Best print on demand pricing strategies for WooCommerce stores

Print on demand pricing can make or destroy a company that offers print-on-demand services. In the long term, you can really lose money if you underprice your goods. However, if you overcharge them, you risk losing customers to less expensive rivals.

As you can see, choosing a print on demand pricing strategy is the most crucial decision you need to make for your online business.

With this in mind, in today’s post, we will share with you how to price print-on-demand products with the in-depth information you should know before launching your products.

Evaluate Product Costs

Before launching any product, you should ask yourself: “How much does print-on-demand cost?”.

It should be first priced in a way that will benefit your business. In other terms, you must absolutely pay for every expense associated with producing your print-on-demand goods. Therefore, a simple print-on-demand cost evaluation is an excellent place to start.

Design cost

Do you outsource the design of your products? If so, you should figure out how much you paid the designer, divided by how many items you estimate to sell.

Here’s a calculation you can consider to determine the cost of print-on-demand designs.

Design cost of a product = Design price/ number of designs you estimate to sell

You might need to move in the other direction if you don’t know how many things you’ll sell: Schedule your sales and marketing campaigns based on the number of items you’ll need to sell out to break even.

It can be tempting to cut corners on design expenses if you make your own designs in order to keep the selling cost low. Be sure to compensate yourself for that time since it was still spent on your product.

The best advice we can give is to determine a reasonable hourly cost for your own labour. Add it to the price of the product. This will also enable you to assess how well the time you spend at work on your company has been spent.

Design price = Your hourly rate * Hours spent on the design

For example, if your hourly rate is $25/hour and your staff spent one hour on design, then the price for that design will be $25.

Production cost

The majority of print-on-demand businesses only charge for a product after a customer orders it.

In print-on-demand platforms, the production costs are typically highly transparent and are readily visible once you choose the product you want to create.

For example, to print a custom mug, you have to pay around $3 (this cost can be reduced based on your ordered quantity).

Shipping costs

Even though you might want to offer “free shipping,” you should still include the cost of shipping each item into the base price of each one you sell.

Your retail price (free shipping included) = Shipping rate * Your retail price

While the print-on-demand service can ship your products for you, your customers will pay an additional fee. If you decide to provide flat prices, make sure they cover the rate your POD supplier is billing you. You must decide what type of shipping rates to give your customers.

Depending on your product, the fulfillment site, and the final destination, the shipping cost will differ. 

Taxes

When you run a business, it’s not just about how much money you make; you also want to give back to your country by paying taxes.

Depending on local legislation, you might be required to pay a tax for specific markets if you sell your products there (for example, the EU’s VAT, the US’s sale tax, or Australia’s GST).

Additionally, you might need to charge tax to your customers. These costs might also be included in the price of your product, depending on the circumstances.

Keep in mind that without knowing the customer’s location, it is impossible to anticipate the exact rate.

To find out what you need to consider when figuring out taxes for your sales prices, we highly recommend that you speak with a tax expert about your particular case.

Platform Fees Per Product

And ultimately, you must leverage a platform in order to sell online.

When building up and maintaining your online business, there are many costs to consider, from eCommerce marketplaces and platforms to payment processors.

Although some eCommerce platforms, such as Woocommerce, are cost-free, others, such as Shopify, have a set price of $29 per month for the Basic version and $299 for the Advanced version. In addition to charging you a fee for each sale you make, Etsy and 3dcart both take a cut of your profits.

Undeniably, Woocommerce offers so many features that you need to run an online business without paying any fee. Don’t rush to get into a paid platform, let’s start to learn how to sell print-on-demand in WooCommerce.

Besides, while some payment processors, such as PayPal, are free, they do require a transaction fee.

Therefore, you should be aware of any fees and include them in the print-on-demand prices of your goods.

Calculate Profit Margins

Add up all of your variable product expenses once you’ve gathered them, then include profit into your print-on-demand pricing.

This is where you can distinguish yourself from your rivals. As you try out other price techniques on your competitors later, change your profit to match or upsell them.

Ensure your price still fits within the overall “reasonable” price for your market while keeping in mind the overall situation of the market.

Retail price = Product cost + Profit margin

It could be difficult to close a deal if your price is 2 times greater than those of all of your rivals.

And do not go too low, because they are intended to make up for your labor and the time spent developing your store.

20% is typically a reasonable starting point; from there, you can adjust higher for popular products or lower for particular specials.

For example, if the total cost to produce a coffee mug before launching is $10, and you can sell it at the price of $30, then your profit margin will be $20, or 20% of the retail price.

Consider Other Costs

Besides the costs related to your products, maintaining a print-on-demand business has a bunch of different costs such as Woocommerce store maintenance fees as well as your marketing spend. In fact, these expenses can vary considerably in different situations.

Plus, consider your Internet bill as well, as it is unquestionably a significant expense for any print-on-demand company.

Add up all of those costs, then divide the amount by your overall profit margin. All of these will show you how many items you must sell in order to break even selling on your print-on-demand operation.

If you come at an unreasonable sales figure, you might have to reconsider your pricing strategy and increase your own profit margin or find ways to reduce some of your expenses. One option could be looking into investors – you’ll need to create a pitch deck for that.

Evaluate Your Prices Periodically

Your success depends on your print on demand pricing, so you should review it as frequently as you can.

It is typically impacted by factors like the average market price, average sales for a certain product, average business costs, and other factors that we will review below.

Average market pricing

The first consideration is the retail price of your competitors’ products. At this point, there’s no better way than to make a print-on-demand price comparison.

Check out well-known online stores like Amazon or eBay to get a summary of this, and compare identical items to get an estimate of the average prices.

Introductory pricing

This tactic is establishing a lower than average initial price and gradually raising it as your customer base grows.

It is advisable to test your target demographic in this way, especially for new stores. After a set amount of time, compare the outcomes of multiple tries at various print on demand pricing levels.

Demand or dynamic pricing

This calls for ongoing awareness of current industry developments and consumer preferences. Here, seasonality and demand determine product prices, possibly requiring periodic price adjustments.

For instance, you might raise the prices for hoodies and sweaters in the winter and drop them in the summer.

Promotional pricing

Setting a disproportionate initial print on demand pricing and discounting it to the real market price is a successful promotional tactic.

By doing this, the product will appear to be more affordable because of the sizeable discount.

During significant holidays, seasonal events, and “Black Friday,” this strategy works fantastically.

With the right promotion, customers who are motivated by the excitement of the moment might make large purchases at your store. Thus, it’s crucial to plan ahead with enough room for additional discounts that you can implement at the very end of your offer.

Anchor pricing

You’ve probably already witnessed anchor pricing in action. A company sets a fictitious anchor price before announcing a lower discount price.

The discount seems enticing, increasing the likelihood that it will increase sales from customers looking online for great offers.

Penetration price

With this print on demand pricing, you start out with a price that is lower than average to draw in a significant customer base and afterward gradually increase your price as the number of devoted consumers increases.

This tactic is frequently used by start-up businesses that go on to become market leaders, such as Netflix.

Suggest the three methods to set your print on demand pricing

The decision on print on demand pricing is not one that you can make once.

While making sure you’re paying all of your expenses and labor is one reason to adjust your prices. Next, you are testing out various price strategies as a sales strategy.

Here are three methods for print on demand pricing:

Price is higher than the going rate in the market

You can do this by giving the shopping experience greater value.

If you’re willing to sell for more than the going rate in the market, you should provide your customers with value that your rivals don’t. For example, each order can have gifts or custom notes added to it, or you might choose a better visual style.

Price is in line with market rates

You have a more conservative print on demand pricing strategy, which we often advise for the first few months if you’re willing to sell at the same prices.

If you want to reach a sizable target audience and yet turn a profit, this is a safer approach. You’ll be able to draw in the same type of customer base as your rivals and be priced on par with them.

Price is lower than the market average

If your price is lower than the industry standard, you can benefit from it and run special specials to draw customers into your shop.

By offering more appealing prices, you can undercut your rivals and perhaps even take some more of their customers.

However, be mindful not to reduce your products too much since this might decrease their perceived quality and have the opposite impact.

Final Thoughts

Print on demand pricing is among the key considerations for any print-on-demand business. Having a well-informed pricing decision can be vital for growing your company into a real money-maker.

It must take into account all of the operating expenses and, most importantly, a respectable profit margin for you.

You can begin by putting one of the ideas forward into practice on your own. After that, evaluate your prices each month and adjust them in accordance with the number of your total sales.

Are you ready to open your store? Hopefully, this post will truly help you in your launching print-on-demand business.