A customer wants 25 printed shirts. What should you charge? Counting 25 shirts and 25 designs is only the start. Your time and a little room for mistakes matter too.
Let us build an example in US dollars so you can see where each amount comes from. This is not a price to use for every customer.
Ask what the customer needs first
- Which sizes and shirt colors?
- A design on the front, back or both?
- How big should the design be?
- When must the shirts be ready?
- Will the customer collect them, or do you need to ship them?
Write down the answers and show the customer how the design will look. Ask them to check names, spelling and size before you print. A later change can cost a whole new shirt.
Count 25 to deliver and one spare
Here we buy 26 shirts and 26 transfers to deliver 25 finished shirts. The extra helps if something goes wrong. It does not mean one shirt always fails.
- 26 shirts at US$4.25: US$110.50.
- 26 transfers at US$4.40: US$114.40.
- 2 hours of work at US$18: US$36.00.
- 25 bags at US$0.35: US$8.75.
- Incoming shipping and small supplies: US$15.00.
Total: US$284.65. The shirt, work time, bags and US$15 amounts are practice numbers. Replace them with your own costs.
The transfer cost uses a published reference. Transfer Express’s 2026 guide lists US$0.055 per square inch for 25 or more. A 10 × 8 inch design covers 80 square inches: 80 × 0.055 = US$4.40. Check the size, quantity rules and current price before ordering.
What if you charge US$400?
US$400 divided by 25 shirts is US$16 per delivered shirt. Now count the charge for taking the customer’s payment.
For practice, imagine that charge is 2.9% plus US$0.30 for one payment. A US$400 sale would cost US$11.90 to collect. This is not a claim about your own account’s rate. Check it.
Subtract: 400 − 284.65 − 11.90 = US$103.45. That remains before workspace costs, paid software, taxes and other missing bills. It is about 26 out of every 100 dollars sold, but it is not all money you can spend.
Will the deposit cover the supplies?
A half-payment upfront gives you US$200. The shirts and transfers alone cost US$224.90 in this example. That deposit would not cover all of them.
Choose a deposit after adding up what you must pay first. If the customer pays a deposit and a balance separately, the fixed payment charge may apply twice. Update the calculation.
Give the customer a clear written price
State the number of finished shirts, what printing is included, the total price, deposit and delivery date. Say whether shipping and tax are included. Give an end date for the price too.
After the job, write down your actual spending and work time. If it took three hours rather than two, use that when pricing the next job. Paying for your time is part of the work.
Keep planning your next order
- How to Price Your T-Shirts: A Simple Cost Example
- Buy a DTF Printer or Order Transfers? Do These Simple Sums
- US$100 a Day Selling T-Shirts? See How Many You Need to Sell
Where the reference numbers come from
Reference pages checked on October 31, 2026. Prices may change. Our practice numbers are examples, not recorded business results.
Free worksheet to fill in
Open the CSV file in a spreadsheet app, such as Excel or Google Sheets. It is a table with example numbers and instructions. Replace them with your own costs. It does not do the calculations automatically.