How To Price Your Print-On-Demand Product

How To Price Your Print-On-Demand Product

How To Price Your Print-On-Demand Product

You’ve got your print-on-demand shop up and running but are struggling with how to price your print-on-demand products? After all, there isn’t a perfect way to price your products, as each situation is different. 


In this guide, we will show you a formulaic process that will help you determine prices for your print-on-demand products and build up a growth mindset for the future of your business!

Determine the Base Cost of Your Product


To determine how to price your print-on-demand products, you first need to specify their base price clearly. The base cost is the money amount required to produce one print-on-demand product.


When determining the base cost, your primary goal should be sustainability. Don’t put out lower prices that would cause you to lose money in the long run - find a perfect balance. To find out the ideal base cost for your product, you will need to analyze your expenses.


These expenses are divided to:


  • Design costs
  • Production costs
  • Shipping costs
  • Taxes
  • E-commerce platform fees


Design Costs

In case you outsource design services, you can determine the design cost per product by dividing the design price by the number of designs you plan to sell. That is highly applicable if you plan to release a limited amount of a specific product.
If you don’t plan to release a fixed amount of designs, how to price your print-on-demand products to break even with the design costs? Simply divide the design price by your desired profit margin, and you will know the minimum amount of products you need to sell.
In case you create designs by yourself, don’t sell yourself short and ignore the design costs. As you are a designer in such a case, multiply your imaginary hourly rate by the hours you invested, and you will get a design price.

Production Costs

When you use the different print-on-demand services/platforms, you will need to invest in production costs. Different platforms offer different production costs, so make sure to research the platform of your choice and add this amount to the base cost of your POD product.

Shipping Costs

The print-on-demand service of your choice will also charge you for the shipping services. To break even, you will need to think about shipping prices for your customers too. If you choose a flat rate, make sure that this rate covers your shipping expenses.
The factors that influence shipping costs are:
  • Your product
  • Fulfillment location
  • Shipping destination
Other than explicitly charging your customers with shipping, you can offer a free shipping deal to them. After all, 79% of customers say free shipping makes them more likely to shop, according to Upsellit.
To make this work, add the shipping rate you would charge to the price of your product, which results in the retail price with free shipping. Even though this would make your product price higher, people cannot resist free stuff.

Taxes

The cut of your profit has to go to your government in the form of taxes. This amount of money depends on when your end customer resides, whether it’s in the US or the European Union or somewhere in East Asia.
Keep in mind that there is no way to predict tax rates before you know where your end customer resides. That’s why it’s important to determine the demographics for your products to envision better how much taxes you will need to pay on each delivered product.

E-commerce Platform Fees

If you want to sell print-on-demand products, you will need to commit to a specific e-commerce platform. Most of these platforms charge you fees to keep them up and running. 
Some platforms, like Shopify, charge a fixed fee, while platforms like Etsy will collect a percentage of your sales along with a fee for each product you list on their platform.
Research the fee structure of the e-commerce platform you intend to use to help you price your print-on-demand products more accurately.

Determine Your Profit Margin And Add It Up


When you determine the base cost of your print-on-demand product, you can play around a bit with deciding your profit margin. You can adjust it to match your competition or even lower it down so that you can upsell them with the lower pricing strategy. Then, add the profit margin to your base cost to determine the retail price of your product.


When determining your profit margin, consider the overall market. Make sure that your retail price is acceptable for potential customers. After all, you don’t want to price your product 2-3 times higher than the competition and expect to drive huge sales.


Also, don’t go too low with your profit margin. Consider all the work you’ve put in creating and delivering your product. Ideally, you want to set a profit margin that will cover that work and leave you some profit.

Determine The Other Costs


Other than the costs mentioned above, the additional costs may include:


  • E-commerce platform subscription
  • Hosting and domain price
  • Advertising budget
  • Internet bill
  • Other services

Add these up to your monthly expenses and divide them with your profit margin to determine the number of products you need to sell to break even. If you are at a loss, adjust the product cost or lower your monthly expenses to break even.


Keep in mind that balancing prices is a process, and you will need to restructure it consistently as your business grows. That’s why getting a concrete answer on how to price your print-on-demand products is so challenging.

A Few Pricing Strategies To Help You Out


Before we wrap this guide up, here are a few print-on-demand product pricing strategies to help you out:


  • Pricing above the market average. To justify the higher price, go above your competition by adding personalized gifts to your products. It’s a more risky choice.
  • Pricing the same as the market. To play it less risky, target the same audience your competition does to cover a large audience.
  • Pricing below the market average. You can lose money here in the beginning as you price your products lower than your competition. Still, there is a high possibility to steal away their customers if you provide a quality product.
  • Dynamic pricing. Product prices will depend on demand and seasonality, which prompts you to change prices with more frequency. This is a great strategy for seasonal products like hoodies and jackets, for example.
  • Discount pricing. To attract more customers, pay attention to holidays and similar events and put out discounts accordingly.
  • Penetration pricing. This is a long-term strategy that involves setting below-average prices as you start out and gradually increase prices as your audience increases.

 


Even though there is no definite answer on how to price your print-on-demand products, you can follow a formulaic approach we have laid out in our guide to find an ideal price in your specific scenario. Good luck with your new business venture!



About Us

We're M.i.A, a growing international print-on-demand service with a huge product range, including items you haven't even thought about. 

    • 150+ Product Range

    • Global Locations

    • Enterprise Support

    • On-site Customisation

Check out our Youtube video here to see how simple print on demand is with our Shopify app!

Back to blog