How Custom Apparel Pricing Works Without a Bulk Quote
Published per-item custom apparel pricing: no quotes, minimums or setup fees, bulk prices from 12 of an item, free shipping, lowest prices guaranteed.
Why screen printers quote by quantity
Ask a screen-printing shop for a price and the first question back is usually "how many?" Order 12 and you get one rate, order 200 and you get a better one, and order 1 and the shop may not bother calling you back. Part of Custom Apparel Guides & How-Tos.
That's because screen printing carries real setup cost - burning screens, mixing ink, running a press - and that cost gets divided across however many shirts come off the run. More shirts means each one absorbs less of that setup, so the quote drops as the order grows, and a small order gets stuck covering setup nearly on its own.
No screens, no setup, no quote
AI Promo Design skips screens entirely, so there is no setup cost to recover and no quote to wait for. Every design prints on demand, one garment at a time, through US print-on-demand partners - nothing sits warehoused waiting for a bulk order to justify producing it.
A single item doesn't get penalized for being small: one hoodie for yourself is a real order at the listed price, with no minimum and no setup fee. Every current price is posted plainly on the products page - no quote request required. If a school or company needs a quote on paper for a purchase order, your cart downloads one as a PDF, priced the way checkout will charge it (quotes and purchase orders).
Bulk prices
Bigger orders of the same item do cost less each, but the price is published rather than negotiated:
| Item | Listed price | From 12 | From 24 | From 50 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult T-Shirt | $14.38 | $10.90 | $10.74 | $9.03 |
| Adult Hoodie | $37.99 | $25.64 | $25.64 | $24.37 |
| Youth T-Shirt | $19.99 | $19.99 | $14.91 | $11.21 |
| Youth Hoodie | $37.99 | $30.33 | $27.70 | $25.11 |
| Adult Crewneck | $34.99 | $25.13 | $21.96 | $19.74 |
| Youth Crewneck | $34.99 | $34.99 | $33.74 | $30.36 |
| Adult Long Sleeve | $22.99 | $22.99 | $18.42 | $15.61 |
| Adult Polo | $25.63 | $23.31 | $19.98 | $16.94 |
| Women's T-Shirt | $19.99 | $19.99 | $11.58 | $10.51 |
| Performance Tee | $30.99 | $18.77 | $18.77 | $18.77 |
| Youth Performance Tee | $27.99 | $18.28 | $16.51 | $16.51 |
| Ceramic Mug, 11 oz | $11.30 | $8.04 | $7.89 | $7.81 |
| Ceramic Mug, 15 oz | $13.30 | $9.46 | $9.29 | $9.19 |
| Accent Mug, 11 oz | $12.40 | $9.14 | $8.99 | $8.92 |
| Accent Mug, 15 oz | $15.63 | $11.53 | $11.34 | $11.25 |
| Black Mug, 11 oz | $13.20 | $9.93 | $9.79 | $9.71 |
| Black Mug, 15 oz | $15.71 | $11.82 | $11.66 | $11.56 |
| Canvas Tote | $13.33 | $10.81 | $10.69 | $10.63 |
| Spiral Notebook, ruled | $13.39 | $9.39 | $9.21 | $9.12 |
| Dotted Notebook | $27.22 | $18.27 | $17.86 | $17.65 |
| Steel Tumbler, 20 oz | $30.21 | $26.00 | $25.81 | $25.71 |
| Surf Cap | $23.59 | $20.37 | $20.24 | $20.16 |
| Foam Trucker Hat | $18.94 | $15.89 | $15.75 | $15.67 |
| Dad Hat | $18.79 | $15.74 | $15.60 | $15.53 |
- The count is that item's own pieces - any colors and sizes of the same item add up, so 30 adult tees split across black, navy and white are priced at the 24 rate.
- It applies automatically in the cart and at checkout.
- There is still no minimum - one of anything is a real order at the listed price.
- Not combined with a discount code - your order gets whichever saves more.
- The one exception is an order placed through a group's storefront, which is charged the listed price.
The one add-on: a second printed surface
One thing does add to a listed price, and it is worth knowing before you design: a second printed surface. The first one is included; each one after it is $8.99 to $10.99 depending on the product.
That is our printer billing per print area rather than per garment - the same shirt goes through the press twice - and the charge is flat per placement, so a sleeve costs about what a back costs. The designer prints the figure under each surface before you commit to it.
What moves the price, and what doesn't
Beyond bulk prices, what moves the price from one product to the next is the garment:
- A heavier hoodie costs more than a lighter cotton tee because of fabric weight and added construction - a pouch pocket, drawcord hood, ribbed cuffs.
- A polo costs more than a tee for similar reasons: a collar, buttons, a different knit.
- Size doesn't move the price at all - a 2XL costs the same as a small, since neither the shirt nor the print on it gets meaningfully more expensive to produce at a bigger size.
Published pricing also means you can mix garments and sizes freely in one order - youth tees alongside adult hoodies, a run of smalls next to a couple of 2XLs - without recalculating a quote or hitting a minimum, because there isn't one.
Raising money, and getting your price
Raising money for a school or team? A group doesn't resell our shirts at a markup; it gets a free storefront at our listed prices and earns a share of what it sells, as our guide to fundraising storefronts explains.
Curious what your design would actually cost? Describe it in plain English or upload a logo, and you'll get a real, final price on the exact garment, size and quantity before you commit to anything.