Why On-Demand Margins Beat Traditional Bulk Margins

Distributors selling branded merch the traditional way tell us their margins average between 33% and 41%. On Brikl, the average markup is 80–85%, which works out to a margin of about 44–46%. That is up to 10 margin points more on every order, on top of no inventory, no minimums and no manual order handling.

In short:

• Markup and margin are not the same number. A 50% markup is a 33% margin; an 85% markup is a 46% margin.
• Traditional branded merch margins run from about 33% to 41%, based on what our distributor customers report.
• Brikl's default markup is 50%, which already lands at a 33% margin: the low end of the traditional range.
• Most distributors raise it. The average store on Brikl runs an 80–85% markup, and some run at 100% or more.
• Buyers accept the price because they get something new: their own size, shipped to their door, when they want it.
• The margins above are gross margins on the product, before Brikl's 3.5% platform fee and card processing.

What is the difference between markup and margin?

Markup is what you add on top of your cost. Margin is the share of the selling price you keep.

The two get mixed up all the time, and it matters. A distributor who says "I work at 50%" might mean a 50% markup, which is only a 33% margin. Compare markup to someone else's margin and you will think you are doing better, or worse, than you are.

To turn a markup into a margin, divide the markup by one plus the markup:

margin = markup ÷ (1 + markup)

So a 50% markup is 0.5 ÷ 1.5 = 33.3%. Here is the same product at different markups:

Markup	Cost	Selling price	Gross profit	Margin
50% (Brikl default)	$20.00	$30.00	$10.00	33.3%
60%	$20.00	$32.00	$12.00	37.5%
70%	$20.00	$34.00	$14.00	41.2%
80%	$20.00	$36.00	$16.00	44.4%
85%	$20.00	$37.00	$17.00	45.9%
100%	$20.00	$40.00	$20.00	50.0%

The traditional range of 33–41% margin matches a markup of roughly 50% to 70%. The Brikl average of 80–85% sits clearly above it.

How do on-demand margins compare to traditional margins?

On Brikl, distributors earn about 44–46% margin on average. The traditional way, they tell us they earn 33–41%.

I talk to distributors every week, and I ask every one of them the same question: what margin do you make on branded merch today? The answers land between 33% and about 41%. Nobody has told me they make more than 41%.

Then we look at the stores running on Brikl. The average markup is 80–85%. Some distributors run at 100% or above.

	Traditional branded merch	On-demand store on Brikl
Typical markup	about 50–70%	80–85% on average
Margin	33–41% (reported by distributors)	about 44–46%
Upfront inventory	Often pre-bought	None
Minimum order	Set by the production run	None
Leftover stock	Common	None
Order handling	Quotes, emails, proofs per order	Automated from checkout to delivery

That is up to 10 margin points more. On $100,000 of sales, 10 points is $10,000 of extra gross profit, without selling a single extra item.

When I share this, the first question is always the same: how is that possible?

Why can on-demand carry a higher markup?

The honest answer: technology has finally caught up with our industry.

Think about how we used to learn something new. You drove to the library and checked out a book. Today you search for it in seconds. The ordering process for branded merch is going through the same change, and it changes what the buyer pays for.

1. The buyer gets more than a product. Each person picks their own item and size, pays at checkout, and gets it shipped to their own door. That convenience has real value, and buyers pay for it.
2. The price is compared differently. A bulk quote is compared line by line against two other quotes. A store price is seen per person, at the moment someone wants the item. There is no rebid on every order.
3. There is no waste to price in. In a bulk buy, unsold sizes and leftover stock eat part of the margin. On demand, nothing is produced until it is sold.
4. The work per order goes away. No quote, no proof cycle, no order entry, no chasing a decorator. Brikl routes each order to production automatically, so the margin you set is not eaten by hours of admin.

None of this needs a lower cost price. The extra points come from what the buyer gets and what you no longer have to do.

What markup does Brikl set by default?

Brikl sets a default markup of 50%, which is a 33% margin. Treat it as a floor, not a target.

We chose 50% so that a new store is profitable from the first order, even if you change nothing. It already matches the low end of what distributors earn the traditional way.

My recommendation to every customer is to raise it. Here is how I would approach it:

1. Start at 80%. That is close to the platform average and gives you a 44% margin.
2. Look at the item, not only the store. Low-cost items like tees and mugs can carry a higher markup without the price feeling high.
3. Check the price the buyer sees. Brikl shows the base cost next to your markup and margin, so you see the selling price before the store goes live.
4. Go to 100% where the value is clear. Personalized items, premium brands and gifts shipped to a home address often carry it easily.

Your price is your decision. The point is not to leave margin on the table because 50% was the number already filled in.

What does this look like on a real product?

Moving one polo from the default 50% markup to 85% adds $8.44 of profit per sale, after Brikl's fee.

Take a branded polo with a cost of $25.00, the same example as in our margin breakdown. The platform fee here is 3.5% of the product's selling price; shipping and card processing are left out to keep the comparison clean.

Markup	Selling price	Gross profit	Brikl fee (3.5%)	Profit after fee	Share of price
50% (default)	$37.50	$12.50	$1.31	$11.19	29.8%
85% (platform average)	$46.25	$21.25	$1.62	$19.63	42.4%
100%	$50.00	$25.00	$1.75	$23.25	46.5%

A store that sells 100 of these polos a year earns $844 more at 85% than at 50%. Across every item in every store, that adds up quickly.

Set your markup and launch a store

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Related reading

• The Real Cost of Selling Promo: A Margin Breakdown — every fee on an on-demand order, line by line.
• On-Demand vs Bulk: Which One Fits Which Order? — how to choose the right model per order.
• The Hidden Cost Per Order in Promo and Merch — the manual labor that eats traditional margins.