Whether this is your first tee shirt project or you’re looking for a style, color, brand or fabric not available on our online site, this introduction to printed tee shirts is geared to provide information on common terminology and choices available. Solid Merch wants to help you create tees and hoodies that meet your artistic and quality vision, budget and deadline.
Pricing Factors
Many factors determine your printed tee shirt cost. Most significantly:
1) Style – what cut, fabric type & weight, shirt color(s) and sizes are you looking for? Darker colored shirts tend to be more expensive due to popularity and higher ink costs. There are usually surcharges for plus sizes 2XL and above.
2) Quantity – the price per unit goes down the more you order
3) Artwork – printing pricing is primarily determined by the number of ink colors and print locations
4) Specialty Requests – mixing different color blanks or styles, changing ink colors, pantone matching, custom or variable numbering, texture effects such as holographs or rhinestones, finishing effects such as retail soft process or discharge
Cuts & Styles
The chart below shows the most common cuts of tees and fleece. Standard cotton crew neck tees are the most popular tee shirt style and generally the least expensive. However, pricing on all of these styles, even basic short sleeve tees, will differ significantly based on the brand and fabric.
Brands
There are dozens of brands for blank tee shirts. We generally select the brand based on the type of shirt you order. But, if you have a specific brand you want us to work with, no problem – let us know and we’ll give you style options and pricing.
Here’s a quick overview of some current common brands:
Fabric Weights
Weight is an important consideration when you’re considering what tee to buy. Consider its function, time of year/climate and your budget. Lighter weights and heavy weights tend to cost more than the standard weight products.
Softness/Fabrics
Softness is a key driver of perceived tee shirt quality and price. Over the past decade, manufacturers have introduced sophisticated blends, many of which feel luxurious to the touch.
You can feel the difference. If you can afford a small increase in your tee shirt cost, we recommend ringspun and ringspun blends as superior options. You and your customers will feel the difference and it will impact how often they want to wear your shirts.
Printing & Decorating Methods
Print Size & Scaling
It is important to note that print size will be the same across all sized shirts when we print your tees. For a narrow set of sizes (e.g., S, M, L, XL), a single size print screen is fine. But for jobs ranging from youth to oversized adult sizes, you may want to consider multiple sized screens.