The short answer
Check the money left from an order before adding a print-on-demand discount. Count the item and print cost, shipping you pay, payment fees, and ads. A small price cut can take a large share of what remains. Use your actual costs, since products and providers differ.
In this guide
Start with the delivered product cost
The catalog price may not be your full cost. Printful explains that shipping and some extras cost more. Check your chosen size, print areas, labels, destination, and any taxes charged to you.
Keep the customer’s shipping charge separate from what the provider charges you. They may differ. Use our dropshipping and print-on-demand margin calculator for an order model. Enter the full fulfillment cost, not just the blank shirt price.
- 01No discount
Sample order leaves $4.10 after ads.
- 0210% off
The same order leaves $1.19 after ads.
- 03Your costs
Try the numbers for your actual item.
Work through a $30 shirt order
Here is a made-up example with shipping included in the selling price. The customer pays $30. The shirt and print cost $14. Shipping costs $5. A sample payment fee of 3% costs $0.90. No fixed fee is included in this example.
Before ads, $10.10 is left: $30 minus $14, $5, and $0.90. If the ad cost per order is $6, $4.10 remains. That still needs to cover other costs such as the store bill, apps, refunds, and your time.
Now apply 10% off
Ten percent off reduces the price to $27. The $14 print cost and $5 shipping cost stay the same in this example. The sample 3% payment fee becomes $0.81.
Before ads, $7.19 remains. After the same $6 ad cost, only $1.19 is left. The customer saved $3, but the amount left after these costs fell by $2.91. That is why looking only at the percent off can hide what the deal costs your store.
Check what you can afford to pay for an order
The $10.10 left before ads is the most this sample order could spend on ads before it reaches zero under this model. With the discount, that amount drops to $7.19. Aim below those limits if you need money for the rest of the business.
The calculator also shows ROAS: sales divided by ad spend. A higher number is not the same as profit. The costs behind the order matter. Use the result as a cost check, not a promise that ads will bring orders.
Check free shipping and extra offers too
Free shipping still has a cost for the seller. Printful separates what buyers pay for shipping from what you pay. In our example, shipping is already included, so calling it free does not lower the buyer’s total again.
Use the offer calculator when your store charges shipping separately. Test a normal basket and a larger one. Check whether the welcome offer can combine with another deal. A cart should not get a surprise discount that you never costed.
Give shoppers useful help before another deal
A size guide, print close-up, or clear delivery note may be the right follow-up. myuser.ai uses products, visits, carts, and orders to choose, write, schedule, and send messages. You choose its designs, channels, and offers before turning sending on.
Keep the signup promise in line with the deal you can afford. Check myuser.ai’s plan fee in your wider budget. Start with a clear product and a measured cost, then use the offer where it has a purpose.
Sources & notes
Sources checked 2026-09-14. Product facts come from the links below; examples explain the steps. Read our research method and testing limits.
- Printful product pricing help.printful.com
- Printful retail shipping charges help.printful.com
- myuser.ai automatic follow-up myuser.ai