Research — By WATMM Desk —
Pay stub: what a band keeps from one $25 merch T-shirt
On our arithmetic, a $25 screen-printed tour shirt sold by card at a US show leaves the band about $6.60 at a venue taking 20% of gross, about $11.60 at a venue taking nothing, and about $5.35 at 25%. Every assumption is below. Sources read 28 Oct 2026.
Key facts
- A US printer's worked example prices 50 screen-printed shirts at $630 all-in, or $12.60 a shirt, including a $50 setup (screen) fee and $30 shipping.
- Square's US in-person card rate on its Free plan is 2.6% + $0.15 per payment.
- The Barbican told Pollstar it used to charge artists 20% commission on merch; Music Venue Trust said under 2% of UK grassroots venues charge any.
A fan hands over $25 for your tour shirt at the merch table. It feels like the best-margin thing a band sells, and sometimes it is. But three people take a slice before you do: the printer, the venue and the card processor. Here is the stub for one shirt.
Assumptions
- A $25 shirt sold at a US show, paid by card, no sales tax in the price. $25 is our assumed price, not a sourced average.
- Print cost is $12.60 a shirt. That is a US printer's own worked example for 50 screen-printed shirts: $7.00 blanks, $4.00 decoration each, a $50 setup (screen) fee and $30 shipping, $630 in all (Underground Shirts). Your printer, blank and colour count will move this.
- The venue takes 20% of gross. The Barbican told Pollstar it "used to charge 20% commission to artists for merch sales" (Pollstar). We also show 0% and 25%; our merch commission explainer covers the Featured Artists Coalition's reports of cuts at 25% of gross plus VAT, and its directory of venues that take nothing. We assume the cut is on the full $25.
- Card fee is 2.6% + $0.15, Square's US in-person rate on its Free plan (Checkout Page). A cash sale skips this line.
- Every shirt sells. Unsold stock, damaged shirts and the band's travel and table time are ignored.
- The band owns the design. No label or merch-company split, and no designer royalty.
The stub
| Line | Venue takes 0% | Venue takes 20% | Venue takes 25% |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fan pays | $25.00 | $25.00 | $25.00 |
| Print cost (50-shirt run) | −$12.60 | −$12.60 | −$12.60 |
| Venue commission | $0.00 | −$5.00 | −$6.25 |
| Card fee (2.6% + $0.15) | −$0.80 | −$0.80 | −$0.80 |
| Band keeps | ≈ $11.60 | ≈ $6.60 | ≈ $5.35 |
Paid in cash, the band keeps $0.80 more in each column.
What we think
The venue line is the one to watch. At 20% it takes $5.00, more than six times the card fee and over 40% of what the band would otherwise keep. Because it is charged on gross, not profit, it hits a band with expensive shirts hardest: the venue takes the same $5.00 whether your shirt cost $4 or $14 to make.
The second lever is the run size. In the printer's example, the $50 screen and $30 shipping are $1.60 of the $12.60. Spread over 100 shirts they would be about $0.80, on our arithmetic, if nothing else changed. Only order that many if you will actually sell them; a box of unsold mediums erases the saving fast.
Find out the rate before you load in, and put it in the contract. Pollstar reported Music Venue Trust saying fewer than 2% of UK grassroots venues charge commission at all (Pollstar), so the cut mostly appears as bands move up to bigger rooms.
Sources
- How to calculate the true cost per shirt when ordering custom apparel, Underground Shirts (primary source). Accessed 28 Oct 2026.
- Indie venues forgo merch cut under enormous financial pressure, Pollstar. Accessed 28 Oct 2026.
- Square fees: every rate for in-person, online, and keyed payments in 2026, Checkout Page. Accessed 28 Oct 2026.
Researched with AI assistance, written and checked by WATMM Desk.