One custom shirt from our online designer usually costs $25 to $45 with the print included. A one-color front print on a basic tee runs about $14 a shirt at 24 pieces and about $8.50 at 100. Our package deals on Gildan and Port & Company tees go as low as $4.99 a shirt. Those are real prices from our shop in Vista, and the rest of this post covers what pushes them up or down.
One shirt: $25 to $45
You can order a single shirt in our online designer. Single shirts are printed with DTF (direct to film), and there’s no minimum on DTF-printed garments.
Where you land in that range depends on two things. A basic Gildan or Port & Company tee with one print location is close to $25. A Bella+Canvas or AS Colour tee printed in more than one spot is closer to $45.
The price per shirt at 24, 48, 100 and 250
Here’s roughly what a one-color front print on a basic tee costs, with setup included:
| Quantity | Price per shirt | Order total |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | $14.00 | about $336 |
| 48 | $12.00 | about $576 |
| 100 | $8.50 | about $850 |
| 250 | $7.50 | about $1,875 |
The per-shirt price drops because the setup work is the same whether we print 24 shirts or 250. The more shirts share it, the less each one carries.
“One color” can still mean two passes on the press. Red ink on a black shirt needs a white underbase printed first, which technically makes it a two-color print even though you only see one color. Some prints also need flashing, meaning two layers of white. Both can add to the price.
Package deals: the cheapest way to buy in bulk
Our online store has fixed packages of 12, 25, 50 and 100 pieces:
| Package | Tees | Hoodies | Totes | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | $149 | $449 | $149 | $149 |
| 25 | $199 | $799 | $199 | $199 |
| 50 | $299 | $1,249 | $299 | $299 |
| 100 | $499 | $1,999 | $499 | $499 |
The tee packages work out to about $12.42 a shirt at 12, $7.96 at 25, $5.98 at 50 and $4.99 at 100. Each one is a Gildan or Port & Company midweight tee with a one-color screen print up to 12×12 inches on one location, or a small full-color print (up to 4×4) like a left chest logo. Setup is included. Sizes 2XL and up may cost a little extra.
The packages cost less than the table above because everything is fixed: the shirt, the quantity and the print. If you want a different shirt, more colors or a quantity in between, we’ll quote it, and the per-shirt prices above are a good guide.
Which package is the best value? Usually the middle one. Fifty pieces gets you a great price per shirt without pushing your total so high that you end up with a pile of shirts nobody needs.
What adds to the price
Each extra print color or extra location (a back print, a sleeve) adds anywhere from 50 cents a shirt on a big order to as much as $5 a shirt on a very small one. Again, it comes down to setup: every color is another screen, and every location is more time on the press.
The shirt itself matters too, though not always as much as people think. We don’t mark blanks up much, just enough to cover spoilage and test prints. But some premium blanks are expensive, and a premium shirt with a simple one-color print can cost as much as a cheap shirt printed in three spots with lots of colors.
Setup fees are already in the price
For regular orders, we spread the setup cost across the order and include it in the price per shirt. What you see is what you pay. You won’t find a screen fee or setup line at the bottom of the invoice that takes three emails to explain.
The exception is wholesale and contract printing for other people in the industry. Those customers usually want every cost broken out so they can compare prices and explain the job to their own clients, so we show them.
Screen printing or DTF: where the line is
DTF is the better pick for small orders with lots of colors. Screen printing is the better pick for bigger orders with a few colors.
Screen printing starts at 24 pieces. On 24 to 36 pieces we cap screen prints at three colors, then allow one more color for every additional 12 pieces. Past that, DTF almost always ends up cheaper for you.
A couple of examples of how that plays out:
- 24 shirts with one big one-color print: we’ll usually screen print it. The ink is cheaper and one screen isn’t much setup.
- 24 shirts with a small or mid-size three-color graphic: we’ll push for DTF. It costs less to produce, and we can get it out faster.
And if you really want screen printing on 12 shirts, we’ll do it. You’ll pay the same as you would for 24, so we’ll suggest adding shirts, since the setup is already paid for. Some people just feel screen printing looks more professional, and we’re happy to do the work. A lot of shops won’t touch an order under 36 or even 72 pieces.
How long it takes, and what rush costs
Most orders take 5 to 7 business days once you approve the proof, whether it’s 1 shirt or 500. Orders over 2,000 pieces usually need 10 to 15 business days.
If you need it sooner, rush is 25% of the order for each day we cut:
| Turnaround | Rush fee |
|---|---|
| 4 business days | 25% |
| 3 business days | 50% |
| 2 business days | 75% |
| Next day | 100% |
Rush costs what it does because we’re moving other customers’ jobs aside and piling extra work on the crew.
Two orders from this week
A small one. A local water filtration company called us one morning this week. Shirts they’d ordered online were weeks late, and their trade show was that same morning. We had their shirts ready in about five hours. They only needed four, and we threw in a couple of hats. They were thrilled.
A big one. This week we printed crops, tees and tanks for the Santa Barbara Seafood Festival, sponsored by Paddle Sports Center in Santa Barbara. They added a few orders for their own shop while they were at it. While we were printing, we noticed most of their shop shirts had nothing on them saying where they came from. The screen was already set up, so we called and suggested adding their branding to the backs of all the shop shirts. It’s only a small print at the back of the neck, but on a shirt a tourist takes home, that little bit of branding makes the shirt worth more and gets their name out further. They loved it.
Which shirt to pick at each budget
- Tight budget: Gildan or Port & Company. Tried-and-true staple tees. Everyone has a few in their closet, with or without the label.
- Mid budget: District, Next Level, Bella+Canvas or Shaka Wear. Brands people are proud to wear, with a smoother print surface that holds fine detail a looser weave can lose.
- Premium: AS Colour or Stanley/Stella. These look, feel and print great. The weave is tight and stable, so prints come out really clean.
An unpopular opinion: everyone loves Comfort Colors and other garment-dyed shirts. They’re cool, they feel nice and they don’t shrink much. In our experience they also come with crooked hems, off-center pockets and dye that doesn’t always match from one batch to the next, even in the same color. The garment dye shows every pressure mark from a squeegee or heat press, and we can’t clean up a pinhole or smudge without clouding the dye. When the seams are crooked, we have to choose between printing straight or following the seam, and we usually follow the seam, because otherwise the shirt’s flaw makes the print look wrong. To us, they’re not really retail ready.
The most common mistake: ordering too few
People underestimate how many shirts they’ll actually need. Ordering 10 extra now costs a lot less than placing a second order later that has to meet a minimum and be set up all over again. If you’re already ordering a few hundred, add about 10% as a cushion.
Team and school stores: no minimums, no leftovers
If you don’t know how many you’ll sell, a team store takes the guessing out of it. People order online, and we print only what sells. Some of our stores have sold hundreds of pieces. Others sold just a couple. Either way, the team or business didn’t lose money on a box of shirts nobody bought.
Why we print it ourselves
From a business point of view, it would make more sense for us to sell, sell, sell and send all the printing out. Equipment, employees, space and learning curves are expensive and painful. Plenty of “print companies” do exactly that and never touch a press.
We don’t. We print most orders in-house, because when you outsource, you can’t control the quality or make sure the job meets expectations. Knowing the rules of printing well is what lets us break them on purpose and do things that stand out. That comes from experience and from loving the work.
We’ve been printing in Vista since 2017 for local businesses and groups like the Vista Chamber of Commerce, United Scaffold, ERS, American Tattoo, 454 Tattoo and Milk Organics.
Get your price
Need one shirt or a handful? Start designing online and you’ll see your price before you check out. Ordering 24 or more, or not sure which method fits your design? Get a bulk quote, or call us at 760-650-2282.