# can you make a custom color T shirt for $2.50 domestically?



## davespider (Jun 16, 2013)

In New York City:

I asked a similar question in the General forum and got some good other business advice but not a direct answer on this $2.50 figure. I've been looking around at some website's prices.
I really want to get to that $2.50 figure, cost to me for having the shirt made. 

If it sells well I'm prepared to buy as much as 500 pcs to achieve a low cost per shirt. -$2.50 complete including shipping costs. 
-but excluding set up fees say they might be $120 

The shirt is two color on black. The shirt can be lower quality but not terrible quality. The design is very simple and graphic.The printing would have to be sharp and clean and each of the solid colors, orange and white showing brightly against the black. 

The lowest price for this I saw domestically in the U.S. was $3.75 a shirt including shirt and printing, free shipping, no set up fee, size mixing o.k. 500 pc minimum.
(they charge $1 more for a black shirt, $3.75 with prinitng . If it was white it would be $2.75 with printing) 

1) Should I not expect the same deal in the U.S. for $2.50 each or is that only possible using China, Bangladesh or other foreign countries manufacturers? 

2) Is it cheaper if you use separate companies for the shirt and printing? 

3) If it is only possible by using both shirt and printing would the printing company also have to be foreign to get the low price or could you have that done in the U.S. and just buy the blank shirts from overseas suppliers? 

4) Do you have experience with foreign manufacturers? Is it easy to get ripped off? I'm assuming it's a lot harder to recover your money if you pay them and they don't do what they agree to do-that would be a disaster.
I also assume that the shirts would be low enough in price to offset overseas shipping charges. 

thanks


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## bomber315 (Jun 18, 2010)

You would have to buy far more than 500 from me to get $2.50 a shirt... as a matter of fact i dont believe i would ever sell for less than $4 or so... i just sold 385 safety green with a 4x4" pocket logo in black for $5.25 a piece, no way am i going to give away shirts at the price your asking... maybe some one will, and if you find them ill do contract printing from them haha


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

For the quantity you're looking for you'll get eaten alive with shipping and duties/taxes if you go foreign. 

Pay a local printer for it and get the cheapest price possible. You won't get $2.50, your black shirt costs that much wholesale.


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## sandmanbjj (Oct 26, 2011)

If you are getting a quote for the shirt printed and delivered for 3.75, that's leaves plenty of profit even if you sell them for $5 to the retail stores. 
Especially as a middle man with no production work on your hands. Just deliver to the stores. 
At 2.50 you will get garbage if you are lucky enough to find that price


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

Yes........There is a printer in Buffalo NY that regularity does runs of 500 Gildan 5000 white tees with full colour print for 1.99 each plus 150.00 set-up Home


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

There's a guy in my local town (not NYC) that has roadside signs for banners, vinyl, and shirts. He advertises $2 shirts, but it turns out to be a rock-bottom price for 500+, single color, white shirt, no rush (2-3 weeks), separate setup charge, yada, yada. I suspect also that the shirts are seconds. They don't have to tell you the garments are seconds as long as they don't hide the cut label and tell you otherwise.

So yes, you can get shirts done for $2.50, but at some point you're just buying junk. Which means you're selling junk to someone else.

An order of 500 shirts for many of the discount printers is nothing. If you're really serious about getting the price down you need to be talking 1,000 shirts minimum, and for some of these guys that specialize in volume and automated printing equipment, 2,500.


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

GordonM said:


> There's a guy in my local town (not NYC) that has roadside signs for banners, vinyl, and shirts. He advertises $2 shirts, but it turns out to be a rock-bottom price for 500+, single color, white shirt, no rush (2-3 weeks), separate setup charge, yada, yada. I suspect also that the shirts are seconds. They don't have to tell you the garments are seconds as long as they don't hide the cut label and tell you otherwise.
> 
> So yes, you can get shirts done for $2.50, but at some point you're just buying junk. Which means you're selling junk to someone else.
> 
> An order of 500 shirts for many of the discount printers is nothing. If you're really serious about getting the price down you need to be talking 1,000 shirts minimum, and for some of these guys that specialize in volume and automated printing equipment, 2,500.


Why would suspect 2nds?.....If he is buying volume be could be paying a little over 1.00 for a white blank and make good money selling 500 x 2.00......


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## headfirst (Jun 29, 2011)

I would make your order fast though. I was putting together a 1000 piece order this morning for later in the summer and was told that all of the white t-shirt prices are going up in July. I heard that from two distributors and three mills. Not sure what's going on with it. I think we're in for a bit of a shirt again.


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## Riph (Jan 11, 2011)

The OP wants black, not white. Re-calibrate your comments for black shirts, at $2.50, 2 color print, plus probably needs an underbase because he wants the orange and white to be "bright and crystal clear" against the black shirt. And thie shrt can't be total crap. So it's really a three color print. For 500 shirts...

And for the OP, 500 is chump change. To get really good pricing you probably need to add a zero to that.


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## Riph (Jan 11, 2011)

The OP wants black, not white. Re-calibrate your comments for black shirts, at $2.50, 2 color print, plus probably needs an underbase because he wants the orange and white to be "bright and crystal clear" against the black shirt. And thie shrt can't be total crap. So it's really a three color print. For 500 shirts...

And for the OP, 500 is chump change. To get really good pricing you probably need to add a zero to that.

I would charge $4.80 for first quality shirt with those parameters, but then I like to make money.


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## treefox2118 (Sep 23, 2010)

500 shirts doesn't even pay my sales guy a commission. He'd make only $125 for a day and a half of communication and follow up.

Best bet is to source to Asia, deal with the 12-20 week turn around, and freight it from LA port. 4 skids of 64 boxes total is 5000 shirts, you could do it for under $3 for sure.

Of course, if there's a design problem or a customs delay, you're out $12,500, but that's the risk in business.

If it was me, I'd offer a loss leader to the end shops. For every 24 boutique shirts they buy at $10.99 wholesale, they get 72 shirts at $2. That's $408 for 96 shirts, now you can get by with $3.75 on the junk loss leaders and more on the boutique.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using T-Shirt Forums


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

So he wants a 2 colour imprint on black....If so, the current special from Apple Imprints can come darn close....

Special Promotions


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## GordonM (May 21, 2012)

royster13 said:


> Why would suspect 2nds?.....If he is buying volume be could be paying a little over 1.00 for a white blank and make good money selling 500 x 2.00......


Getting a dollar on a $2 sale isn't "good money" when you still have to factor labor. It's not losing money, but it's a hard way to make a living. He'd be lucky to make 30-40 cents a shirt cents on the deal; for 500 shirts that's no more than $160. No thanks! A couple of bad shirts in the lot there goes any profit.

It's also the area. We're 30 miles from Mexico. A lot of imported blanks come up from the maquiladoras who buy the seconds for their market then resell for the swaps and local outlets. You can easily tell because all the tags have cut nicks in them (or no tags because they're trying to cheat).


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