keepsel
Keepsel for Print on Demand

Know your margin after the provider takes theirs

Keepsel is inventory and production software for print-on-demand sellers. See the real cost behind every design once provider costs are counted, keep samples and market stock counted, and decide which designs deserve to graduate to in-house printing.

Start free for 30 days See how it works

Try free for 30 days, with 25 Suli messages once you confirm your email (all of Suli from Maker). No card.

A print-on-demand product in Keepsel

Product

Printed Tote Bag

SKU TOTE-POD-01

Material

Blank Tote Bag

tracked in each · Blanks

Supplier

Blank Apparel Co.

Variations, from Maker

Size, Color

Built around how print-on-demand sellers actually work

  1. The provider's price isn't your cost

    Base price, print surcharges, shipping tiers and platform fees stack before you earn a cent. Put the provider's charges in each product's recipe, and from the Maker plan each sales channel's fees too, so the margin you see is closer to the margin you keep.

  2. Samples and market stock are inventory too

    The samples you ordered and the small stash you sell at markets are real, countable goods. Tracking them separates 'POD business' from 'mystery box of totes in the closet'.

  3. Designs multiply; winners hide

    Fifty designs across four products is two hundred listings. From the Maker plan, with your sales recorded, you can ask Suli which artwork actually earns, and which listings are just catalog noise.

  4. When to bring printing in-house

    At some volume, a heat press beats provider prices. Comparing your provider cost against a would-be in-house recipe tells you exactly where that line is for each product.

Worked example

Printed Tote Bag, costed line by line

This is the math Keepsel does for every product you make: every line from its recipe, updated whenever a material's price changes.

Before platform fees and provider shipping: model those per channel and the 'easy' POD margin gets honest fast.

Printed Tote Bag

Provider base (blank tote)
$2.20
Print charge
$1.60
Poly mailer (your stock)
$0.30
True cost
$4.10
Suggested price
$18.00
Margin
77%

Track everything that goes into a print-on-demand product

From raw materials to the finished piece, Keepsel keeps print-on-demand sellers on top of:

  • blank tees and totes
  • ink and heat transfers
  • thread
  • hang tags
  • poly mailers

A day in Keepsel, for print-on-demand sellers

Step 1

Model each product's full cost

Provider base + print + their shipping in the recipe, and from the Maker plan the platform's fees: the true cost behind every listing.

Step 2

Record your sales

From the Maker plan, each sale you record counts against the product, so profit per design is something you can ask about, not hope for.

Step 3

Count the physical stock you do hold

Samples, market inventory and in-house experiments live as counted stock alongside the POD lines.

Step 4

Graduate the winners

When a design's volume would beat provider pricing in-house, the numbers make the case for you.

Questions print-on-demand sellers ask

How do I calculate profit on print-on-demand products?

Revenue minus the whole chain: provider base, print charges, provider shipping, platform fees and any packaging you supply. POD margins look generous until the chain is counted; modeling it per product shows which designs genuinely earn.

Do I need inventory software if my provider holds the stock?

For the provider's warehouse, no. For your business, yes: samples, market stock, in-house tests and, most importantly, per-design cost and profit all need a home. That's the difference between running listings and running a business.

When should I move from POD to printing in-house?

When a design's monthly volume times the provider premium exceeds the cost of doing it yourself. Compare your provider all-in cost with an in-house recipe (blank + film + press time) and the crossover volume falls out of the math.

How do I know which POD designs to retire?

Sort by profit, not sales. A design with steady orders and thin margin can earn less than a slow design with strong margin. Regularly pruning the bottom of the profit table keeps the catalog sharp and the ad spend focused.

Can I sell POD and handmade items side by side?

Yes. POD lines carry provider-cost recipes while handmade lines carry material recipes, both in the same workspace, and from the Maker plan both count in the same profit reports. Many sellers run POD for reach and handmade for margin.

Keepsel for other crafts

StickersStationeryVinyl DecalsCricut CraftsSublimationSee all crafts →

Guides for print-on-demand sellers

All guides

How to Price Print-on-Demand (After the Whole Fee Chain)

POD margins look generous until the fee chain is counted. Price from the all-in cost and know what a design really earns.

Etsy vs. Your Own Website: Where Should You Sell?

Etsy hands you traffic but takes a cut and the relationship. Your own site keeps the profit but you bring the traffic. Here's how to choose, or balance both.

Gross vs. Net Profit: What's the Difference?

Two products can have the same gross profit and a wildly different net. Here's the difference between the two, and why you need to watch both.

When (and How) to Discontinue a Product

Adding products is fun; cutting them feels like failure. But every product you keep costs time and materials. Here's how to know what to let go.

Run your print-on-demand business like a business

Know your true cost and margin and keep every material counted. Or try the free pricing calculator first.

Start free for 30 days See how it works

Try free for 30 days, with 25 Suli messages once you confirm your email (all of Suli from Maker). No card.