There is no honest single price for “printing a T-shirt.”
The final cost depends on the specification.
A one-colour chest print on 500 standard T-shirts is not the same job as a full-colour front and back print on 24 heavyweight garments.
The useful question is:
WHAT IS DRIVING THE COST OF THIS JOB?
01 / THE MAIN COST COMPONENTS
A printed T-shirt project is usually made up of:
GARMENT COST The blank itself.
DECORATION COST Screen print, DTG, DTF or another method.
SETUP COST Screens, artwork preparation, digitisation or other setup where applicable.
PRINT LOCATIONS Front, back, sleeve, neck or multiple placements.
FINISHING Labels, folding, bagging, packaging or specialist handling.
DELIVERY Where and when the goods need to arrive.
02 / GARMENT COST
The blank can be one of the biggest differences between two quotes.
A lightweight promotional shirt, premium retail blank and heavyweight streetwear T-shirt may all look similar in a product thumbnail, but they can have very different wholesale costs and finished positioning.
Choose the garment based on the final product you are trying to create, not just the lowest unit price.
03 / QUANTITY
Quantity changes unit economics because some production costs are spread across the run.
For screen printing, setup work such as creating screens may be incurred before the first garment is printed. When the same artwork is repeated across more garments, that setup represents a smaller cost per unit.
Digital methods can require less traditional setup, making them useful for smaller quantities.
That does not mean there is one universal quantity where screen printing becomes cheapest. Artwork, garment and printer workflow all matter.
04 / NUMBER OF COLOURS
For traditional spot-colour screen printing, more colours can mean more screens, setup and production steps.
A one-colour logo and six-colour illustration should not be expected to cost the same.
For DTG or DTF, pricing is not usually structured around screen count in the same way, but print size, ink coverage and transfer dimensions can still influence cost.
05 / PRINT LOCATIONS
A front print is one production operation.
A front + back + sleeve job involves additional setup and handling.
Always specify every intended location when requesting a quote.
A quote for “100 printed tees” is incomplete if the printer later discovers that each garment needs three print placements.
06 / PRINT SIZE
Print dimensions matter.
A small chest mark and oversized full-front graphic use different amounts of material and production time.
Give artwork dimensions in centimetres or millimetres where possible.
Do not rely on “small,” “medium” or “big.”
07 / THE PRINT METHOD
SCREEN PRINTING Can become efficient across repeat runs, but setup needs to be considered.
DTG Can suit detailed multi-colour work and smaller quantities where screen setup would be inefficient.
DTF Offers flexibility for detailed multi-colour work, varied products and short runs.
The cheapest method is not automatically the correct method. The finish still has to meet the brief.
08 / ARTWORK QUALITY
Production-ready artwork saves time.
Poor source files may need:
- redrawing • vectorisation • colour separation • background removal • resolution repair • manual setup
If artwork services are required, that may become a separate cost.
Send original files wherever possible.
09 / SPECIALIST FINISHES
Special effects can change pricing considerably.
Examples can include:
- puff • metallic • high-density • discharge • specialty inks • oversized prints • unusual placements
These should be specified before quoting rather than added after approval.
10 / LABELS AND FINISHING
A retail clothing-brand job may include more than decoration.
Potential extras include:
- neck-label removal • printed neck labels • woven labels • care labels • swing tags • individual folding • bagging • custom packaging
Each production stage adds labour or materials.
11 / DEADLINE
Urgency can reduce the number of viable production routes.
If a job needs to be completed extremely quickly, the production team may need to use available blanks, prioritise certain methods or adjust workflow.
Do not hide the deadline until the end of the enquiry.
Tell production the real in-hand date from the beginning.
12 / DELIVERY
Always distinguish between:
PRODUCTION COMPLETE DATE and IN-HAND DATE.
If 500 garments need to arrive at a venue by Friday, finishing them at the printer on Friday does not solve the job.
Transport, packing and receiving time must be included.
13 / WHY ONLINE “FROM £X” PRICES CAN MISLEAD
Entry prices are usually based on a particular garment, quantity, artwork and decoration specification.
Changing any of those inputs can change the quote.
Instead of comparing headline prices, compare like-for-like specifications.
Ask every supplier to quote the same:
- garment • quantity • sizes • colours • artwork • print size • print locations • finishing • delivery
14 / HOW TO GET A USEFUL QUOTE
Provide:
PRODUCT Exact garment if known, otherwise desired quality/fit.
QUANTITY Including size breakdown if available.
ARTWORK Original files or best available version.
PLACEMENTS Front, back, sleeve etc.
DIMENSIONS Approximate physical print size.
DEADLINE Real in-hand date.
DELIVERY LOCATION Postcode or city where appropriate.
15 / COST PER UNIT VS TOTAL PROJECT COST
A lower unit cost does not always mean a cheaper project.
Example:
Option A encourages you to order 500 pieces to obtain a lower unit price.
Option B lets you order 150 at a higher unit price.
If you only need or can sell 150, Option B may require substantially less cash.
Always compare:
UNIT COST TOTAL CASH OUTLAY LIKELY SELL-THROUGH
16 / IF THE T-SHIRTS ARE FOR RESALE
Work backwards from your realistic selling price.
Your margin needs to absorb more than printing.
Potential costs include:
- garment • print • labels • packaging • payment fees • fulfilment • returns • marketing • tax
Use the finished landed cost when modelling profitability.
17 / IF THE T-SHIRTS ARE FOR AN EVENT OR CAMPAIGN
The commercial calculation is different.
You may care more about:
- cost per attendee • cost per recipient • campaign budget • delivery reliability • consistency • brand colour accuracy
The cheapest shirt may not be the best value if it damages the campaign experience.
18 / THE MERCHMODE APPROACH
We prefer to price the actual brief rather than sell one headline number.
Tell us:
WHAT YOU WANT TO MAKE HOW MANY WHAT THE ARTWORK LOOKS LIKE WHERE IT NEEDS TO GO WHEN IT NEEDS TO ARRIVE
If you do not know the print method, that is fine.
We can build the production route around the project.