Basics Get one product listed safely, and know its real margin
- Contribution sum — "what reaches you"Calculator Live · Spreadsheet XLSX
chapter 1
What a print-on-demand sale actually leaves you, after base cost, shipping and the platform's cut.
- The two safety checksDownload TXT
chapter 2
Run it on every design before you make it: others' rights, and whether it's genuinely yours.
- Design brief (buyer + idea)Download MD
chapter 3
One buyer, one safe idea, sanity-checked as wanted — the first real win.
- Upload-ready master specDownload TXT
chapter 4
The file a printer needs — original, licensed, ~4500×5400 transparent PNG — with free tools.
- Get set up + your real costDownload TXT
chapter 5
Store, provider and the pipeline between them — then one reproducible base-cost quote.
- Price / margin floorCalculator Live · Spreadsheet XLSX
chapter 6
Work out the least a buyer must pay for the product to clear a floor worth your time.
- Etsy fee & profit calculatorCalculator Live
chapter 6
The listing, transaction and payment fees Etsy takes on a sale, and the profit left after your cost.
- Plain listing templateDownload MD
chapter 7
A clear, honest listing — title, mockups, details — without the keyword games (those are Intermediate).
- Going-live checklistDownload TXT
chapter 8
The two disclosures that keep an account safe, publish, then verify it live from the outside.
- The review loopDownload TXT
chapter 9
No sale yet? Read the funnel calmly, pick one change, set a date — the engine of a shop that improves.
Intermediate Turn scattered listings into a niche one buyer returns to
- The scatter auditDownload TXT
chapter 1
Measure the treadmill: your listings, the one buyer each is truly for, and whether anyone comes back. Run it again at the end.
- The real buyerDownload MD
chapter 2
Find your buyer from evidence, not hope — a specific person, what they value, and their own words.
- Niche + second productDownload MD
chapter 3
Buyer, through-line, and a real second product built for them — the first win that compounds. Both safety checks included.
- The range mapDownload MD
chapter 4
Turn one idea into a connected range — draft pieces run through the through-line, recognition and product-fit gates.
- Keyword harvest (found on purpose)Download MD
chapter 5
A four-source harvest of real buyer language into a title, 13 tags and a description — then publish, so the numbers are real.
- Safe harbour (brand + a second door)Download TXT
chapter 6
Make the shop recognisable, open one compounding free channel, and write down the funnel baseline for next chapter.
- Margin + funnel dashboardCalculator Live · Spreadsheet XLSX
chapter 7
Unit and total contribution, the funnel (views→favourites→orders), and the basket lever — the per-order fee counts once.
- The cullDownload TXT
chapter 8
Prune the unproven on total contribution + the funnel — telling a discovery gap (fix it) from a demand verdict (stop feeding).
- The repeat-engine blueprintDownload MD
chapter 9
Design the four-part engine — connected set, dated drop, give-first insert, cross-sell — all on Etsy, with the compliance line.
- Deploy & verifyDownload TXT
chapter 10
Take the engine live, test every wire (including the negative case), guard the coupon margin, and record a dated start line.
- What I don't yet ownDownload TXT
chapter 11
The stark inventory — buyer, margin, ground — that names the ceiling of the marketplace and the map to Advanced.
Advanced Put money where the margin is, and make it durable
- Constraint hypothesisDownload TXT
chapter 1
Name the single ceiling binding your shop — margin, capacity, CAC or fragility — as a testable claim with a reason and a test, not a gut call.
- Fully-burdened ledgerCalculator Live · Spreadsheet XLSX · Download MD
chapter 2
The real money each design leaves once ads, returns, overhead and your own time come out — with loaded-pre-ad kept separate, the only figure a CAC is judged against. The spreadsheet also carries the CAC-ceiling, ROAS and league-table math.
- Premium spec sheetDownload MD
chapter 3
Spec a genuinely better tier — product, brand, experience — built for your most committed buyer, so a higher price reflects a plainly better thing, not a markup.
- Price + stop ruleCalculator Live · Download TXT
chapter 4
Set a value-led, ledger-checked price and a written stop rule that holds it — plus the coupon check (a discount also lowers the fee, so the true hit is smaller than the sticker).
- Run the test, honour the ruleDownload TXT
chapter 5
Commit the premium to its test today — list, lock, baseline, schedule the review — with pre-written answers to the three pressures that make sellers fold.
- CAC ceiling + scaling gateCalculator Live · Download TXT
chapter 6
The most you can pay to win a buyer (first-sale and cohort), your break-even ROAS, and the gate that only scales what has actually paid back.
- The league tableCalculator Live · Download MD
chapter 7
Rank the whole catalogue by total contribution and by contribution per hour, read the funnel, and label each design before you touch it.
- Retire one still-sellerDownload TXT
chapter 8
The four-test decision and the marginal trade for cutting a design that still sells — freeing your scarcest resource for work that earns far more.
- Concentration audit + move oneDownload TXT
chapter 9
Score design, provider, platform and audience risk by likelihood × harm, then move one — usually standing up owned email, the compliant way.
- Delegate one recurring taskDownload TXT
chapter 10
Hand off high-hours, low-judgement work with a bounded decision rule — so a helper handles the routine flow without pinging you, and you keep the craft.
- The reallocation + pre-mortemDownload TXT
chapter 11
Make one integrated capital move as a balanced trade, then stress-test it with a pre-mortem so every plausible failure is hedged before you commit.
- Install the operating cadenceDownload TXT
chapter 12
A quarterly deep review and a monthly light check that re-run the whole loop — so allocating on evidence becomes a rhythm, not a one-off.
Kept current Base costs & platform fees, checked by hand
The figures the book uses for the reader's arithmetic — the fastest-changing thing in this business — checked by hand and dated below.
⚠️ A percentage is not the whole fee, and a base cost is not one fixed number. Fees add a fixed amount per sale, and base cost moves with the blank, printer and region. Always work it out at your numbers — the calculators do it for you.
Print providers — base cost, a basic tee (illustrative snapshots)
- Printify — a basic tee often lands near $8–10 on the free plan; a network, so the base cost, quality and shipping change with the printer you pick. Usually the cheapest.
- Printful — a tee nearer $11–12, for a more consistent finish and branding options. More a brand play than a margin play.
- Gelato — in between; aims to print locally in many countries, so orders can arrive faster and skip customs within a region.
Figures are snapshots — look up your exact blank, printer and region at the provider's own product page, because they move.
Selling platform fees — Etsy, per sale
- Etsy — 6.5% transaction fee plus payment processing charged separately, at country-specific rates (~3% + $0.25 in the US, ~4% + £0.20 in the UK), plus a ~$0.20 listing fee and, in some countries, a small regulatory operating fee. Roughly 10% all-in on a small sale; UK sellers pay VAT on the fees too, nearer 12–13%. ⚠️ The 6.5% is not the whole story — processing is on top.
Checked at source 2026-10-12; next review due Jan 2027. Dated copy, not a live feed — verify at each provider's and Etsy's own pricing pages before you rely on a figure. Nothing here is legal advice.
Take them free — that is what they are for. When you want the argument for using them, Print on Demand — Basics takes you from a blank file to one product listed safely with its real margin known, Intermediate turns a scatter of listings into a niche one buyer returns to, and Advanced shows a working seller how to put money where the margin is and make the business durable.
See the Print on Demand series →