This straightforward Print on Demand earnings calculator is designed to help any entrepreneur, creator, or designer predict how much revenue they can earn from their POD business.
After choosing your print on demand company and launching your store, ou can use it to determine whether your POD strategy is sustainable, and to figure out exactly how you should price your items to generate the best profits. Simply enter a couple of details, and our algorithm will do the rest.
After all, while the Print on Demand business model can be a fantastic low-risk way to unlock new opportunities for revenue, figuring out how much you can earn can be challenging.
Scroll down to use our calculator, or read on to learn more about developing a profitable POD business.
Calculate Potential POD Earnings
We designed this calculator to be as simple as possible. Simply click and drag the sliders in each section to estimate your earnings.
Remember, you can use this calculator as many times as you want for free, so you can always experiment with different price points, shipping options, and base product costs to see how they’ll influence your profits.
If you need help calculating your profit margins for an ecommerce store, predicting dropshipping earnings, or even pinpointing the perfect discount for your new product collection, you can use the other handy calculators right here on the Ecommerce Platforms website.
What is Print on Demand?
Print on Demand or “POD,” is a convenient and low-risk business model that has begun to earn significant popularity in recent years. Studies show that by 2030, the POD market will be worth approximately $39.87 billion, growing at a CAGR of 36.20%.
Similar to dropshipping, print on demand involves working with a third-party company or service to create products and ship them to customers. You’ll work with a supplier of white labelled products, such as t-shirts, homeware, and accessories, and add your own unique designs or patterns to each item using the manufacturer’s specialist printing technology.
With print on demand, you only pay for the cost of creating an item after you’ve sold it, which means you don’t have to worry about minimum order quantities, or managing large amounts of inventory.
Additionally, with a POD service, everything that happens after the sale, from creating your product, to packaging it and shipping it to customers is handled by the supplier.
Creators, influencers, and business leaders can use POD strategies to sell a huge variety of custom products, without worrying about production, fulfillment, or logistics.
What are the Pros and Cons of POD Selling?
Print on Demand is a popular business model for ecommerce retailers. It’s easy to access, requires minimal initial investment, and can be extremely flexible. You can use POD to experiment with new product designs, create merch for your social followers, and more. However, like any business model, there are pros and cons to consider with the POD strategy:
Pros 👍
- Simplicity: Starting a print on demand is extremely easy. There are numerous suppliers available to choose from, many of which have their own mock-up generators for customizing products, as well as apps which can be integrated into existing ecommerce platforms.
- Flexibility: Print on demand gives you the freedom to experiment with a wide range of designs and products for your store. Depending on your supplier, you can create everything from embroidered shirts to custom mugs, blankets, and art prints.
- Low risk: Because you don’t hold any physical inventory with the POD business model, it’s much easier to add and remove products from your collection. You also don’t have to worry about dealing with inventory that doesn’t sell, or storing items in warehouses.
- Shipping support: POD suppliers deal with fulfillment on your behalf, packaging orders after they’re created and delivering them to customers. This means you’re just responsible for creating designs, marketing, and delivering customer service.
Cons 👎
- Variable profit margins: Your profits as a POD seller can vary depending on numerous factors, from the quality of the items you create, to the price of shipping.
- Less fulfillment control: Because packaging and shipping is handled by a third-party company, you might have less control over shipping times and other factors.
- Product options: Depending on your POD partner, the items you can choose to customize may be limited. You also won’t be able to create new products from scratch.
How Much Profit Can You Earn with Print on Demand?
The exact amount of profit you can earn with a POD company can vary depending on a number of factors. Using our calculator, you should be able to get a better idea of how you should be pricing your products to increase your revenue. One thing to keep in mind is that while the POD market is becoming more saturated, there’s still a lot of earning potential for new vendors to access.
Depending on your strategy, you may be able to earn a 15-20% profit margin with POD. Plus, there are various ways you can boost your earnings, such as:
- Researching your customers: Getting to know your target audience, which products they like, and the designs they’re drawn to will help you to earn more revenue.
- Working with the right vendor: Different POD suppliers offer various prices for specific products. Shopping around can help you to get a better deal.
- Investing in marketing: Advertising your products with strategies like email and social media marketing, PPC, and SEO can help you attract new customers.
- Developing your brand: A strong brand that resonates emotionally with your customers will often encourage customers to spend more on your products.
What Factors Affect Print on Demand Earnings?
There are various factors which can influence your POD earnings, including the base price of the product you want to buy, and the cost of having it customized with your designs. You’ll also need to consider the price of shipping your products to customers. You can see how both of these factors may affect your pricing strategy using the calculator above.
Other factors you may need to consider include:
- Design costs: If you don’t have a lot of artistic skill, you may choose to purchase designs from freelance artists or online marketplaces, which will add to your production costs.
- Marketing expenses: Paying for PPC ads, social media campaigns, and other advertising strategies can also eat into your profits, but increase your chances of earning sales.
- Ecommerce platform costs: If you’re selling your POD products on an ecommerce website, rather than a marketplace, you may need to consider the price of your website building service, or hosting solution.
FAQ
The earnings of a POD retailer can vary depending on various factors. Ziprecruiter suggests the top earners in this landscape earn anywhere up to $96,000 per year, with a monthly wage of $8,000.
It is possible to earn a semi-passive income with print on demand. Once you’ve created your designs, and uploaded them to your website, you can use POD tools to automate the sales and fulfillment process. However, you’ll still need to invest time into research, customer service, and marketing.
Print on Demand can definitely be a profitable business model, but you’ll need to develop the right strategy. Investing in choosing high-quality items, creating compelling designs, and delivering excellent customer service will improve your chances of success.
