POD Seller Math

How the math works, and where the numbers come from

Every figure on this site can be rebuilt by hand from the formulas below. The example prices are public list prices with their sources and the date we read them.

What is compared

  • Keep outsourcing. Print-on-demand prints and ships every order, as now.
  • Press all of it. You buy blanks and ready-to-press transfers, press, pack and ship every order of this design.
  • Press a selected share. You press the share you choose and POD keeps the rest.

The comparison covers one design on one garment. Selling fees, sales tax and ad costs are the same either way, so they are left out.

One order

materials per shirt = (blank + sides x transfer) / (1 - misprint rate)

POD charges        = shirts x POD price
                   + (1 - mixed share) x first-item shipping
                   + (shirts - 1 + mixed share) x additional-item shipping

you pay in cash    = shirts x materials per shirt
                   + packaging
                   + (1 - handed-over share) x (postage + (shirts - 1) x extra postage)

your minutes       = shirts x (press minutes + back-print minutes if two sides)
                   + packing minutes

cash saved         = POD charges - you pay in cash
saved after time   = cash saved - your minutes / 60 x hourly value

Shirts and orders are different things. Product costs scale with shirts. Packaging, the first-item shipping charge and packing time scale with orders.

Mixed orders. When an order also holds items POD still ships, POD keeps charging its first-item rate for those. Taking your shirts out saves only the additional-item rate on each.

One month

orders moved       = orders x share moved in-house
hours added        = orders moved x your minutes / 60 + monthly admin hours
monthly result     = orders moved x saved after time
                   - other monthly costs
                   - monthly admin hours x hourly value
payback in months  = press and tools / monthly result     (only when the result is above zero)

One-time and recurring costs are kept apart. The press and tools are paid once and appear only in payback. Starting stock is cash you tie up and get back as you sell, so it is shown as cash needed and left out of payback.

No payback. If the monthly result is zero or below, the press never pays for itself under those inputs and the page says so instead of showing a number.

Break-even volume and flip points

orders to cover monthly overhead = (other monthly + admin hours x hourly) / (share x saved after time)
orders to pay back in 12 months  = (press / 12 + other monthly + admin hours x hourly) / (share x saved after time)

Each flip point is the value of one input at which “saved after time” per order is exactly zero while every other input stays put.

The result labels

  • Keep outsourcing: cash saved per order is zero or less.
  • Your time eats the savings: cash is saved, but less than your minutes cost.
  • Not enough volume yet: each order saves money, but the month does not cover overhead.
  • Slow payback: more than 18 months. Borderline: 6 to 18 months. A press pays for itself: 6 months or less.

The labels come from your numbers only. Which sellers pay a commission has no input into the calculator.

What the model leaves out

  • Electricity. A press draws 1.2 to 1.8 kW while heating, which is small next to the other lines.
  • Reprints you pay for after a customer complaint, beyond the misprint rate you enter.
  • POD subscription plans that discount the per-shirt price. Enter your discounted price if you have one.
  • Dead stock: blanks or transfers for a design that stops selling.
  • What faster shipping or better quality is worth to your reviews.

Sources for the example prices

All read on . Prices move; open the source to see today's.

Print-on-demand prices and shipping

Blanks and transfers

Postage

Other comparisons we read

These helped us see which costs usually go missing. Most are published by companies that sell transfers, presses or POD services.