Counter team · Updated · 3 min read
With print on demand, a local business typically keeps around 40% of each sale at standard prices: about $12 on a $30 t-shirt or $20 on a $55 hoodie †, after the cost of making it and platform fees. Bulk ordering has higher margins per item, but only on the stock you actually sell. The more useful number isn't the percentage, though. It's how many dollars you take home per sale.
Margin, explained
Margin is the share of the sale price you keep after costs:
margin = (price − cost to make − fees) ÷ price
On The Merch Counter, the only fee is 20% of the sale price. If you price at the suggested 2.5× cost, you keep 40% of every sale:
- 40% of the price pays for making the item
- 20% is our fee
- 40% is yours
Margins by product
At example prices †:
| Product | Price † | Cost to make † | Our fee | You earn † | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T-shirt | $30 | $12.00 | $6.00 | $12.00 | 40% |
| Long sleeve | $36 | $15.00 | $7.20 | $13.80 | 38% |
| Tank | $28 | $11.00 | $5.60 | $11.40 | 41% |
| Sweatshirt | $45 | $20.00 | $9.00 | $16.00 | 36% |
| Hoodie | $55 | $24.00 | $11.00 | $20.00 | 36% |
| Embroidered hat | $32 | $15.00 | $6.40 | $10.60 | 33% |
| Beanie | $30 | $13.00 | $6.00 | $11.00 | 37% |
| Tote bag | $26 | $11.00 | $5.20 | $9.80 | 38% |
| Apron | $48 | $20.00 | $9.60 | $18.40 | 38% |
| Mug | $18 | $7.50 | $3.60 | $6.90 | 38% |
| Tumbler | $34 | $14.00 | $6.80 | $13.20 | 39% |
| Water bottle | $34 | $15.00 | $6.80 | $12.20 | 36% |
| Sticker | $5 | $2.00 | $1.00 | $2.00 | 40% |
Dollars beat percentages
A sticker and a t-shirt can both have a 40% margin. One earns you $2; the other $12. A hoodie with a slightly lower margin earns you $20.
That's why higher-priced items are worth featuring. Put the hoodie in your Instagram post and on your counter display, and let the stickers be the impulse buy.
How fees affect margin
Every way of selling merch has fees; they're just shaped differently:
- A percentage of each sale (like our 20%), which covers the storefront, checkout and payment processing. You pay nothing when you don't sell.
- A monthly subscription plus payment processing, plus app fees, if you build your own online store (Shopify's Basic plan is $39 a month, billed monthly, before card fees). At low volume the subscription can eat most of your margin; at high volume it matters less.
- Marketplace fees (listing, transaction and payment processing) if you sell on a marketplace. On Etsy that's a listing fee per item and a 6.5% transaction fee, plus processing.
- Card processing of around 3% on in-person sales: Square charges 2.6% + 15¢ a tap.
When comparing options, add up all of them for the number of sales you realistically expect, not just the headline rate.
Bulk margins: higher, with a catch
A bulk order lowers the cost per item, so each sale has a higher margin. But you've already paid for every item, sold or not. If you order 72 shirts and sell 40, your real margin includes the cost of the 32 left over. See Print on Demand vs. Bulk Ordering for a worked example.
How to improve your margin
- Price at the right level. Moving a tee from $25 to $30 raises what you earn per shirt by half.
- Feature higher-priced items. Hoodies, sweatshirts and aprons earn more per sale.
- Offer a second print area or premium blank at a higher price.
- Use limited editions to justify a premium.
- Think about shipping. Included shipping raises the listed price without changing what you earn in dollars (your percentage margin just looks smaller, because the price is bigger) — see Should You Offer Free Shipping?
† Worked examples. They use our real 20% fee and suggested 2.5× price on an illustrative cost to make; real costs vary by product, size and print. Bulk-order figures are illustrative too. Today’s numbers for every product are in the profit calculator and in your dashboard before you list anything.