Your organization does. A discount comes out of the markup you set on each item, and if a code is worth more than that markup, you're billed the difference. Codes never cover shipping, and shoppers still pay any applicable sales tax — so size your code against your smallest markup before sharing it.
Your organization absorbs the discount
On a Print Your Cause store, you set the final sales price for every item, and your organization makes 100% of the difference between the item's base cost and that price. A discount code does not change what it costs to produce the item — it reduces what the shopper pays. So when a supporter applies a code at checkout, the discount comes out of your markup, not out of the item's base cost.
In other words, a discount code is your organization choosing to give back some of its own margin — usually deliberately, to boost participation, thank volunteers, or encourage orders before an event. Print Your Cause does not fund the discount, and the shopper does not pay for it later. Your markup does.
What a code applies to — and what it never covers
A discount code reduces the order subtotal: the item prices before shipping and tax.
- Shipping is not covered. Shipping is weight-based, and shoppers choose a shipping tier (speed and price) at checkout. A discount code does not reduce or absorb that cost, and any leftover code value does not roll over to shipping.
- Tax is not covered. Shoppers remain responsible for applicable sales tax, which varies by jurisdiction.
If the code is bigger than your markup
A discount can only be absorbed by margin up to the amount of margin that exists. If the value of a code exceeds the markup on the items in an order, your organization is billed the difference.
Here is a purely hypothetical example — these are not Print Your Cause's actual costs or prices. Imagine a shirt with a base cost of $14 that you have priced at $20, for a $6 markup. A $5 code comes entirely out of that markup: the shopper saves $5, and the order earns your organization $1 instead of $6. A $10 code exceeds the markup by $4: the shopper still saves the full $10, but your organization is billed that extra $4.
Before you publish a code
- Check the markup on every item the code could apply to, especially your lowest-markup item. Sizing the code below your smallest markup means you never owe a difference on any order.
- Remember that the code reduces item prices only. When you share it with supporters, say plainly that shipping and applicable sales tax still apply, so no one is surprised at checkout.
- If you want a discount to serve a specific goal — a launch week, a team milestone, an appreciation push — set it intentionally rather than leaving it open-ended, since every redemption reduces what the store earns for your cause.
How your sales price and each item’s base cost determine your profit is explained in our FAQs, and the broader store model is covered on how it works. If you are unsure whether your current markups leave room for the code you have in mind, we are glad to look at it with you before you publish.
