# What is your average profit margin per shirt? [t-shirt printers]



## enquirer

What is the average net profit per shirt? I'm trying to figure out my pricing. Also, do you expect to get a higher profit margin for vinyl, etc. depending on the method. Some processes are more labor intensive.


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## charles95405

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

can't give specifics...but if I don't double my cost...don't want to do it..so figure you cost...then double s a start


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## badalou

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Sit down and figure what your time is worth per hour. Then figure out the cost of the item you are doing. Do not leave out other factors. Like runing your business. You have operating cost above the cost of the sale. get a handle on those because if you don't then you will think you made money but after deducting the other cost it can shrink... And Charles is right double is a starting point..


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## VirtualIsland

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Alright: I dont like you $50.00 ! You are annoying me $100.00. I want a new car $50.00! he he he .I would start at the cost of the shirts ,supplies,electricty so so on.Alot goes into 1 shirt.


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## paulo

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

We go at least 2.5x up to 4x, maybe even more depending on demand.


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## bastardnfriends

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Yep, I definitely agree as well. If you're not doubling your cost of how much it took to make the shirt then don't even attempt to sell it.


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## Colorfast

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



VirtualIsland said:


> Alright: I dont like you $50.00 ! You are annoying me $100.00. I want a new car $50.00! he he he .I would start at the cost of the shirts ,supplies,electricty so so on.Alot goes into 1 shirt.


*Totally agree with that*...I am working on my first sale now and had quoted 3X my cost. Now the customer (niece) wants a front and back print. I also spent about a hour designing the t-shirt. She gave me a verbal discription of her "idea" and after 2 revisions I believe she is happy. Even though my costs went up b/c of the front and back print I will charge her the same price. I am learning a lot from her regarding how "picky" people can be. Also she is in college and if her friends like the t-shirt I could sell more.

I will not be so quick to quote before getting the details and thinking it through


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## Leatherneck

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



bastardnfriends said:


> Yep, I definitely agree as well. If you're not doubling your cost of how much it took to make the shirt then don't even attempt to sell it.


*i agree totally. 2 to 3 times your cost is what i charge as well. *


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## enquirer

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Thanks for your input. That really helps.


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## treadhead

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Ok..quick question..

When you guys are saying 2X to 3'X your costs...are you referring to material costs or are you factoring in your time & overhead into this?? 

Just want to establish a reference point for "cost" as I've heard it done both ways.....


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## paulo

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

I guess the amount whether is 2x 3x 4x or whatever will depend on what you are trying to do.

Retail vs Wholesale.

Of course with retail you would be able to pad your cost, but at wholesale your revenue will be less because you will have to give a good amount for the retailer to at least make some money.


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## ivancuriel

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

I am a bit confused as to what exactly to double or triple. your profits earned or the overall cost? 

For example.

your cost: 2 dollars

would that mean 4 dollars in *profit* or just an additional 2 dollars?


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## cmyk

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



ivancuriel said:


> I am a bit confused as to what exactly to double or triple. your profits earned or the overall cost?
> 
> For example.
> 
> your cost: 2 dollars
> 
> would that mean 4 dollars in *profit* or just an additional 2 dollars?


 
if the cost is 2 dollars, and you aplly 2x , then the 4 means the final price, so the profit would be 2 dollars.
at least this is how i do it.


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## ino

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

I thinks these ratios of profits are only good for short runs. With large runs the profit margins would be much smaller, unless of course you are a VERSACE, HUGO BOSS etc.


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## bastardnfriends

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

hey ivancuriel...the above 2 posts is correct. If the total cost for the shirt is 2 bucks then charge $4. That way, you cover the cost of the shirt which is $2 so that you can repurchase it again and then pocketing the extra $2.


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## binki

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Some basic Biz 101 here.

Charge the highest price you can possibly get. The price you can get reflects the value of your product to your customer.
Making money is not immoral. You are not ripping off your customer, you are expecting to be paid for the value of the product you deliver.
Taking higher margin jobs will allow you to do less work for the same or better profit.
You can start high and lower your price but it is much harder to raise it once you start negotiations.
A dollar is a dollar on the bottom line.
In our neck of the woods, garment decorators are so thick you can throw a rock in any direction and hit 5 of them. Even with that, there is so much work out there that you can pretty much pick your price that you want to sell at and you will get customers. 

I have a different approach than most. We price each job based on the value of the job to the customer. Some jobs are done very close to cost. Some jobs are done at a 1000% margin over cost. (This typically happens when the customer supplies garments. Our material costs for embroidery are pretty low so charging $25 to sew a design that takes 50c of material cost is a pretty good margin)

Overall, this business commands a net of 35%. Anything less than that and you should re-examine you pricing or find something else to do, more than that and I would say you are doing great. 

So, here is an example:

100 shirts at $1.50 raw cost including shipping to you = 150.00 so you charge $300. You have a job to print one color on one location. The cost is $1 for the materials so add $2/pc for another $200. You are now at $5 per unit to sell for 100 shirts, that is one hellofa deal. What do you do if the guy wants 1000 shirts? You haven't much room to move down. I would sell that job for $6-$7/pc with personal delivery (I take the product to the customer for presentation if he is local). 

One thing we also do is add 5-10% for waste depending on the size of the job. For 100 units I would normally buy 2 of each size shirt extra just in case I screwed a few up. We charge for that also. So our 100 shirt order might be 110 at $1.50 so our cost is now $165 so we charge $330 for the shirts. 

So $770 for a material cost of $275 gives a net of $495. Now you have your variable costs such as utilities, trash, rent, misc supplies, waste, etc. that you need to spread across all jobs so your net is a little less.

So, with this pricing we are at a raw cost of $2.75/pc and selling for $7.70 each for a net of about 2.8 times raw cost. 

The lesson is that if you just double your cost and charge that you are leaving money on the table, not getting what you should get, and not giving yourself room to get the order bigger by lowering your price if the customer ups the quantity.

I would also add that you should charge your retail customers more that your wholesale customers.

Finally, there is a lot of talk about how much you want to make per hour. This really shouldn't concern you until you are at 100% capacity. At that time, you should look at the higher $/hr jobs, but until then look at the last bullet point above. Unless you are going to go out and do sales with that time you should consider taking all jobs that make money, even if it is only a single dollar.


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## greyhorsewoman

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

There is also *GROSS profit* and *NET profit*. GROSS PROFIT is basically what it costs to produce the shirt minus what you get paid for it. NET profit is after all other expenses to produce the shirt are factored in, overhead, cost of labor, etc. At Retail, your basic price per shirt should be the same regardless of venue sold at.

We sell our retail shirts in various venues with costs of those venues varying widely, as well as, on our website. My GROSS profit on each shirt is the same, however, my NET profit varys depending on each venue. 

Wholesale and custom orders will vary depending on complexity of design, number and style of garments, but still have some structure so customers who share information see continuity in how you charge.


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## Girlzndollz

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



binki said:


> Some basic Biz 101 here.
> 
> Charge the highest price you can possibly get. The price you can get reflects the value of your product to your customer.
> Making money is not immoral. You are not ripping off your customer, you are expecting to be paid for the value of the product you deliver.
> Taking higher margin jobs will allow you to do less work for the same or better profit.
> You can start high and lower your price but it is much harder to raise it once you start negotiations.
> A dollar is a dollar on the bottom line.
> The lesson is that if you just double your cost and charge that you are leaving money on the table, not getting what you should get, and not giving yourself room to get the order bigger by lowering your price if the customer ups the quantity.
> 
> I would also add that you should charge your retail customers more that your wholesale customers.


I agree with every portion of the above left in quotes.

I add wholesale pricing is double your material costs.

Retail pricing is double the wholesale price. Then try to get what your market will bear, up from there. You need to turn profits to grow. Decide where you want to be in five years, and work on a plan to get there.


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## tim3560

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Great post Fred.


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## stuffnthingz

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Something to factor in if you plan to create stock designs is your design time. AND as one poster mentioned above, absolutely factor in your design time for custom work. To be fair to yourself, set a $ / hour your are worth for your design time, sitting in Photoshop, Corel or what have you. Do not sell yourself short. I factor in $45 per hour for graphics work but I am not sure what the standard design rate is. Perhaps a designer more in the know will have a better figure. I am more familiar with web design and development world where I charge $75 per hour and that is a pretty cheap rate since I do database development. Electricity, ink, and other miscellaneous materials should also be included. Great input though I love the insight more experienced producers have!


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## designtec

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Binki is absolutely right. I've got a retail shop and a dollar doesn't go far.


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## Ariez

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

In Indonesia we double the price....but it depends on the product that you make... If you make your product limited so the price can be higher...


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## knifemaker3

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Also don't forget to factor in rather it is a one sided or two sided print. I sometimes get caught giving a price for a one sided print job and and then find out they wanted a 2 sided print and can't go up. It usually go like this.....
Customer "How much for a shirt"
Me "$XX.xx"
Customer "Great, this is what I want on front and this is what I want on back"
Me..... Grumbling tomyself.

Get the picture? It is easier to do than you think at least for me. Especially when in a hurry or a lot of things are happening at once. Hope this helps.


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## Leatherneck

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



knifemaker3 said:


> Also don't forget to factor in rather it is a one sided or two sided print. I sometimes get caught giving a price for a one sided print job and and then find out they wanted a 2 sided print and can't go up. It usually go like this.....
> Customer "How much for a shirt"
> Me "$XX.xx"
> Customer "Great, this is what I want on front and this is what I want on back"
> Me..... Grumbling tomyself.
> 
> Get the picture? It is easier to do than you think at least for me. Especially when in a hurry or a lot of things are happening at once. Hope this helps.


*Very true, I make sure to tell them up front this price XX.XX is for the front only, if your wanting front and back this will be the price XX.XX. Usually I do not get alot of grumbling but it saves headaches in the long run.*


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## moonlightdrive

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



binki said:


> In our neck of the woods, garment decorators are so thick you can throw a rock in any direction and hit 5 of them.


Hahahaha that killed me


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## binki

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



moonlightdrive said:


> Hahahaha that killed me


I did a yellow pages search for screen printers/embroiderers within a 1 mile radius of several addresses around here and never found less than 25. Some business parks have 3 or 4 in the same park. Add sign/banner shops to that and you can't hardly make a move without bumping into one of them.


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## tim3560

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



binki said:


> I did a yellow pages search for screen printers/embroiderers within a 1 mile radius of several addresses around here and never found less than 25. Some business parks have 3 or 4 in the same park. Add sign/banner shops to that and you can't hardly make a move without bumping into one of them.


Wow, that's pretty bad. I did a search after I read this and got 9 screen printers and 4 embroiderers. Most of what they showed me was internet businesses from indiana and milwakee. lol Of course, my 50,000 pop is far smaller than yours.


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## Girlzndollz

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



tim3560 said:


> Most of what they showed me was internet businesses from indiana and milwakee. lol Of course, my 50,000 pop is far smaller than yours.


 
Wow, nice! A customer base of 50,000, and little to no competition. Seize the market, Tim.


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## 14dateam

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

This is a great thread.
I notice this geared for a shop doing the printing. What about someone who is farming the work out? Broker, embroider, sign shop ect. 
Why do you figure mark up from your abolsolute best cost for a shirt. Example case price for a Gilden 200 is 1.50 but the pc price is 2.00. Since not everyone can buy case price shouldn't they M/U from the pc price? The print cost may cost a printer $1.00 for a printer but the cost for a broker will be higher. Any sudgestions for someone not doing the printing?
I am


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## Girlzndollz

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Ask your supplier for case price, sometimes that's all it takes. I just got case price on 8 beefy-t's for my latest test. Can't do it online, have to call in the order and ask for case price with alphashirts.com.

I don't outsource, sorry, but I imagine a similar business model will be at hand, just don't undersell yourself.


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## tim3560

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Sanmar gives case pricing to anyone. I outsource all of my screen printing.


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## tim3560

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



Girlzndollz said:


> Wow, nice! A customer base of 50,000, and little to no competition. Seize the market, Tim.


I do have competition and they've been around for a long time. I think one for 20+ years, one for 18 and one for 15. There's a lot of loyalty in my town and sometimes you just can't get them to break. I've also found that if someone is ready to order and you show up and the right time, they don't care who has done shirts for them in the past. Too bad I can't be in the right place a the right time every time.


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## stuffnthingz

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Quick question about SanMar. Online they have three price "tiers". Using their online ordering system you cannot get case pricing until you purchase a certain number. I typically fall in the "dozen" pricing tier by purchasing 6 or more of something. Case quantities on items are all over the map from 24 to 144. I buy via credit card and by purchasing online I save the 3% uplift I would pay if I call the order in. 

Tim, are you saying I can call SanMar and ask for a quantity of any amount and ask for case pricing and they will give it? Depending on size of my order it might be worth me paying the 3% credit card fee if I call and get case pricing for all items. I was not aware that this is an option and I just had a long talk with them yesterday. Of course I didn't ask that question specifically.

If you all think SanMar will give case pricing regardless of quantity I will call in my order next time Let me know your thoughts...

And, I price shop for larger orders and SanMar seems to be the best pricing. I find their selection is not as young and hip as some other vendors, but on the basics SanMar rocks.


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## binki

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

If you outsource you can charge 20% above your cost for wholesale and up to 100% for retail. Talk to a local screen printing and work that way, as a broker. He might even cut you a better deal if you bring him a lot of biz. A good sales person in this biz in SoCal can sell $100,000/month gross or more.


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## tim3560

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



stuffnthingz said:


> Tim, are you saying I can call SanMar and ask for a quantity of any amount and ask for case pricing and they will give it? Depending on size of my order it might be worth me paying the 3% credit card fee if I call and get case pricing for all items. I was not aware that this is an option and I just had a long talk with them yesterday. Of course I didn't ask that question specifically.
> 
> If you all think SanMar will give case pricing regardless of quantity I will call in my order next time Let me know your thoughts...
> 
> And, I price shop for larger orders and SanMar seems to be the best pricing. I find their selection is not as young and hip as some other vendors, but on the basics SanMar rocks.


No I'm saying that they have given me case pricing on everything that I've ordered since I became a member. TSC Apparel beats them at times, and they give case pricing as well. I never had to ask either company, they just signed me up for it. I can order 1 piece or a hundred and get the same price.


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## Girlzndollz

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



stuffnthingz said:


> Depending on size of my order it might be worth me paying the 3% credit card fee if I call and get case pricing for all items. I was not aware that this is an option and I just had a long talk with them yesterday. Of course I didn't ask that question specifically.


Alphashirt didn't tell me about it Stuff, I learned that on the forum, just like you just did. Now that you know some wholesalers will, why not just ask them when you are ready for your next order? You have nothing to lose, and nothing ventured nothing gained.

This last order was my first time asking for it, I felt nervous, but she (alpha csr) was really friendly and didn't skip a beat about it.


I said, "wow, great, can I do that online, too?" She said, not online, she has to adjust the price manually for me so just call 'em in. Easy enough, I saved alot of money just by asking. Thank you, TSF!


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## Unik Ink

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Does anyone know where to find a spreadsheet to calculate a pricing table? I'm trying to figure out how much to charge per color per quantity on my print price list, and I am having trouble coming up with a formula. I have my data regarding how many 1 color prints, 2 color, 3 color, etc. that I can print in 1 hour, I just need to find a spreadsheet to plug the numbers in. I also have my overhead expenses, setup time, cleaning time, etc. but I am racking my brain trying to make a spreadsheet. I made my original pricing guide based on my competitors prices, but I'm not doing the volume they are, and I'm a 1 man operation, so working 70+ hours a week printing few shirts is killing me.


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## tyty0207

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Try microsoft excel. I remember making spreadsheets for stocks back in high school using that. It's been a while now, so I wouldn't be able to tell you how.


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## muslope

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

hey everyone um muslope


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## out da box

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

I will try and find a free online pricing calculator I got a few months ago. I think it's one of the best tools out there for pricing. It's just a basic excel spreadsheet with pre-set calculations. You plug in your variables and you get instant quotes on several brackets, i.e. 12pcs, 49pcs, 72pcs, 200pcs and so on.

GREAT!
I no longer give quotes over the phone, in my shop, in the street, nowhere before consulting my calculator. 
I print a sheet out for my customers so they can see the economics of upping their volume to reach a better bracket. I havent printed less than 24 shirts in two months, maybe except a couple of times.
I only screen print, so my set up and clean up can get extensive.


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## muslope

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

double if it cost 5bucs to produce the shirt the cost of the shirt is 10bucks or no less than 7bucs


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## out da box

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Doubling your costs rarely works, even if you just do hand to hand retail. Especially if your volume isnt high. 
You'll always end up having more costs and overhead than you may think.
I like to 3x or 4x my cost of goods for a good basing point.


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## the funk

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Most people forget that their LABOR is a COST. You cannot just live off of profit, that is for the business.


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## steve ncle

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

i`m just starting up but i`m working on the cost of the tee, the cost of the media and how long it takes x2.5
eg. £2 tee. £1 to print. £2 for 15 minutes =£12.50 per tee


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## Unik Ink

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



out da box said:


> I will try and find a free online pricing calculator I got a few months ago. I think it's one of the best tools out there for pricing. It's just a basic excel spreadsheet with pre-set calculations. You plug in your variables and you get instant quotes on several brackets, i.e. 12pcs, 49pcs, 72pcs, 200pcs and so on.
> 
> GREAT!
> I no longer give quotes over the phone, in my shop, in the street, nowhere before consulting my calculator.
> I print a sheet out for my customers so they can see the economics of upping their volume to reach a better bracket. I havent printed less than 24 shirts in two months, maybe except a couple of times.
> I only screen print, so my set up and clean up can get extensive.


Any luck finding it yet?


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## out da box

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Poor Man's Pricing Calculator using Excel


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## acanvas

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



knifemaker3 said:


> Also don't forget to factor in rather it is a one sided or two sided print. I sometimes get caught giving a price for a one sided print job and and then find out they wanted a 2 sided print and can't go up. It usually go like this.....
> Customer "How much for a shirt"
> Me "$XX.xx"
> Customer "Great, this is what I want on front and this is what I want on back"
> Me..... Grumbling tomyself.
> 
> Get the picture? It is easier to do than you think at least for me. Especially when in a hurry or a lot of things are happening at once. Hope this helps.


I've had this happen many times, I simply say oh, o.k., this is your cost since you actually want more than 1 image on 1 side. I never stick to a quote based on a clients lack of up front information.


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## 14dateam

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

I am a small volume buyer. I am located in So Ca where Alpha, Staton, TSC as well as others are within 15 minutes from each other. Alpha just moved to So Cal and I was at the ISS Long Beach Show and asked the guy that was to be my inside sales rep for case pricing so I could compete for the bigger shops. He asked me who I was buying my shirts from. He wanted to take buisness from that supplier so he gave me case pricing and 30 days dating. I now have same deal at TSC. 
I would say GO TO A TRADE SHOW so you can meet the suppliers all in one place. Get to know who your inside and outside salesman name. They are at the trade show not just to pass out catalogs and show you their new items. They want more buisness and we be a little more aggresive at a show.
This thread has branched into a dirrection different from my original post.


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## Unik Ink

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



out da box said:


> Poor Man's Pricing Calculator using Excel


First I was like  , then I was like  . Link's dead. Thanks though.


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## kaliofdevi

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



Unik Ink said:


> First I was like  , then I was like  . Link's dead. Thanks though.


Right click "save as"
http://www.screenxpress.com/Download/Pricing_Calculator.xls
hope it helps


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## AMClothing

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Wow, everyone above me put some great input on this subject. So Im just going to tell you what I do. I purchase my shirts at 8 a piece. Thats because I only order 10 shirts. So I usually charge $25, so that I am getting money back for getting the shirts made, designing the shirts, and for sending the shirts by mail if needed. So I charge a dollar over 3x my original Price, just to even the 24.


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## Square1

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



paulo said:


> We go at least 2.5x up to 4x, maybe even more depending on demand.


I think that it all depends on demand. 2x cost to make is the minimum.


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## megancriley

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Work backwards. I would first play around with the numbers. Use an excel spreadsheet and calculate your break-even point (look up BE point on internet) for each shirt based on selling shirts at X amount of dollars. I fluctuate between $16 for a basic design to $21 for more complicated, labor intensive ones. At least I know how many shirts I must sell of Design A @ $16 to break-even.
Not sure if I answered your question but it has helped know where to price mine based on my costs.


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## Heath

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

It's important that you cover all costs including your time, then a decent profit which should go into the business account. I've actually had sales lift after raising my prices. It's all about the way the customer perceives the product (and it's your job to create the perception). In my case, my customers saw my tees as a more premium, high-end t-shirt when I almost doubled the prices.


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## gothicaleigh

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Double the cost of all materials and then charge $35.00 an hour to produce. Minimum.


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## reg40

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

My question is not about profit per printed shirt. I am an online retailer (new) with hopes that I may eventually sell my brand wholesale to retailers. My questions is to those of you who are in similar circumstances that have sold your product to retailers or have attempted to. 
What is your typical Wholesale price to the retailer? or what are they expecting?
What is your typical margin when selling wholesale?
If you are paying $5-6 each to your screen printer, is the retailer willing to pay $10-12 wholesale?
Or is your margin much less?
Can you expect to profit 30% after cost of goods sold and a percentage to your salesperson?
Would really appreciate input from any of you who have some experience with the above. Thanks!


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## Aqeel

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

what is the profit margin at large size t-shirt?
http://www.worldwidedropshipping.com


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## jespana

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*



Girlzndollz said:


> Wow, nice! A customer base of 50,000, and little to no competition. Seize the market, Tim.


I live about 45 min. from Milwaukee and I am working on a business plan as we speak.


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## Bellgraphics

Ok, but - what do the people in malls charge when they heat press a shirt on the spot? I am not asking about the cost of space rental. Do they follow the same 2x or 3x cost? We offer the same service in our shop, a woman came in, wanted 3 t's printed two sides, front same copy, 3 lines, back 3 different names. Oh, yes - the hoodies were 1 large and 2 youth sizes. Poor Richard.


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## Sajid

the main thing is that ehat profit do we earn per t shirt doesn't matter if its just 1 dollar doesn't matter the thing matter is that how many customer have we avail. what do you think?


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## Bellgraphics

Very true, thanks for the reply = Poor Richard


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## Interesting

I'll give you my perspective as a retailer.

I completely agree with the work backwards advice.

Our buyer spends $5,000 a season on the low end per vendor and $20,000 on the high end per season per vendor on shirts. And we are currently working on our on line.

The most important aspect of your business should be market viability. If you're small time and rigidly stick to the 2x, 3x rule you may run yourself into a lot of trouble.

You should study the market to see what a shirt like the one you want to produce is selling for. If a big company that produces 50,000 shirts a month is a player in your niche then their 2x, 3x, will be much much smaller than yours. Consider most supply free shipping for orders a certain size, and net 30-90 (retailer doesn't have to pay for 30-90 days).

So if it costs you $5 to make the shirt and you insist on selling for $15, it'll cost the big company (or established company) $2. And if they sell for $6 you are completely out of the market and nobody will buy your shirts.

In a real scenario... The price range of our shirts is generally $35-$55 with low points of $20 and high points of $100+ per shirt. Say you find out that similar shirts to the line you want to start retails for $40. You want to hit keystone (the $20) for this garment. Now you have your goal. The lower you get the cost the more you pocket.

Very important. Keep in mind that for this particular price point, any defects in the garment, be it the material, the art, fading, excessive shrinking, frays, etc are going to come back to you. Our suppliers replace defective products no questions asked up to 1 year after purchase.

At year end from purchase we go through our records to see which vendors have had a defective return rate higher than 3% and don't buy from them again. We do make exceptions for companies that are not established and companies with superb service.

Hope it helps and best of luck with your venture!


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## pizza

I stumbled upon this thread and was actually thinking about this today, setting prices. One possible technique to gain a general idea is to get quotes from other businesses and take an average or match the best offer. The difficulty of the design should be considered as well and your experience as well. Just some thoughts.


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## Relik Apparel

Great thread !! Thanks to everyone for your input.

It is now July 2010 and I guess we can call the economy some kind of apparently "stable recession."

It would be interesting to pick this thread up again and compare with current economy. I am a new screen printer and trying to develop my own brand like the rest of the country, LOL 

However, the formula I use is work backwards (when it comes to retail and wholesale garments not printing labor) like other mentioned before.

If a similar item (not a major brand) retails for $30, then I figure I have to wholesale at $15 and the profit margin is up to my ingenuity and ability to cut down u unnecessary costs, get the best possible deals on quality supplies and mass produce whenever possible.

If it works, I ll still be posting a couple of months from now. If it doesnt I ll be sure to post it too.


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## jcolbmusic

Nice thread 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk


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## globalgirl7

*Re: What is your average profit margin per shirt?*

Agree! Try to get the best quality of raw goods/materials for the best/least amount (pass the savings on to the consumers) then doubling the price should be np, and a great start to ensure you're getting a nice return... plus places funds in the bank to help out when you want to expand, ramp up. You can start out at about 30-40% above costs, to test the market...only initially though.


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## combativesgear

I am going to present several examples using two products; a $2 tee and a $24 tee (COST, not sell price)

While, yes, a 2X markup sounds great, sometimes, it's not the correct philosophy.

Another philosophy is a strict per unit cost. Pick a number; I'm going with $4. This philosophy says that I want to make $4 a tee, whether it's a $2 tee or a $24 tee.

Another pricing philosophy includes risk. Because you're taking on risk by altering the garment, you now have a low risk product ($2) and a high risk product ($24). If you damage the low risk product, it's just $2!! So, obviously, you would like to charge more for the higher risk item.

There is always the volume element.

Ultimately, I won't work on a tee unless I can make $10 and that's with any volume discounts. $10 is the bare minimum I would consider profiting whether it's a $2 shirt or not. Even with volume, I'm not going less than $10.


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## pmzirkle

For most aparrel w single color logo $5.00 - $7.00 profit Hoodies $10- $15 profit
Less for large quantities
More for additional colors


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## Stantse

It is not obvious for each product. I usually try to keep (30-40)% margin in each product. It varies with the volume of product and targeted traffic.


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## Revan

Sit down and figure what your time is worth per hour. Then figure out the cost of the item you are doing. Do not leave out other factors


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## clkveton

I see the tendency for pricing is 2x your cost, to cover everything, including electricity, your time, etc... And someone else says no less than $10 per shirt... Has anyone developed a spreadsheet to adjust for different sized orders? For example, if someone want to buy 20 t-shirts from me, my cost will be higher. If someone else want to order a similar shirt, but in a larger quantity, say 60 shirts,... do you give them a break? If you go by the 2x (or more) cost, then I think you'd pass along your discount to the person with the larger order. But, it also takes more time to print up the additional t-shirts. I'm just looking for ideas to streamline your cost, so you don't have to re-do your price for each job. I'm thinking of standardizing my pricing system, so I can look quickly at a pre-made up guide, just to save my time and sanity... any thoughts?


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## clkveton

One more question.... What do you charge for someone who will be reselling the shirts from you? I'm working with a few small businesses in my area to print up shirts with their business logos.... Do I go by the 2x (or more) rule? If it costs me $6 for a shirt (t-shirt, shipping fees, print), so I charge them $12, and suggest they sell the shirts for $15, is that enough of a profit margin for their trouble?? 
How to you approach your potential customers in this situation. Are they looking to make money on reselling the shirts, or more interested in having people buy their shirts for the advertising potential??


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## NoXid

clkveton said:


> One more question.... What do you charge for someone who will be reselling the shirts from you? I'm working with a few small businesses in my area to print up shirts with their business logos.... Do I go by the 2x (or more) rule? If it costs me $6 for a shirt (t-shirt, shipping fees, print), so I charge them $12, and suggest they sell the shirts for $15, is that enough of a profit margin for their trouble??
> How to you approach your potential customers in this situation. Are they looking to make money on reselling the shirts, or more interested in having people buy their shirts for the advertising potential??


One thing known for sure is that the standard markup from wholesale to retail is at least 100%. So if you charge $12, the person selling them at retail would charge at least $24.


As to whether printers typically offer lower per unit prices at higher volumes, the answer is yes. Search online for screen printers; many will have a table that shows a matrix of pricing based upon number of colors and quantity of order. This will give you a general idea of what is common practice. But what makes sense for a shop with 2 large automatic presses running 24/7 will not necessarily make sense for you. So consider your own production capacity and input costs etc. For example, a big shop might have a discount for orders of 10,000 and above; whereas you may well refuse an order that large, much less offer a discount for it.


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## MadeDesigns

Easy Jobs its about 75%. Normal Jobs its 100% and complicated 1 offs are usually 300-350% . Sometimes you'll get $15 for a 15x5 piece of vinyl with 5 letters in arial black. Sometimes you use a 15x15 vinyl with allot of details for $20 . I like to say " You gatta play with it" . 

It's a blessing to have fun while you make money. I don't know about anyone else here but I make shirts with my eyes closed. Not saying I don't make mistakes, just saying this is like easy walk in the park for me.
Except for the rush jobs. I hate rush jobs. They pay but I hate moving that fast. Videos coming soon.


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