DTG Profit Calculator: Cost vs Selling Price Guide
A DTG Profit Calculator tells you how much a printed shirt really costs and what your profit and margin will be after you add ink, pretreat, labor, overhead, equipment amortization, shipping, and spoilage.
Use it to set prices, test “is DTG printing profitable” for your shop, and run scenarios (bulk vs single or POD vs local). Quick, repeatable math beats guesswork every time.
Why A Calculator Beats Rules-of-Thumb
- Pricing by gut = missed profit or losing customers.
- Calculator = consistent quotes, accurate breakeven, and true margin numbers.
- You can test scenarios (lower garment cost, higher order volume) and see how margin changes instantly.
DTG Profit Calculator App
You can check our all Sublimation Calculation apps
What a DTG Profit Calculator measures
A well-built calculator turns inputs into three core outputs:
Inputs (per-shirt or amortized per-shirt)
- Selling price (what you charge the customer)
- Garment cost (wholesale blank cost)
- Ink cost per print (actual ink used for the file)
- Pretreat cost (liquid + labor and bottles)
- Labor per shirt (print + press + finishing)
- Packaging & shipping per shirt
- Overhead allocation (rent, utilities, software, marketing divided by volume)
- Equipment amortization per shirt (printer, pretreat machine spread over expected production)
- Spoilage/waste (percent or per-unit)
These match common DTG ROI calculators and ROI tools.
Outputs
- Total cost per shirt (sum of the above)
- Profit per shirt (selling price minus total cost)
- Profit margin percent = profit / selling price
Not sure about your heat settings? Use the Sublimation Temperature & Pressure Calculator to get precise recommendations.
Build a DTG Profit Calculator in Excel (step-by-step)
Setup the sheet (columns & cell names)
Use one row per cost item and clear labels. Example layout:
| Cell | Label | Example value |
|---|---|---|
| B2 | Selling Price | 25.00 |
| B3 | Garment cost | 3.50 |
| B4 | Ink cost | 0.80 |
| B5 | Pretreat cost | 0.60 |
| B6 | Labor per shirt | 1.50 |
| B7 | Overhead per shirt | 0.75 |
| B8 | Packaging & shipping | 2.50 |
| B9 | Equipment amortization | 0.40 |
| B10 | Total cost | formula |
| B11 | Profit per shirt | formula |
| B12 | Profit margin % | formula |
Ready to set your prices with confidence? Check out the Sublimation Pricing Calculator and start maximizing profit.
Excel formulas to use
- Total cost
B10==SUM(B3:B9) - Profit per shirt
B11==B2 - B10 - Profit margin %
B12==IF(B2>0,(B11/B2),0)
How to calculate equipment amortization (example)
If printer = $25,000, life = 5 years, 250 working days/year, and you expect 50 shirts/day:
Total shirts = 5 * 250 * 50 = 62,500
Equipment amort per shirt = 25000 / 62,500 = $0.40
(That $0.40 example is used in the table above.) This is a typical approach used by printer ROI tools.
Worked DTG example (real numbers)
Inputs (same as the table above) lead to:
- Selling price $25.00
- Total cost $10.05
- Profit per shirt $14.95
- Profit margin 59.8%
Quick sensitivity (same cost base):
- At $18 sell price, margin ≈ 44.2%
- At $22 sell price, margin ≈ 54.3%
- At $25 sell price, margin ≈ 59.8%
- At $30 sell price, margin ≈ 66.5%
This shows how pricing shifts margin quickly, a few dollars change can make a big difference for single prints and bulk orders. (Numbers used here are the Excel example earlier.)
Explore all our free tools in one place with the Sublimation Craft Calculators hub.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- Ignoring amortization — skipping equipment amort inflates margin. Include the printer, pretreat station, and any finishing gear.
- Underestimating ink use — complex prints use more ink. Track actual ink usage per design.
- Not adding spoilage — assume a 1–3% spoilage for small shops, higher for new operators.
- Using wrong garment cost — track your real vendor prices including tax and freight.
- Setting price by competition only — market rates matter, but you still must cover your costs. Typical consumer price ranges for DTG tees vary; many shops price between $15 and $25+ depending on quality and niche.
Is DTG printing profitable, is DTG worth it?
Short answer: it can be, for the right model. DTG shines for small runs, complex full-color prints, personalization, and POD shops. Profitability depends on volume, machine cost, labor efficiency, and how well you control ink and garment costs.
Many modern shops combine DTG with DTF or screen printing for different order sizes. Use the calculator to test if your expected orders hit your break-even and ROI targets.
Want to fine-tune your pricing strategy? Try our Sublimation Cost Estimator to break down expenses accurately.
DTG vs DTF vs DTE — Profit Notes
- DTG best for soft feel on cotton, great for photo prints on short runs, variable data, personalization.
- DTF can print on a wider range of fabrics, may reduce pretreat needs, often lower cost for mixed-fabric runs.
- DTE (Direct to … variant) and other techs have different consumable profiles; always compare equipment amortization and consumables per shirt with the same calculator inputs.
If you’re evaluating a new printer, run the same calculator with vendor-provided ink & throughput numbers to compare payback period and ROI. You can check GTX ROI Calculator here.
