What Should You Really Charge Per Shirt?

Factor in your real costs - blanks, screens, ink, finishing - and see your true margins instantly.

Describe Your Job
or fill in manually below
Try these:50 S, 100 M, 75 L, 25 XL - white Gildan 5000, 2 color front200 black BC3001, 3 color front + 1 color back, fold and poly-bag, rush72 navy comfort colors, 1 color left chest, need them by next week

AI parsing is approximate. Always review and adjust the form values below.

Garment

White, Ash, Sport Grey, Natural, Sand, Light Blue, Light Pink

Quantity

Assumes no size upcharges.

Print Locations
Print Details
Profit Margin
%

At 40%, a shirt that costs you $10.00 sells for $16.67.

Extras
Discount & Tax
%
%

Your Price Per Shirt

$0.00

Cost: $0.00 · Profit: $0.00/ea

Total Revenue

$0.00

Total Cost

$0.00

Gross Profit

$0.00

Margin

40%

Cost 100%Profit 0%
Garments(0 × $0.00)$0.00
Screen Setup(0 screens)$0.00
Total Cost$0.00
Cost per unit$0.00
Retail Price (40% margin)$0.00
Retail per unit$0.00
Profit$0.00 ($0.00/ea)
Markup 0.0%

Love the calculator?

PressRig handles quoting, invoicing, job tracking, and production scheduling. Stop pricing in spreadsheets and start running your shop.

Your custom rates and preferences are saved locally. Come back anytime to create a new quote.

How to use this calculator

  1. Describe the job

    Start by describing your print job in the text box at the top of the calculator. Type it the way you'd describe it to another printer. Something like "200 black Bella Canvas 3001 tees, 3 color front print, sizes S through 2XL." The AI reads your description and fills in the form automatically.

  2. Review and adjust

    Every field is editable after the AI fills it in, so you can adjust anything it got wrong or left blank. If you'd rather skip the AI entirely, just fill out the form manually. The pricing math works the same either way.

  3. Get your numbers

    Once your job details are set, the calculator instantly shows your cost breakdown, suggested retail price, and profit margin. Change any input and the numbers update in real time.

What this calculator includes

Most screen printing calculators miss the variables that actually move the needle on profitability. This one doesn't.

Dark garment detection

Automatically identifies when a garment color requires an underbase - the white ink layer printed underneath your design on dark fabrics. That underbase adds an extra screen and slows production with flash curing between layers, which can increase per-piece cost by 15-30%.

Ink type surcharges

Adjusts pricing based on whether you're running plastisol (standard), water-based, discharge, or specialty inks like metallic, glitter, or puff. Water-based and discharge typically add $0.50 per print. Specialty inks add $0.75 or more.

Finishing costs and size upcharges

Covers the line items most shops forget to quote. Individual folding, poly-bagging, sizing stickers, and custom neck labels all add up. And garments in 2XL and above carry supplier surcharges of $2-6 per piece that eat into your margin if you don't price for them.

Profit margin analysis

Shows your cost per piece, suggested retail price, total revenue, and gross profit at the margin target you set. You see immediately whether a job is worth taking at the quantity your customer is asking for.

AI input - not AI pricing

The AI only reads your job description and fills in the form fields. Every dollar figure in your quote comes from deterministic formulas based on real material costs, labor rates, and industry-standard pricing structures. No AI is involved in the pricing math.

How screen printing pricing works

Screen printing pricing comes down to a simple formula: garment cost + decoration cost per location + setup fees distributed across quantity + finishing costs + your profit margin.

The reason pricing feels complicated is that each of those components has variables hiding inside it. Decoration cost changes based on how many ink colors you're printing, whether the garment is light or dark, and what type of ink you're using. Setup fees are fixed per screen, so they hit small orders hard and nearly disappear on large runs. Finishing adds per-piece costs that are easy to forget during quoting.

Here's what typical screen printing costs look like at common order quantities:

Order size1 color, light garment2 colors, light garment3+ colors, dark garment
24 pieces$12-18 per shirt$14-22 per shirt$18-28 per shirt
48 pieces$8-14 per shirt$10-18 per shirt$14-22 per shirt
72 pieces$6-12 per shirt$8-15 per shirt$12-20 per shirt
144 pieces$5-10 per shirt$7-12 per shirt$9-16 per shirt
500+ pieces$4-8 per shirt$5-10 per shirt$7-12 per shirt

These ranges include garment cost, screens, ink, and labor for a standard front print on mid-range blanks like the Bella+Canvas 3001 or Gildan 5000. Your actual numbers will vary based on your shop's overhead, the specific blank you're using, and your target margin. The calculator above uses your inputs to give you exact figures instead of ranges.

The most common pricing mistake is confusing markup with margin. A $5 garment sold at $10 is a 100% markup, but only a 50% margin. Most profitable screen printing shops target 30-50% gross margin on completed jobs. The formula:

Selling Price = Total Cost / (1 - Desired Margin%)

For a 40% margin on a job that costs $12.50 per piece: $12.50 / 0.60 = $20.83 per shirt.

Calculator FAQ

Yes, completely free with no signup required. The calculator is a standalone tool - use it as many times as you want. It will always be free.

You've seen the calculator. Imagine what the full platform can do.

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