What Custom Shirts Actually Cost (A Real Breakdown)

A custom shirt costs the garment plus the decoration, and every other line item on a typical quote - setup, screens, digitizing, per-colour charges - is a fixed cost being recovered rather than a cost of the shirt itself. Ready to start? custom shirts.

Which fees are legitimate?

Setup and digitizing are genuine work. Burning a screen per colour and building a stitch file both take skilled time and both happen once regardless of order size. A shop charging for them is not overcharging - it is recovering real cost. The problem is not that the fees exist, it is that they scale terribly.

Why do fixed fees punish small orders?

Because they do not divide well. A sixty dollar digitizing charge across two hundred pieces adds thirty cents each and vanishes. The same charge across five pieces adds twelve dollars each and can exceed the garments. That single dynamic is why a five-piece order elsewhere often costs more per piece than a fifty-piece one, and why minimums exist at all.

How does price change with quantity here?

Through published tiers rather than negotiation. Twenty of the same item takes twenty percent off, fifty takes twenty-five, two hundred takes thirty. On a twenty-five dollar tee that is twenty dollars at twenty pieces and seventeen fifty at two hundred - and because there are no setup fees underneath, those are honest reductions rather than a marked-up figure being walked back.

What is not on the bill here

• Setup fee - normally charged per job, sometimes per colour
• Digitizing fee - normally $40 to $100 per logo for embroidery
• Screen or plate fee - a per-colour screen-printing cost
• Per-colour surcharge - an extra charge per thread or ink colour

How does bulk pricing work?

It applies itself in the cart. Twenty or more of the same item takes 20% off, fifty takes 25%, and two hundred takes 30%. There is no quote form, no promo code and no sales call - the cart is the quote, so you can see the final per-piece number before anyone pays. Because these are print-on-demand costs rather than screen-printing setup, the discount is an honest reduction on the listed price instead of a marked-up retail figure being walked back.

Can I pay for it over time?

On eligible US orders, yes. Shop Pay Installments, Afterpay, Klarna, Affirm and Cash App Afterpay all appear at checkout with equal standing, and we never steer you toward one. Approval is the payment provider's decision, not ours - we never see your credit details and nobody can honestly promise you will qualify. Pay-in-4 is typically interest-free when paid on schedule, and we add no surcharge for choosing it.

Where to go next

Compare a full quote rather than a per-shirt figure - the per-shirt number rarely includes the fees. See how to get the design right first.

See the merch in real life

Real garments, printed and embroidered to order.