Source: Printful catalog API: Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001) (2026)
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- → $11.92 Printful's US base price for a Bella+Canvas 3001 t-shirt in sizes XS to XL, one print included. (Printful catalog API: Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001), 2026)
- → $11.29 Printify's lowest base price for the same Bella+Canvas 3001 t-shirt; $9.04 with a Printify Premium subscription. (Printify: Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Tee, 2026)
- → 15% Etsy's Offsite Ads fee on sales it brings in from its ads, which turns a modest profit on a t-shirt into almost nothing. (Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy, 2026)
- → $10.8 billion Size of the global print-on-demand market in 2025, according to Grand View Research. (Grand View Research: Print On Demand Market Report, 2025)
- → $1,868 What the average active Etsy seller sold in all of 2025, across every product type. (Etsy, Inc. Form 10-K for 2025, 2025)
Print on demand is sold as the low-risk way into ecommerce: upload a design, list it, and a print partner makes and ships each order after it is paid for. No stock, no warehouse, no upfront cost. The question that fills the print-on-demand forums is what is left once everyone in the chain has been paid, and the honest answer is less than most sellers expect.
This page takes the most common product in the business, a Bella+Canvas 3001 t-shirt, and follows a single sale through the published prices of Printful and Printify and the published fees of Etsy and Shopify. A $25 Bella+Canvas 3001 t-shirt sold on Etsy with free shipping and fulfilled by Printful leaves the seller $5.31 profit, about 21% of the sale, after the $11.92 base price, $4.95 US shipping and $2.83 in Etsy listing, transaction and payment fees. (Printful catalog API: Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001), 2026)
None of these numbers are secret, but they are spread across catalogue pages, shipping tables, fee policies and pricing plans that each tell part of the story. The sections below put them side by side: how big the market is, what a blank shirt costs, what the marketplace takes, what is left per shirt, and how many sales it takes before a subscription or a store plan pays for itself.
1 How Big Is the Print-on-Demand Market in 2026?
Grand View Research valued the global print-on-demand market at $10.8 billion in 2025 and projects $57.5 billion by 2033, an annual growth rate of 23.6%. Apparel is the largest segment, with 39.5% of revenue in 2025. (Grand View Research: Print On Demand Market Report, 2025)
| METRIC | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Global market size, 2025 | $10.8 billion | Grand View Research: Print On Demand Market Report |
| Projected market size, 2033 | $57.5 billion | Grand View Research: Print On Demand Market Report |
| Projected annual growth rate | 23.6% | Grand View Research: Print On Demand Market Report |
| Apparel share of revenue, 2025 | 39.5% | Grand View Research: Print On Demand Market Report |
The market numbers are the ones every print-on-demand course leads with, and they are real in the sense that a lot of money moves through the model (Grand View Research: Print On Demand Market Report, 2025). What they do not measure is how that money is split. Market size counts the price the buyer pays. Most of it goes to the print partner for the blank and the printing, to the carrier for shipping and to the marketplace for its fees. The seller’s profit is the thin layer left on top.
That is why the growth figure and the forum threads asking whether print on demand is still worth it can both be true at once. A growing market attracts more sellers, more sellers push prices down, and the per-shirt arithmetic below gets tighter rather than looser. The same dynamic shows up in our Etsy seller statistics, where a marketplace with millions of shops pays out a modest average per shop.
2 How Much Does a Blank T-Shirt Cost on Printful and Printify?
Printful charges $11.92 for a Bella+Canvas 3001 tee in sizes XS to XL and $13.92 for 2XL, plus $4.95 US shipping for the first shirt. Printify starts at $11.29, or $9.04 with Premium, with shipping from $3.99. Premium costs $39 a month, or $24.99 billed yearly. (Printful catalog API: Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001), 2026)
| METRIC | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Printful base price, XS to XL | $11.92 | Printful catalog API: Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001) |
| Printful base price, 2XL | $13.92 | Printful catalog API: Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001) |
| Printful US shipping, first shirt | $4.95 | Printful: Shipping rates |
| Printful US shipping, each extra shirt | $2.20 | Printful: Shipping rates |
| Printify lowest base price | $11.29 | Printify: Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Tee |
| Printify base price with Premium | $9.04 | Printify: Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Tee |
| Printify shipping, from | $3.99 | Printify: Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Tee |
| Printify Premium, billed monthly | $39 | Printify: Pricing |
| Printify Premium, billed yearly | $24.99 | Printify: Pricing |
The two companies price differently. Printful sets one price and prints in its own facilities (Printful catalog API: Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001), 2026). Printify is a network of independent print providers, so its headline price is the cheapest provider for that shirt (Printify: Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Tee, 2026), and quality, speed and stock vary by which one you pick. The gap between them looks small per shirt, but on a thin margin a dollar is a large share of the profit.
Shipping is the cost new sellers most often forget. Buyers on marketplaces increasingly expect free shipping, so many sellers build it into the price, and at that point the shipping charge comes straight out of the margin (Printful: Shipping rates, 2026). The example in this article assumes free shipping for exactly that reason. A seller who charges shipping separately keeps more per order but usually sells fewer, which is a trade-off our reselling profit statistics explore for second-hand sellers too. It is also the same platform-cut logic behind our online tutoring pay statistics, where the headline rate and the money that arrives are two different numbers.
3 What Fees Do Etsy and Shopify Charge Print-on-Demand Sellers?
Etsy charges $0.20 per listing, a 6.5% transaction fee and, in the US, a 3% + $0.25 payment processing fee. Sales from Etsy’s Offsite Ads carry a further 15%. Shopify’s Basic plan costs $39 a month billed monthly, with an online card rate of 2.9% + 30¢. (Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy, 2026)
| METRIC | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Etsy listing fee | $0.20 | Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy |
| Etsy transaction fee | 6.5% | Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy |
| Etsy US payment processing fee | 3% + $0.25 | Etsy Help: Payment processing fees |
| Etsy Offsite Ads fee, smaller shops | 15% | Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy |
| Shopify Basic, billed monthly | $39 | Shopify: Pricing |
| Shopify Basic online card rate | 2.9% + 30¢ | Shopify: Pricing |
Etsy and Shopify charge in opposite ways. Etsy has no monthly fee but takes a share of every sale (Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy, 2026), and the Offsite Ads fee applies to orders Etsy attributes to its own advertising, whether or not the seller wanted the ad. On a cheap product that one fee can take most of the profit. Shopify charges a fixed monthly plan and a smaller card fee (Shopify: Pricing, 2026), but brings no buyers of its own, so every visitor has to come from the seller’s own marketing.
In practice that splits print-on-demand sellers into two businesses. Etsy sellers pay for access to buyers through fees. Shopify sellers pay for buyers through advertising, which is why the forums are full of numbers about cost per purchase and ad sets switched off after a day or two. Neither route is free, and a seller comparing them should treat the advertising budget as part of the cost of goods, the way our passive income statistics treat the hidden work behind supposedly passive income.
4 How Much Profit Is Left on a Print-on-Demand T-Shirt?
On a $25 tee sold on Etsy with free shipping, Etsy’s fees come to $2.83. Printful leaves $5.31 profit, Printify $6.90 and Printify Premium $9.15. If the sale comes through Offsite Ads, the Printful profit falls to $1.56. Sold on Shopify through Printify, it is $8.70 before the plan fee and ads. (Printful catalog API: Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001), 2026)
| METRIC | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Etsy fees on a $25 sale | $2.83 | Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy |
| Profit, Printful on Etsy | $5.31 | Printful catalog API: Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001) |
| Profit, Printify on Etsy | $6.90 | Printify: Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Tee |
| Profit, Printify Premium on Etsy | $9.15 | Printify: Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Tee |
| Profit, Printful on Etsy via Offsite Ads | $1.56 | Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy |
| Profit, Printify on Shopify, before plan and ads | $8.70 | Shopify: Pricing |
A twenty-five dollar shirt is a common price point on Etsy, and at that price the seller keeps roughly a fifth to a third of the sale depending on the print partner and plan (Printify: Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Tee, 2026). That is a real margin, but it is a margin per sale, not per hour, and it has to cover the designs that never sell, the listings that expire and the occasional reprint for a damaged or wrong order. One Offsite Ads sale can wipe out most of the profit on that order (Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy, 2026).
The Shopify figure looks better per shirt, but it carries two costs the Etsy figures do not: the monthly plan and the advertising needed to bring buyers to a store nobody has heard of (Shopify: Pricing, 2026). A seller paying for ads can easily spend more than the profit on each sale while testing designs, which is why the sellers in the threads behind this article who report steady income talk about winning designs and repeat buyers rather than about volume. Higher prices help more than cheaper blanks: every extra dollar on the price is almost all profit.
5 How Many Sales Does It Take to Break Even, and What Does the Average Seller Make?
Printify Premium pays for itself after 18 shirts a month billed monthly, or 12 billed yearly. Covering a Shopify Basic plan takes 5 shirts a month before any ad spend. For context, the average active Etsy seller sold $1,868 of goods in all of 2025, about $156 a month. (Etsy, Inc. Form 10-K for 2025, 2025)
| METRIC | VALUE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| Shirts a month before Premium pays (monthly billing) | 18 | Printify: Pricing |
| Shirts a month before Premium pays (yearly billing) | 12 | Printify: Pricing |
| Shirts a month to cover Shopify Basic | 5 | Shopify: Pricing |
| Average active Etsy seller, sales per year | $1,868 | Etsy, Inc. Form 10-K for 2025 |
| Average active Etsy seller, sales per month | $156 | Etsy, Inc. Form 10-K for 2025 |
The break-even numbers are low enough to look easy, and that is the trap. A plan or subscription that pays for itself at a dozen or so shirts a month (Printify: Pricing, 2026) is only worth buying once a shop reliably sells that many, and most new print-on-demand shops do not. The sensible order is to start on the free tiers, track the real profit per sale for a few months, and upgrade only when the numbers say the discount outearns the fee.
The Etsy average is the sobering benchmark (Etsy, Inc. Form 10-K for 2025, 2025). It covers every kind of shop, from vintage to handmade to print on demand, and it is a measure of sales, not profit. At the margins above, a print-on-demand shop selling at that average would keep a small fraction of it. That is not an argument against the model, but it is an argument for treating it as a design business that has to find buyers, not a passive income stream. Compare it with other options in our guide to side hustles that pay daily, judged the way our review method judges every platform, and with the per-hour realities in our survey and user testing pay data and our Fiverr review.
Explore every figure in this article
Methodology
Profit figures follow one example sale: a $25 Bella+Canvas 3001 t-shirt, size XS to XL, sold to a US buyer with free shipping. Printful’s US base price comes from its public catalogue API and its shipping rate from its shipping page; Printify’s prices come from its product and pricing pages, read in a browser because they are rendered with JavaScript, and depend on the print provider chosen. Etsy’s fees come from its fees policy and help centre and Shopify’s from its pricing page, all on the research date. Market size is Grand View Research’s estimate. The average Etsy seller figure is from Etsy’s 2025 Form 10-K. Profits exclude design time, advertising, returns, sales tax handling and income tax. Format filter: only two competitors were found automatically, so the link-format table rests on a thin sample. Reddit seller reports are used as context, not as statistics.
- Sources consulted: 22
- Sources cited: 9
- Data freshness: current year: 8, last year: 1, older: 0
- Data range: 2025 to 2026-11-07
- Research date: 2026-11-07
- Update schedule: Every six months, and whenever Printful, Printify or Etsy change their prices
- Limitations: Profit figures are calculations for one example product, a $25 Bella+Canvas 3001 t-shirt with free shipping to a US buyer, using each company's published prices on the research date; Printify prices vary by print provider and Printful's US prices come from its public catalog API. They exclude design time, advertising, returns, sales tax handling and income tax. Market size is a third-party estimate. Reddit seller reports are context, not statistics.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much profit do you make per shirt with print on demand?
At a $25 price on Etsy with free shipping, a Bella+Canvas 3001 tee from Printful leaves $5.31 after the $11.92 base price, $4.95 shipping and $2.83 in Etsy fees. Printify leaves $6.90, or $9.15 with a Premium plan. (Printful catalog API: Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001))
Is Printify cheaper than Printful?
For the Bella+Canvas 3001 tee, Printify's lowest base price is $11.29 ($9.04 with Premium) against Printful's $11.92, and Printify shipping starts at $3.99 against Printful's $4.95. Printify's price depends on which print provider you choose. (Printify: Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Tee)
What fees does Etsy charge print-on-demand sellers?
Etsy charges $0.20 per listing, a 6.5% transaction fee and, in the US, a 3% + $0.25 payment processing fee. Sales that come through Etsy's Offsite Ads carry a further 15% fee for shops under $10,000 a year. (Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy)
Is Printify Premium worth it?
Premium cuts the Bella+Canvas 3001 base price from $11.29 to $9.04. At $39 billed monthly it pays for itself after 18 shirts a month; at $24.99 billed yearly, after 12. (Printify: Pricing)
How big is the print-on-demand market?
Grand View Research valued the global print-on-demand market at $10.8 billion in 2025 and projects $57.5 billion by 2033, with apparel the largest segment at 39.5% of revenue. (Grand View Research: Print On Demand Market Report)
Is print on demand still worth it in 2026?
It can be, but margins are thin. A $25 tee leaves $5.31 to $9.15 on Etsy, falls to $1.56 when the sale comes through Etsy Offsite Ads, and the average active Etsy seller sold only $1,868 of goods in all of 2025. (Etsy, Inc. Form 10-K for 2025)
Sources & References
- Printful catalog API: Unisex Staple T-Shirt (Bella + Canvas 3001). “Printful product 71 catalog data.” api.printful.com/products/71. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- Printify: Bella Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Tee. “Bella Canvas 3001 | Unisex Jersey Short Sleeve Tee.” printify.com/app/products/12/bella-canvas/unisex-jersey-short-sleeve-tee. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- Etsy: Fees & Payments Policy. “Fees & Payments Policy.” etsy.com/legal/fees/. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- Grand View Research: Print On Demand Market Report. “Print On Demand Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report.” grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/print-on-demand-market-report. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- Etsy, Inc. Form 10-K for 2025. “Etsy, Inc. Annual Report on Form 10-K, fiscal 2025.” sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1370637/000137063726000019/etsy-20251231.htm. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- Printful: Shipping rates. “Shipping.” printful.com/shipping. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- Printify: Pricing. “Pricing.” printify.com/pricing/. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- Etsy Help: Payment processing fees. “What are Payment Processing Fees for Selling on Etsy?.” help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/articles/115015628847-What-are-Payment-Processing-Fees-fo. Accessed 2026-11-07.
- Shopify: Pricing. “Shopify Pricing.” shopify.com/pricing. Accessed 2026-11-07.
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