Can you make US$100 a day selling shirts? A calculation can show how many shirts you would need to sell. It cannot promise that customers will place those orders.
Start with this: collecting US$100 is not the same as earning US$100. If a customer pays US$100 and making the order costs US$80, only US$20 remains before other bills.
Let us try a simple example
All these numbers are chosen for practice. They are not a real business’s earnings or a price list for your town.
- You sell each shirt for US$25.
- Making one shirt costs US$13. Count the shirt, design, work, bag and some money for possible mistakes.
- Taking a payment costs 2.9% plus US$0.30 in this example.
- You set aside US$20 a day for other business bills.
Assume each customer buys one shirt and makes one payment. If customers buy several shirts together, change the payment calculation.
What one shirt leaves
Start with US$25. Take away US$13 to make the shirt. Then take away US$1.025 to collect the payment. You have US$10.975 per shirt left. We keep the extra decimal places until the end.
The US$20 daily bills still need paying. To leave US$100 before tax, first you need US$120: your US$100 goal plus those US$20 bills.
Calculate 120 ÷ 10.975 = 10.93. You cannot sell 0.93 of a shirt, so round up to 11 shirts.
Check the whole day
- Collect 11 × US$25: US$275.
- Make 11 shirts at US$13: US$143.
- Pay US$11.275 in total payment charges.
- Set aside US$20 for the other daily bills.
275 − 143 − 11.275 − 20 = US$100.725. Rounded at the end, that is US$100.73 before tax. It only works if you make those sales and your costs match the example.
What if the selling price changes?
Keeping the US$13 making cost, the same payment charge and US$20 daily bills, a US$20 price requires 20 shirts to reach the goal. A US$30 price requires 8. That does not mean raising the price keeps the same number of customers. Test what people will actually pay.
Shipping needs paying too
If you pay for shipping, add it. As a reference, Printful’s help page uses US$4.75 in an example for one shirt sent to the United States. That is not a rate for every order or for your own workshop.
Add US$4.75 shipping per shirt to our US$25 sale example and you need 20 shirts instead of 11. Get your actual shipping cost before offering free delivery.
Start with a small test
Choose an audience and a design you have permission to use. Show a sample, ask whether people would buy at your price and try a few orders. Write down what you spend and how long the work takes.
If each shirt leaves nothing or loses money, making more will not fix it. Check the price and costs first. A goal helps you plan. It is not a daily income promise.
Keep planning your next order
- How to Price Your T-Shirts: A Simple Cost Example
- Buy a DTF Printer or Order Transfers? Do These Simple Sums
- How Much to Charge for 25 T-Shirts: Step by Step
Where the reference numbers come from
Reference pages checked on October 31, 2026. Prices may change. Our practice numbers are examples, not recorded business results.
Free worksheet to fill in
Open the CSV file in a spreadsheet app, such as Excel or Google Sheets. It is a table with example numbers and instructions. Replace them with your own costs. It does not do the calculations automatically.