What Drives the Price of Custom Apparel
Two quotes for the same job can differ by half, and the reason is almost never that one shop is greedy. It's that they priced different assumptions.
Below are the five factors that actually move your total. If you're comparing bids, this is where you'll find the difference between two numbers that look similar on the surface.
The five things that move your price
1. Quantity
The single biggest lever, and the one most buyers underuse.
Setup costs are fixed. Whether you print 24 shirts or 240, someone burns the same screens and registers the same press. Spread across ten times the shirts, that cost per piece drops by roughly ten times.
The practical implication: if you're near a price break, going up is often cheaper in total. Ordering 48 instead of 36 frequently costs less overall, not just per piece. Ask for the next tier's number before you commit - a good rep will volunteer it.
Quantity has a floor as well as a ceiling: our guide to minimum order quantities explains where each method bottoms out and what to do when your order falls below it.
2. Decoration method
Method choice can swing your cost by 40% or more in either direction, and it's driven by quantity and artwork complexity rather than preference.
- Screen printing - cheapest at volume, expensive below ~48 pieces
- DTF - cheapest under ~24 pieces, no color limit, flat cost curve
- Embroidery - highest per piece, priced by stitch count, best durability
- Dye sublimation - polyester only, all-over prints, no hand-feel
Our full comparison of decoration methods covers where each one wins in detail. The short version: color count is expensive for screen printing and free for DTF, which is why the right method depends on your specific art.
3. The garment itself
Often a larger share of your total than the decoration. A basic cotton tee and a premium tri-blend can differ by more than the decoration itself before anyone prints anything.
Rough tiers:
- Value cotton tee - the standard for giveaways, events, spirit wear
- Mid-weight / ring-spun - noticeably softer, the usual choice for merch people keep
- Tri-blend and premium - retail feel, highest cost
- Performance polyester - moisture-wicking, athletic programs
- Polos, outerwear, headwear - a different category of cost entirely
If budget is tight, this is where to look first. Dropping one garment tier usually saves more than any change to the print.
4. Print size and locations
Each additional location is another press cycle - front and back roughly doubles decoration cost. Print size matters most on DTF, which is priced substantially by area.
An 8-inch front print instead of a 10-inch one saves real money and almost nobody notices the difference on a worn shirt.
5. Timeline
Rush service costs more because it displaces other work on the schedule. Standard turnaround comes with your quote, so ask for the date and the price at the same time.
This is the easiest cost to avoid entirely. Order early. Our guide to custom apparel lead times covers how far ahead to plan, including the seasonal crunch periods when the whole industry slows down.
Where hidden costs usually appear
When comparing quotes, check these specifically - they're where a low headline number turns into a higher invoice:
Setup and digitizing. Screen setup per color, or a one-time embroidery digitizing charge. Some quotes bury these; some omit them until invoicing.
Extended sizes. 2XL and up typically carry an upcharge, because the blanks cost more. If your order skews large, that's real money and it should appear in the quote.
Art charges. Recreating a low-resolution logo as vector art takes time. Ask whether it's included.
Shipping. Local delivery or showroom pickup avoids it. Freight on 500 pieces is not trivial.
Additional locations. A quote for "one-location" won't include the sleeve print you mentioned in the meeting. Confirm it's in writing.
Reorder setup. Ask whether a reorder six months out pays setup again. It shouldn't - screens can be reburned from stored separations and stitch files never expire.
How to get your cost down
In rough order of effectiveness:
- Increase quantity to the next break. Frequently reduces total cost, not just per-piece.
- Drop a garment tier. Bigger savings than most print changes.
- Reduce colors - but only for screen printing. Color count costs nothing on DTF, so simplifying artwork for a DTF job saves you nothing.
- Consolidate to one print location. One good front print beats a mediocre front-and-back.
- Combine orders across departments. Three teams ordering separately is three setups. One combined order is one.
- Order early. Rush fees are pure avoidable cost.
- Shrink the print slightly. Especially on DTF.
If you order on a recurring basis rather than once, these levers compound: our guide to running a school spirit wear program shows how a single pre-order window applies most of this list at once.
FAQ
How much does it cost to print 100 custom t-shirts?
At 100 pieces, screen printing setup has largely amortized, so per-piece pricing sits much closer to the volume rate than to the 12-piece rate. What you actually pay comes down to four things: color count, garment tier, number of print locations, and how many extended sizes are in your run. Send us those and we'll return a written number.
Why is there a setup fee for custom shirts?
Screen printing requires a separate physical screen for each color in the design. Each one is created, coated, exposed, washed out, and registered on press before the first shirt prints - work that happens once per color regardless of order size. The fee covers that labor. DTF has no setup fee because it requires no screens, which is why it's usually cheaper on small orders.
Is it cheaper to order more shirts?
Per shirt, substantially. Often in total as well. Because setup costs are fixed, moving from 36 to 48 pieces can lower your overall invoice rather than raise it. Before finalizing, ask for pricing at the next quantity break - the difference surprises people.
Do custom shirts cost more in larger sizes?
Usually 2XL and above carry an upcharge, because the blank garments themselves cost more. Sizes S through XL are typically priced the same. If your order skews toward extended sizes, make sure the quote reflects your actual size breakdown rather than a flat rate.
What's the cheapest way to get custom shirts?
A value-tier cotton tee, one-color screen print, one location, ordered at 100+ pieces with standard turnaround. That combination minimizes every cost driver at once. If your quantity is below 24, switch the method to DTF - setup costs dominate at low volume and DTF has none.
Can I get a quote without talking to a salesperson?
Yes. Send your quantity, garment preference, and artwork and we'll return written pricing with the method we'd recommend and why. If a different method would cost you less, we'll say so - we run screen printing, embroidery, and DTF in-house, so we have no reason to steer you toward one.