Price my item

Sublimation Pricing Calculator for Mugs and Tumblers

A sublimation mug or tumbler costs more than its blank: paper and ink, heat tape, packaging, the occasional misprint and your time all count. Enter them below with the profit you want, and the calculator works out a price that still leaves that profit after Etsy or market fees.

Price my item

Materials

What one item uses, in dollars. For a pack, divide the pack price by the number of items it makes.

Your time and overhead

All your hands-on time for one item: designing, pressing, weeding and packing.

What you want to pay yourself for an hour of work, in dollars.

Rent, machine wear, software, spread per item

Shipping

What the buyer pays you for shipping. Enter 0 for free shipping or in-person sales.

What you pay for postage and the label for one order.

Where you sell

Etsy fees used: 6.5% transaction plus 3% payment processing on the item price plus shipping (9.5% in total), and $0.25 processing plus $0.20 listing per order ($0.45 in total). Offsite Ads fees are not included.

Your goal

Profit as a share of what the buyer pays (price plus shipping), after all costs and fees.

Enter a price you charge now to see its fees, profit and margin.

Your price

Add your material costs or your time to see a price.

What to count in a sublimation cost

  • Blanks. The price per mug or tumbler, including your share of the shipping on your supply order. Count the lid and straw for tumblers.
  • Paper and ink per print. One sheet of sublimation paper plus your ink cost per print.
  • Heat tape and small supplies. Tape, protective paper and anything else used up in pressing.
  • Shrink wrap for tumblers. One sleeve per tumbler, or more if you sometimes re-press.
  • Packaging. Boxes, bubble wrap or paper fill, tissue and inserts.
  • Spoiled blanks. Spread the cost of misprints across the good items. If one blank in twenty is ruined, add one twentieth of a blank’s cost to each item.
  • Press wear as overhead. Presses, mug wraps and ovens wear out. Spread their cost, and software subscriptions, across what you make using the overhead field.

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Questions sellers ask

How do I count ink cost per print?

Divide what you paid for an ink set by the approximate number of prints you get from it, then add the cost of one sheet of paper.

Should misprints be in my price?

Yes. If one blank in twenty is ruined, add one twentieth of a blank’s cost to each item.

Is a tumbler priced differently from a mug?

The method is the same, but tumblers usually take longer and use shrink wrap, so the labor and materials lines change.