Why are my Etsy fees so high with Printful, and how should I price hoodies?

Hi! This is super common with Printful + Etsy—hoodies have a high base cost, and on Etsy the percentage-based fees apply to both your item price and whatever you charge for shipping, so the “fees feel huge” when your profit margin is already thin. The fix is to price from the inside-out (base cost → Etsy fees → profit), and to always include a buffer for the orders that get hit with Offsite Ads.

Here are the costs you should be factoring in for every POD hoodie order:

1) Printful costs (your true cost of goods)

• Printful product (blank + printing)
• Printful shipping (varies by destination, method, and whether items ship separately)
• Any Printful extras you use (inside labels, outside labels, embroidery setup/digitizing, etc.)
• If you offer returns/exchanges: assume you may eat at least some remake/reship cost sometimes (POD is rarely “free returns” friendly)

2) Etsy fees (the ones that usually surprise POD sellers)

• Listing fee: $0.20 per listing (and it renews at $0.20 when it sells; multi-quantity can trigger additional $0.20 renewals)
• Transaction fee: 6.5% of the amount the customer pays for the item plus shipping (and gift wrap, if used)
• Payment processing (US bank accounts): 3% + $0.25 per order, calculated on the order total (this is separate from the 6.5%)
• Offsite Ads (only when an order is attributed to an ad): 15% if your shop is under $10k in Etsy sales in the last 365 days (optional program), or 12% if you’re at/over $10k (required). It’s capped at $100 per order.
• Currency conversion fee (only if your shop currency ≠ your payment account currency): 2.5% on the sale amount

(If you’re in the US, you typically won’t have the Regulatory Operating Fee—that’s for certain other countries.)

A realistic pricing formula you can actually use

Set these variables:

• P = item price you charge on Etsy (hoodie itself)
• S = shipping price you charge the customer
• COGS = Printful product + Printful shipping + any Printful add-ons
• ProfitGoal = what you want left after everything

Then your typical Etsy fee load (US) on an order is roughly:

• 6.5% × (P + S) transaction fee
• 3% × (P + S) + $0.25 payment processing
• + $0.20 listing renewal (assume this per sale)

So your approximate profit becomes:
Profit ≈ (P + S) − COGS − [0.095 × (P + S)] − 0.25 − 0.20

That 0.095 is 6.5% + 3% = 9.5%.

If you want to protect yourself against Offsite Ads

For the % of orders you expect might come from Offsite Ads, you’ll also lose either 12% or 15% of (P + S) on those orders. Because you can’t control which specific order gets attributed, many POD sellers do one of these:

• Bake in a small “ad buffer” into every hoodie price, or
• Decide Offsite Ads is either on (price higher) or off (price lower) if you’re eligible to opt out

A simple “safe” approach if you’re under $10k and staying opted in: mentally plan that your worst-case fee rate on an ad-attributed order can be about 24.5% of (P + S) (9.5% normal fees + 15% Offsite Ads), plus the flat fees.

Pricing strategy that keeps you competitive (without racing to the bottom)

A few practical tips that work well for Printful hoodies on Etsy:

• Don’t compete on being the cheapest hoodie. Compete on design niche, personalization, bundle value, and branding. POD hoodies priced too low almost always end up at break-even after one discount, one ad fee, or one replacement.
• Charge shipping intentionally. Since Etsy’s percentage fees apply to shipping too, “free shipping” doesn’t avoid fees—it just changes how the price looks to shoppers. Pick the approach that converts better for your niche, then price accordingly.
• Add a buffer for discounts. If you run a 10–20% Etsy sale, that discount comes straight out of your margin—so your “regular” price needs room for it.
• Watch for multi-item orders. If someone buys 2 hoodies, Printful shipping might not scale linearly (good), but Etsy may charge additional $0.20 listing renewals for extra quantity (small, but it adds up).

Quick way to sanity-check a hoodie price before you publish

Before you set a final Etsy listing price, do this on a calculator/spreadsheet:

1. Start with COGS (Printful hoodie + Printful shipping)
2. Add your minimum acceptable profit (for hoodies, many sellers aim for at least a solid dollar amount per order, not just a %—because one problem order can wipe out several “small-profit” wins)
3. Divide by (1 − fee rate)
   • Use ~0.095 for normal US Etsy fees (9.5%)
   • Use ~0.245 if you want to see what happens on a 15% Offsite Ads order
4. Then add the flat fees ($0.45 total for $0.25 + $0.20) into your thinking if you didn’t already

If you tell me (1) the specific Printful hoodie model you’re using, (2) where you mainly ship (US only vs US + international), and (3) whether Offsite Ads is on for you, I can help you run the math and find a price range that won’t leave you breaking even.