# What to charge for t-shirt supplies



## mfabbri89 (Nov 20, 2016)

Hi Everyone,

I am a newbie. Quick question to start off.

When pricing out a job. Is the rule of thumb to charge the wholesale cost of the t-shirt to the customer or do you I charge them the retail cost.

Example

If a shirt cost me $2.50 do I change them $2.50 or say $5.00 which is the retail cost?

Thanks for the help in answering my question. Looking forward to learning from you.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

You can do it that way but you will go broke pretty quick. You need to figure out what you want to or can make and price from there. 

As an example, if someone orders 1 shirt from us we charge up to $30. If they order the same design with 100 shirts it may only be $8 each. At 100 we can make more money per hour at $8 than if we had 100 orders for $30 each. 

Know your costs but more important know you minimum hourly rate you want to make. It isn't easy but don't just double the price.

Take a look here: http://www.tshirtriches.com/how-to-price-t-shirts/


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## ole Jobe (Jun 16, 2009)

A markup on the shirt is only the starting place. What is your time worth? You have to amortize your equipment so you will be prepared for breakdown or replacement. You need to know how much it costs just to open the doors in the morning. If you are working from your house, then a percentage of your mortgage comes from the business. And you have to have supplies. The list goes on and on. All costs must be covered before you can make a profit. God Bless.


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## mfabbri89 (Nov 20, 2016)

Thank you so much for your feedback.

I guess my question is...

Do folks charge the retail or wholesale price for the shirt. 

I am just asking about the shirt price. I already have my hourly rate etc figured out.

I have a job I am doing where the shirts cost $7 wholesale. I am charging $16 on top of that for my design, vinyl, overhead etc. So the total will be $23 for the shirt.

My husband thinks I need to charge retail for the shirt which is $14. Making the cost of the entire shirt $30.00

I am just wondering if it is common practice for folks to do charge the retail or wholesale cost of the shirt when pricing out a job.

Thanks!


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Wow, need more info. What shirts? Is it spec work or are you a clothing co? $7 seems like a lot for shirts .


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## mfabbri89 (Nov 20, 2016)

Hi, Thanks.

It is a white Champion T, purchasing it from Alpha Broder. My cost from them is $6.85.

I am a one women shop, working out of my studio in my home. I create small batches of custom Ts for sports teams, schools, bridal parties and running groups.

T-shirts are just one part of my business. I also do custom designed paper corsages and boutonnieres for weddings, proms etc.

I have a Silhouette machine where I cut my images. Just got into T-shirts for real. I had actually been doing them with an iron for some time and that was just not cutting it anymore for me.

Thanks so much for your help. This is all new to me and I want to get a feel for how others are handling pricing.


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## Printavo (Oct 7, 2007)

Yeah, I would really look at your amortized costs. Everything to run your business for the month and divide that by 20 working days in a month (if you're Mon - Fri). Then you can see how much in sales you need to break even. That can help price the shirt from there. Keep in mind that's just breaking even and not making a profit.


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## PatWibble (Mar 7, 2014)

You have to work at, or close to, retail on short quantities. Even then you will sometimes be earning little on the garment, unless you can get a carriage paid order together.

As quantities increase you can gradually reduce your margin to keep competitive. On volume I will earn as little as 20% on the garment.

Always sell your printing at a price that reflects your costs, your time plus a good profit for the business.


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## mfabbri89 (Nov 20, 2016)

Thanks. I understand all of that.

My question is, do you mark up the blanks. If I get a black for $3.00 do I charge $3.00 when figuring out my total price, or retail at $6.00.

What I am getting from you is that most folks do charge retail or close to it for their blanks.

I have everything else all figured out. If I just charge the cost of the blank I am making money on every shirt I make. What I am finding is I don't even need to mark the blank up to make money. 

I have very minimal overhead, all my equipment is paid for. And so far no one is complaining about what I charge...lol

Thank you so much!


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Always charge the highest possible price. So yes, marketing them up.


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## STPG Press (Jul 6, 2015)

Markup everything.

I do shirts at retail, plus decorating at retail. That's my normal job. If it's then a custom job that takes longer time, I add in more $$$ to cover that.

If a client orders a higher quantity, you can always offer a discount. For me, discounting to some of my clients is automatic because they are a non-profit or maybe part of a larger organization that I get volume work on.

Then there are some jobs you just turn down; like someone who wants a single shirt with decoration in 3 specific locations, 1 which is hard to press because of location, and they want it in 2 days. You can either charge them $50-60 (which still probably isn't worth it), or walk away from it.

Know what an hour of your time is worth. If after all costs involved, if you can't produce that much income in that hour, then you're not charging enough.

Cheers.


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## Ripcord (Sep 2, 2006)

My markup depends on the quantity of the order. If it's for ten shirts I'll double what I paid for them (this is only for the shirts, not the printing.) If it's for 100 shirts, $1.50 or so is a reasonable markup for me. I don't want to leave money on the table but I do want my pricing to be very attractive while still making a nice profit. 

Someone last week told me he got a quote of $15 per shirt for an order of 50 black T-shirts with a one color print. Fine if you can get it I suppose, but I did it at $6 and made at least $200 for a couple of hours work. People will gladly pay a reasonable price for a good job, but if it gets to the point that it exceeds their budget they'll decide that they can live without T-shirts.


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## PatWibble (Mar 7, 2014)

Small quantities - up to 19 pieces, the customer pays full retail mark-up for the garment. 20+ pieces I start to give discount on a sliding scale, with 500 pieces being my lowest mark-up.


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