Business Calculators · Print on demand
Merch on Demand royalty, from the figures Amazon publishes.
Choose a product, set the price a customer pays and your royalty group. The calculator returns the royalty Amazon lists for that price, interpolates between its published points, and totals a month after returns.
Your product
Result
Enter your numbers and press Calculate.
How Merch on Demand pays
Merch on Demand prints and ships your design when a customer buys it on Amazon, and pays you a royalty on every product sold. Amazon takes its costs, including production and fulfillment, out of the price, and the royalty is what is left, multiplied by a factor that depends on your royalty group. Amazon publishes that result as a short list of examples per product, not as a formula, which is why this calculator works from those examples and tells you when a figure is interpolated.
In the US store there are three royalty groups. Creator is the standard group. Plus is for creators who drive at least 15% of their unit sales with non-organic traffic, such as ads or social media, and Premium is for those who drive at least 35%; both need at least 10 units a month in the US store, and the group is refreshed monthly from a trailing two-month average.
How the royalty is calculated
Amazon's page defines the royalty as the product's offer price less any applicable tax and less Amazon's costs (materials, production, fulfillment, customer service, returns, exchanges and fraud prevention), with a multiplier applied for your group. It lists the Creator-group royalty at five or six prices per product. This tool returns Amazon's listed figure at those prices and interpolates in a straight line between neighbouring prices. Outside a product's listed price range it gives no figure, because Amazon publishes none. Plus and Premium are 2x and 2.16x the Creator figure, which is our reading of "2x and 2.16x the Creator group rates". Returns reduce the total: Amazon deducts the royalty on returned units.
Figures as of October 26, 2026, from Amazon Merch on Demand: Royalties and the Amazon Merch on Demand: FAQs. These are US-store figures; Amazon says rates outside the US store are unchanged and are not covered here.
Worked example
A Standard T-Shirt sold at $19.99 shows a Creator-group royalty of $2.44 on Amazon's page, about 12.2% of the price. At $18.99, which is not one of the published prices, the tool interpolates between $17.99 ($1.70) and $19.99 ($2.44) and returns $2.07. Selling 100 shirts at $19.99 in a month with 10% of them returned:
| Royalty group | Royalty per unit | Royalty on 100 units | After 10% returns |
|---|---|---|---|
| Creator (1x) | $2.44 | $244.00 | $219.60 |
| Plus (2x) | $4.88 | $488.00 | $439.20 |
| Premium (2.16x) | $5.27 | $527.00 | $474.30 |
Price matters: on this shirt every extra dollar of price adds about $0.37 of Creator royalty. Compare that with other print-on-demand options in the Zazzle royalty calculator, the Redbubble profit calculator and the print-on-demand margin calculator.
Published royalty figures by product
| Product | Lowest published price | Creator royalty | Highest published price | Creator royalty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard T-Shirt | $15.99 | $0.96 | $25.99 | $4.66 |
| Premium Tri-Blend T-Shirt | $19.99 | $1.86 | $24.99 | $3.61 |
| Comfort Colors Heavyweight T-Shirt | $19.99 | $0.80 | $24.99 | $2.55 |
| Comfort Colors Crop Top | $20.99 | $1.57 | $24.99 | $2.97 |
| Comfort Colors Adult Sweatshirt | $35.99 | $0.29 | $39.99 | $1.69 |
| Comfort Colors Crop Sweatshirt | $35.99 | $0.29 | $39.99 | $1.69 |
| Long Sleeve T-Shirt | $20.99 | $1.19 | $25.99 | $2.98 |
| Pullover Hoodie | $29.99 | $1.78 | $39.99 | $5.39 |
| Zip Hoodie | $29.99 | $1.13 | $39.99 | $4.68 |
| Sweatshirt | $27.99 | $1.06 | $37.99 | $4.80 |
| Tank Top | $16.99 | $0.60 | $20.99 | $2.00 |
| V-Neck | $17.99 | $1.05 | $22.99 | $2.92 |
| Raglan | $21.99 | $1.18 | $26.99 | $3.02 |
| Performance T-Shirt | $14.99 | $0.20 | $18.99 | $1.60 |
| Performance Polo | $19.99 | $1.16 | $24.99 | $2.91 |
| Performance Quarter Zip | $19.99 | $0.80 | $24.99 | $2.55 |
| Performance Hoodie | $36.99 | $1.38 | $40.99 | $2.79 |
| Softshell Jacket for Men | $44.99 | $2.79 | $48.99 | $4.12 |
| Soccer Jersey | $29.99 | $3.50 | $34.99 | $5.25 |
| Basketball Jersey | $24.99 | $2.10 | $29.99 | $3.85 |
| Baseball Jersey | $29.99 | $3.50 | $34.99 | $5.25 |
| Printed Baseball Hat | $19.99 | $1.40 | $23.99 | $1.68 |
| Printed Trucker Hat | $19.99 | $1.40 | $23.99 | $1.68 |
| Sport Sun Visor | $17.99 | $1.26 | $21.99 | $1.54 |
| PopSockets Grip | $12.99 | $0.91 | $15.49 | $1.08 |
| Non-Magnetic Case for iPhone | $14.99 | $1.05 | $19.99 | $1.40 |
| Magnetic Case for iPhone (14-18) | $21.99 | $1.53 | $25.99 | $1.81 |
| Tote Bag | $16.99 | $0.60 | $21.99 | $2.68 |
| Crossbody Bag for Women and Men | $24.99 | $1.74 | $28.99 | $2.02 |
| Sport Backpack | $42.99 | $3.00 | $46.99 | $3.26 |
| Throw Pillow (16in) | $18.99 | $0.64 | $23.99 | $2.66 |
| Throw Pillow (18in) | $20.99 | $1.45 | $25.99 | $3.47 |
| Graphic Throw Blanket | $28.99 | $2.03 | $32.99 | $2.31 |
| Graphic Sherpa Throw Blanket | $34.99 | $2.45 | $38.99 | $2.73 |
| Tumbler | $26.99 | $1.89 | $30.99 | $2.17 |
| Stainless Steel Travel Tumbler | $29.99 | $2.25 | $33.99 | $2.55 |
| Water Bottle | $28.99 | $2.03 | $32.99 | $2.31 |
| Mugs (11 oz) | $16.99 | $1.27 | $20.99 | $1.57 |
| Mugs (15 oz) | $18.49 | $1.39 | $22.49 | $1.69 |
| Hardcover Journal | $16.99 | $1.18 | $20.99 | $1.46 |
| 12-pack Retractable Pens | $13.99 | $0.97 | $17.99 | $1.25 |
| Unframed Posters 8"x10" | $11.99 | $0.84 | $15.99 | $1.12 |
| Unframed Posters 16"x20" | $15.99 | $1.12 | $19.99 | $1.40 |
| Graphic Mouse Pad | $13.99 | $0.98 | $17.99 | $1.26 |
| Graphic Laptop Sleeve | $25.99 | $1.82 | $29.99 | $2.10 |
What this does not cover
- Prices outside the listed range, and products Amazon does not list on its royalty page.
- Two-sided printing. Amazon lists it under additional costs at +$4.00 in the US and this tool does not model it.
- Tax withholding. Amazon says non-US creators face 30% US withholding unless a treaty rate applies; that is a tax matter for you and your adviser.
- Sales volume, ranking and eligibility. Amazon decides what is published and who can sell.
- Group and rate changes. Amazon says royalty group definitions and rates are subject to change.
Sources
Amazon Merch on Demand: Royalties: the royalty definition, the three US royalty groups, the 2x and 2.16x multipliers and the Creator-tier examples for each product. Amazon Merch on Demand: FAQs: royalties based on the price a customer pays, royalty deductions on returns and tax withholding. Retrieved October 26, 2026.
Common mix-ups
-
Often assumedMy royalty is based on the list price I enter in the Merch portal.
What the source saysAmazon says royalties are based on the price a customer pays. You enter a list price during product setup, but Amazon independently sets the purchase price, and the two may not always be the same. [2]
-
Often assumedReturned items do not affect my royalties.
What the source saysAmazon deducts royalties on returned products. If returned royalties exceed shipped royalties in a month the balance goes negative; Amazon does not debit your bank account for it but deducts it from the following month's earnings. [2]
-
Often assumedPlus and Premium rates depend on how many shirts I sell.
What the source saysAmazon ties them to the share of your unit sales that come from non-organic traffic you drive (15% for Plus, 35% for Premium), with a minimum of 10 units a month in the US store. [1]
Checked against these sources on .
Frequently asked questions
How does Amazon calculate Merch on Demand royalties?
Your royalty is the product's offer price less any applicable tax and less Amazon's costs, with a multiplier applied by royalty group. Amazon publishes the Creator-group result at several prices per product.
What are the Merch on Demand royalty groups?
In the US store: Creator (standard), Plus (enhanced rates for creators who drive at least 15% of unit sales with non-organic traffic) and Premium (highest rates for those who drive at least 35%). Plus and Premium need at least 10 units a month in the US store.
How much more do Plus and Premium pay?
Amazon says Plus and Premium receive 2x and 2.16x the Creator group rates in the US store. On a $19.99 Standard T-Shirt the Creator royalty is $2.44, so that is about $4.88 and $5.27.
Why does the calculator refuse some prices?
Amazon publishes royalty figures only inside a price range for each product. Outside it, any number would be a guess, so the tool shows the range instead.
Do returns reduce my royalty?
Yes. Amazon deducts royalties on returned products, and says it does not recognize a sale until the item is shipped. Cancelled products before fulfillment pay no royalty.
Does the VAT or sales tax come out of my royalty?
The royalty is based on the price before applicable tax. In Europe and Japan the displayed price already includes tax, and for the US the tax is added at checkout and is not part of Amazon's examples.
Disclaimer
TNAADO is not affiliated with Amazon. Results use the published examples cited above and the numbers you enter, and can change. This is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Everything runs in your browser and nothing you enter is sent or stored.