# cost formula for pricing screen printing jobs?



## DLC

Hello everyone, i was wondering if someone here can give me some kind of formula to determine the cost of printing a shirt. thank you


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## gibster

*Re: Cost Formula*

hi angel,are you talking screenprinting or what?


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## DLC

*Re: Cost Formula*

HI...yeah i am talking about screen printing..(sorry forgot to mention that)


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## gibster

*Re: Cost Formula*

i have mine calculated like this:$1.60 for white ss t..50 cents for emulsion,..3o cents for ink(.50 if its a large solid).20 cents for electricity,.10 cents for water,.80 cents for film. so thats 3.50 my cost the mark up is whatever you can get away with!as your supply and utility bills come in you will be able to create and breakdown your own method,but i hope this helps!


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## DLC

*Re: Cost Formula*

Thank you Robb..that was very helpfull. i will give it a try and see what i can come up with


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## Rodney

I think there are also pricing guides in the book "How to Print T-Shirts For Fun And Profit"


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## DLC

thank you guys for pointing me in the right direction


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## jtannerc

Rodney said:


> I think there are also pricing guides in the book "How to Print T-Shirts For Fun And Profit"


oo.. thanks for that. I forgot about that book.


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## out da box

Been using this, try it.


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## adman1986

Pricing calculator was password protected


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## ejdowse

adman - it opened for me without asking for a password - try again


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## adman1986

Okay, thanks. I don't have Word, Excel or Powerpoint on this computer. I will try it on another


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## ccolors1

Thank you , I Love this site!.. Have you made any adjustments for inflation to your calculator?


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## mikelmorgan

*Re: Cost Formula*



gibster said:


> i have mine calculated like this:$1.60 for white ss t..50 cents for emulsion,..3o cents for ink(.50 if its a large solid).20 cents for electricity,.10 cents for water,.80 cents for film. so thats 3.50 my cost the mark up is whatever you can get away with!as your supply and utility bills come in you will be able to create and breakdown your own method,but i hope this helps!


Last year we ran over 400,000 shirts. Our cost for ink, emulsion, mesh, tape, film and what ever hard stuff went into a shirt was 13.4 cents per shirt. Labor was around 40 cents per shirt. And around 10 cents for everything else (payments on machines and such). These numbers are averages when everything was lumped together. We run orders as small as 5 to orders as large as 30,000. Total cost to print a shirt was 62 cents with everything included. I am now watching on a daily basis to get a more accurate cost on printing in a way that I can judge small orders as well as large orders. I don't know if this helps or not but the cost on the above numbers look pretty big to me. 50 cents worth of ink, is a lot of ink.


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## bluemoon

*Re: Cost Formula*



mikelmorgan said:


> Last year we ran over 400,000 shirts. Our cost for ink, emulsion, mesh, tape, film and what ever hard stuff went into a shirt was 13.4 cents per shirt. Labor was around 40 cents per shirt. And around 10 cents for everything else (payments on machines and such). These numbers are averages when everything was lumped together. We run orders as small as 5 to orders as large as 30,000. Total cost to print a shirt was 62 cents with everything included. I am now watching on a daily basis to get a more accurate cost on printing in a way that I can judge small orders as well as large orders. I don't know if this helps or not but the cost on the above numbers look pretty big to me. 50 cents worth of ink, is a lot of ink.


hey Mike, just curious about the numbers. We are getting about 60 screens out of a gallon of emulsion which is , lets call it, $60. That is a dollar per screen. What kind of emulsion are you using to be able to get the cost that low?
thanx!


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## CNClark

*Re: Cost Formula*



bluemoon said:


> hey Mike, just curious about the numbers. We are getting about 60 screens out of a gallon of emulsion which is , lets call it, $60. That is a dollar per screen. What kind of emulsion are you using to be able to get the cost that low?
> thanx!


His costs were by the shirt....not by the screen.


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## bluemoon

DUH!!!

thanx Chris!


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## mikelmorgan

*Re: Cost Formula*



bluemoon said:


> hey Mike, just curious about the numbers. We are getting about 60 screens out of a gallon of emulsion which is , lets call it, $60. That is a dollar per screen. What kind of emulsion are you using to be able to get the cost that low?
> thanx!


So if that is $1 per screen and you average 150 shirts per screen that would make it 6.66 cents per shirt. I don't remember our average shirt order but I think it was around 500 per order. So that would average .2 cents per shirt, times an average of a 3 color print would equal .6 cents per shirt. Labor and over head are my biggest cost and this is where the smaller guys have the advantage. Most local customers don't have a clue about quality and the smaller shops get most of the smaller orders around town because of this. I have 10 employees, two autos and a 6,000 sq ft building. My gas bill for the month is $600 just to run the dryer. Electric bill is over $1,000. I have to run over $1,500 a day profit to break even. 

So back to the question of a formula to price your printing. Every shop is different. If your competitor is beating your price and you can't go any lower, what are you offering that is different than the other guy? I have a formula but it works for my shop it would not do you any good. Watch your numbers and watch the average price of your competitors if you can't compete on price beat them somewhere else, (quality, service, artwork...) Good luck.


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## LivingThread

here a thread from a little while back

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/screen-printing-pricing/t121508.html


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## Dillon Dodsworth

I found the best explanation of how to price screenprinting at the SGIA's website. Fortunately, the article is posted at a company website that anybody can access, so you don't have to be an SGIA member to read it. I found that my current way of doing things was... well, stupid. I also found that this was considerably easier than I thought it would be. Here is a link to the article.
Pricing Theory for embroidery and screen printing - Introduction
Dil


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## TomandBunny

Our average order is 50 to 100 shirts, we would love to do average orders of 500 shirts!


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## wormil

Dillon Dodsworth said:


> Here is a link to the article.
> Pricing Theory for embroidery and screen printing - Introduction
> Dil


This is a great article and articulates in detail many opinions I've expressed on pricing in the last couple years. I would like to have seen a little more discussion about fair market value. People should shop their competitor's _before _going into business to make sure they can compete with local market rates. Of course pricing isn't the only level of competition but if you're going to be higher than your competitors then you need to be offering something above and beyond whether it's turnaround, quality, etc.


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## clarkhaddock

Do you guys charge the same pricing per location or do you guys charge 1 price for the first location (lets say $1.50 for 1 ink color on the front) and then you would only charge $1.00 for the back 1 color imprint. Even if it was a different design/artwork?


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## nemokali

great one. thanks for the info.


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## GraphicsFactory

*Re: Cost Formula*

The formula would be expenses and overhead divided by expected output. Anyone can give you numbers, true or bogus. You need to calculate your own. There is no way two businesses would have the same exact expenses. There would hundreds of variables, even when two businesses seem alike. A very good book is "Pricing for Profits" from ST Publications.


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## swoopent1969

jtannerc said:


> oo.. thanks for that. I forgot about that book.


Found u on the tshirt forum. Do u still have the .xls screen printing spread sheet. I have been doing this for years and was looking for something easier. If u don't mind please email it to me. [email protected]. Maby I can help u to return the favor. I have 20 years at creating vector art.


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## swoopent1969

Lookin for .x l s screen print quoted


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## edward1210

Hello can you please send me this file, it does not open for me
Thank you


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## edward1210

edward1210 said:


> Hello can you please send me this file, it does not open for me
> Thank you


are this prices base in usa market?, I mean the price of the the file that you have (the spreesheet )


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## johnconvoy

yeah file didn't open anymore. t-shirtforums might have broken the link


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## out da box

Excel pricing calculator.
Hope it opens.


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## becerra1

What is a good fair price to charge for 1 color printing on hoodies? Small print left chest and a bigger print on back, the order is very small only 6 hoodies. How much can I charge?


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## BidsMaven

becerra1 said:


> What is a good fair price to charge for 1 color printing on hoodies? Small print left chest and a bigger print on back, the order is very small only 6 hoodies. How much can I charge?


We produce a software program that is specifically for getting customer bids quickly and easily. It comes with built-in pricing and is quick to learn and easy to use. You are welcome to download a 30 day free trial to get your bid done. If you're interested, go to FastAccurateBids.com - Estimating Software for Screen Printing, Embroidery, and Other Apparel Decoration and click the Try It Free button.


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## edward1210

BidsMaven said:


> We produce a software program that is specifically for getting customer bids quickly and easily. It comes with built-in pricing and is quick to learn and easy to use. You are welcome to download a 30 day free trial to get your bid done. If you're interested, go to FastAccurateBids.com - Estimating Software for Screen Printing, Embroidery, and Other Apparel Decoration and click the Try It Free button.


Do you have to pay membership for this software?
why you don't have stfsporware in the suppliers list?


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## BidsMaven

edward1210 said:


> Do you have to pay membership for this software?
> why you don't have stfsporware in the suppliers list?


Fast Accurate Bids is a Windows PC software program. The price is $297. There is no monthly fee and customer support is free. 

With regard to built-in pricing for items from the company you mentioned, we know that there are lot of really excellent suppliers in addition to the ones that we currently provide. We will be adding more supplier connectors and welcome your suggestions on the ones that would be the most valuable to you.


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## shortsguy

Can anyone email me the cost calculator I can not get it to open [email protected]

Thanks in advance


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## dick12

Can anyone email me the cost calculator I can not get it to open surveyclass@gmail.com

Thanks in advance


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## lvprinting

I also made a free cost calculator for pricing shirts.

It has a lot of features and should run on most computers since it's just an Excel spreadsheet.

http://lehighvalleyprinting.com/free-download-apparel-pricing-guide/

Sent from my SM-G900T using T-Shirt Forums


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## nekkron99

lvprinting said:


> I also made a free cost calculator for pricing shirts.
> 
> It has a lot of features and should run on most computers since it's just an Excel spreadsheet.
> 
> Free Screen Printing and DTG pricing spreadsheet
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900T using T-Shirt Forums


Much appreciated!


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## foxvega12

nekkron99 said:


> Much appreciated!


Hi,
Can someone send me the pricing guide to me please?
[email protected]


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