How much does a custom screen print t-shirt cost?
Although this is our most frequently asked question, it is a little tough to answer. This is because there are a bunch of factors that go into creating a custom screen printed garment.
We like to compare it to an auto-technician. You might have a $50 part to install in your vehicle. But, if that installation takes 4 hours of labor, you can quickly have a $500+ bill from your car guy. Likewise, with screen printing, we need to view how much does your blank garment cost (think of that car part) and how much time does it take to print (labor or time).
Below, we will outline these variables to provide some clarity when you are making decisions around your custom project.
Mo Colors, Mo Money
The short of it is that the more ink colors you have in your design, the higher the price per unit. Why is that? Well, here is the long version. Each ink color requires individual screen to be created. Screens and the time and labor that is required is the real driver in price. Screens have to be coated with an emulsion, exposed by light to ‘burn’ the design in it, and then ultimately set up on the press. This process is required for each individual ink color being used in the print.
So, let’s say you have 5 colors in your design. That means 5 individual screens need to be created and set up in order to print a single shirt. To use round numbers, let’s say a screen requires up to 20 minutes of labor. The 5-color design is taking over 1.5 hours of time just to print a single shirt. That is a ton of prepping, and that can really drive up the price of lower volume order.
Mo Locations, Mo Money
Printing locations are places on the garment your design is being printed. The front, back, and sleeve of the garment are the most popular printing locations.
Picture this: You have a stack of tees and you have already set up all the screens necessary to print the front of the shirts. You print the front of the shirts and send them down your dryer, which cures the ink and makes it bond to the shirt. Now, you have to print the back of the shirts with a different design. You have to stack the shirts back up, and in most cases, set up different screens you have already created for the back print.
This is why multiple locations can add to the price. Printing multiple locations is not done at the same time. And, as we have covered already time = money.
Nicer Garment, Mo Money
Not all garments are created equal. And trust us, the cost of blank garments can vary greatly. A basic cotton tee is the introductory priced garment, and if you ever see an ad for 100 tees for hella-cheap, you should be expecting this shirt.
Quality and pricing of tees just increase from these basic cotton tees to cotton/poly blend to tri-blend tees. For reference, a blank tri-blend tee can cost up to 3x the cost of a blank basic cotton tee, and that increase in blank cost will be reflected in your custom screen printed tee.
The price continues to rise from there. Hoodies and polos… you guessed it, cost more.
Mo units, LESS Money?
Yup, finally… we get to the part where all these costs begin to dissolve, and you can get a reasonably priced garment. Volume balances all of this labor and time. The more volume in your order, the more units we have to spread that production cost among. We tell our clients that typically you need to get to around 10 units with a 1-color logo to get what we would consider a reasonable price on a garment.
And the price simply goes down from there. In fact, the price will quickly decrease as your approach 20 units, continue to drop as you climb to 50 units, and begins to really become effective around 100 units. If you need more than 100 tees, well, you are golden in the screen printing world.
So how much does a custom screen printed shirt cost?
Well, the answer is that it depends on what the requirements of your project are. We need to know how many printing locations, how many ink colors per location, what garment you want to print on, and how many you want.
You want a 1-color front logo on 100 units of a basic cotton tee? That’s easy. $5 per unit. Add $2 for XXL and $1 for every size after that. No additional fees.
But, if you are looking for some additional colors, printing locations, or a little nicer garment (we love quality!), then let’s talk about it. We look forward to hearing from you!
