--- title: 'Etsy Printful Experience: I Lost Money with Print-on-Demand Etsy Shop!' source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=rgi3-2V4n-E' video_id: 'rgi3-2V4n-E' date: 2026-08-06 duration_sec: 579 --- # Etsy Printful Experience: I Lost Money with Print-on-Demand Etsy Shop! > Source: [Etsy Printful Experience: I Lost Money with Print-on-Demand Etsy Shop!](https://youtube.com/watch?v=rgi3-2V4n-E) ## Summary The video is a personal account of the creator's experience with a print-on-demand Etsy shop using Printful. They detail their first three sales, breaking down the costs and fees to reveal that they actually lost money on each order. The creator highlights hidden costs such as embroidery fees, shipping discrepancies, and transaction fees, and warns viewers about the potential pitfalls of this business model. ### Key Points - **Starting the Print-on-Demand Journey** [00:40] — The creator started their print-on-demand business in April 2022 and had three sales in May, all for hats via Printful on Etsy. - **Initial Pricing Mistake** [01:08] — The creator listed a hat at €19.90, but the Printful price was €14.50 excluding taxes and other costs. They didn't account for additional costs like embroidery, which was not mentioned upfront. - **First Sale Breakdown** [02:07] — The first order included a shipping option costing €3.71, but Printful charged €3.99. The customer paid €4.61 in VAT, but the creator received €4.69, a discrepancy of 8 cents. - **Various Fees** [03:32] — Fees included a transaction fee of €1.29, a processing fee of €1.45, a shipping transaction fee of 28 cents, and sales tax on items (28, 25, and 5 cents). The creator received €20.65 in profit from the hat. - **Hidden Embroidery Cost** [04:18] — The creator discovered an additional €5.45 charge for embroidery that was not mentioned when creating the product, despite a revenue figure being calculated. - **Total Loss on First Hat** [05:01] — The creator paid €29.38 to Printful for the hat, but the customer only paid €28.86. Etsy income was €20.65 with fees of €8.21, resulting in a net loss. - **Second and Third Sales Also Losses** [06:15] — The second hat sold for €32.57 but resulted in a loss of €8.52, and the third hat had a loss of €10.65, including all fees. - **Offsite Ads Impact** [06:29] — Offsite ads add 15% to the price, which the creator didn't include in calculations, further reducing profit margins. - **Printful's Own Warning** [07:50] — Printful's price breakdown shows the customer pays €28.86 while Printful's price is €29.38, indicating a loss even before other costs. The creator advises making products extremely expensive or avoiding this model. - **Third Order Would Have Been Profitable Without Fees** [08:30] — The third order would have yielded a profit of €5.57, but higher handling fees pushed it into the red. ### Conclusion The creator concludes that the print-on-demand model with Printful on Etsy is not profitable due to hidden costs and fees, and plans to pivot to digital products instead. ## Transcript next level, all as free added value, without me trying to offer you a coaching workshop or anything else at the end, hope the content helps you, and if you're currently considering whether to connect with Printfall and get into the print and demand business on Zi, definitely watch this video so you don't make the mistakes my opinion, making a mistake isn't bad and it's okay to make one, but you're welcome to because that will surely save you money and a lot of stress. And yes, I would say we'll get started right away. If you need instructions on how to already made a video about it in the I above or in the info box below. I started the whole thing in April 2022 and have now had three sales in May. I sold hats on the online retailer Printful. And now I would like to first three orders, how it simply looks in the background with the numbers, the actually lost with them. It was actually a shock and a learning experience for me too n't have thought it possible, because I actually thought I was making a profit, because I revenue was displayed there, and yes, of course I made my mistakes too, but I'll show happen to you. I just uploaded a picture of a hat to Printful. Selling price in 1999. When I go to the Printful Price, it says €14.50, and then it also says excluding taxes and other costs. Nothing was listed there. I had an embroidery design added, but there was no mention of the cost of adding it again somehow included, since that's how I created the product. He was taxes were included, even though the taxes, value added tax, are passed on to the customer. That means, if I list a product for €19.90 , it automatically adds VAT and shipping, and that's the price the customer ultimately pays. And if example, my very first sale, I set the price at €19.90 and this is what the statement looks like. I didn't have to that you normally have to, but I did get 40 free articles because I A link like this is also available at the bottom of the info box, in case you want to open your own z shop . Then the first order came in, and the customer in, and the customer I also selected the shipping option that costs an additional €3.71, because that's what Printful stated. Then he simply paid the €4.61 in taxes. So VAT. However, if you VAT there was €4.69. So don't ask me how those 8 cents went missing. So, there was definitely a bit less of it here. Here they are suddenly demanding 3.99 instead of the 371 suddenly demanding 3.99 instead of the 371 they specified here on Et, which is stated here, and I'm thinking, huh, you have 371 here, but I'm supposed to huh, you have 371 here, but I'm supposed to pay 3.99 for shipping. Why? Especially since it specifically mentions a heart here, which I also have as a product. , of course, I also have a transaction fee of €1.29. Um, then there's a processing fee, of course, that's the cost, €1.45. Then there's a transaction fee for shipping, another 28 cents gone, and then sales tax on the three items. One payment of 28 cents, one of 25 cents, one of 5 cents. That means I received €20.65 in profit from the hat However, I've also noticed that, on average, there was . So the shipping costs were n't actually deducted from the . I'm actually wondering where they've all gone? . We have seen here the Printful item, this is the AutoCap, the color black. The Printful Price is €14.50 excluding taxes and other costs. Regarding other costs, which I didn't know, that this is my product, this is the head and I then added an nowhere did it say how much the embroidery actually cost. I found out now, after placing the order, that suddenly another €5.45 was suddenly another €5.45 was and this was never mentioned before, even though they had calculated a revenue figure. I made the mistake of we've already talked about that. We also discussed value added tax . That means I paid €29.38 for the hat I sent to my customer, and the customer only paid €28-something overall, and I also paid additional fees. So, I broken it all down so I can show it to you. The expected Printful price was €14.50. The expected profit, therefore, if I sold this for 1990, was, uh, €5.40. I actually paid 2938 at Printful. The customer paid 2886, which is a discrepancy Then Et's income was €20.65 and Et's fees were €8.21. That means, in total, I I almost sold a hat for €29, and when I think to myself, I have to add at least another €10, especially since it's a . That means it's a hat for €40 including shipping and everything else, so I end up almost at zero. And then I think to myself, who buys a hat for €45? For me, to cover the effort and the design, maybe there will be no sense. And now pay attention , here we go. I didn't just sell this one item, but several more, and we can take a and such were relatively similar for these hats. They were always different hats and such, but we sold another hat here, even for €32.57. That was a slightly more expensive hat. Um, we have the whole thing about Offside Ads, which I haven't working very, very well on my other shop. That adds another 15% to the price, which of course I haven't included in my calculations . So if you want print-on-demand products, you can also turn off these offside ads, because they drastically reduce your profit margin. If another 4.11 disappears, then even if I have 45 €, things will get tight again. the transaction fee, the sales tax, which the buyer of course also pays, the processing fee. Okay, we didn't pay anything for the hiring , but it's really amazing for marketing. Then we paid a lot in sales tax, and in the end we paid a lot in sales tax, and in the end only had €18 left for this hat, and I paid €26 for this second hat. That means I wrote the whole thing down again. With the second hat I had a loss of €8.52 including all the associated fees, and with the third hat it was similar, even a little hat it was similar, even a little worse, where I had a loss of €10.65 . So, a real flop, and what I find really crazy about these orders is that even Printful says in the price breakdown: "Hey, your customer pays 2886, Printful's price is 2938. There has to be some kind of limiter in place to prevent selling it so cheaply, that doesn't even include the many printing costs . So, I'm already making a loss with Printful; it makes absolutely no sense to me, and please be careful and either make the products extremely expensive or just forget about it . If anyone actually has an effective shop, maybe it So, if anyone has a different experience, please write it in the comments. We One is currently being processed. The customer pays €29. The price at Printful is 2669. So, profit here, but because I'm using printing costs and have additional fees, off-site ads, and everything else, I'm still losing money. In the red. And with the third order, look at again now, it would have even meant a profit of €5.57. But unfortunately, my handling fees were much higher there too , so I ended up in the red If you're building something with Print Full , you have to opinion, I can't justify that, and that's why I'll probably steer the shop in a different direction, because, well, I don't think it makes sense. You end up doing all the work for a small margin, and then the items you sell are super expensive and don't really reflect the quality, I assume. Um, yeah, feel free to let me my fails sometimes, but nothing ventured, nothing gained . If you don't know if it works. My first shop. It's going very, very well. There are also many others. Videos about this, which are doing very well. Um, in the info box on the bottom left, I sell digital products, and I'll probably switch my second channel to digital products sooner or later . I hope this video was helpful, and Give it a thumbs up, subscribe, and yeah, see you next time. subscribe, and yeah, see you next time. Bye.