Cost Guide — Custom apparel pricing
How much do custom t-shirts cost? Three real examples for Long Island orders.
DTF-printed cotton tees are OTIA's most-quoted item. The all-in per-piece price moves with three things: the blank you pick, how many decoration locations, and (almost not at all) the quantity. Below is what a custom t-shirt actually costs at OTIA — three worked examples on three real blanks, no setup fee, no minimum, same per-piece price at qty 1 or qty 1,000.
01 · The frame
Why this isn't a picking-favorites exercise.
Direct answer: a DTF-printed custom t-shirt at OTIA runs from the high-$20s per piece on a Gildan 5000 with a single chest print, to the mid-$30s on a Comfort Colors 1717 with the same print. No setup fee. No minimum. No quantity-tier penalty — the per-piece price you pay at qty 1 is the same per-piece price you pay at qty 1,000. The three things that actually move the number are the garment tier you pick, the number of decoration locations, and whether you want premium fabric. Everything below is the worked-example version of that answer.
02 · What matters
What separates a polo that lasts from one that fails by month six.
Criterion 01
The garment tier you pick
The blank is the biggest single cost driver — and the one most buyers under-think. A Gildan 5000 (entry, 5.3oz preshrunk cotton) lands meaningfully cheaper than a Bella+Canvas 3001 (mid, 4.2oz airlume combed cotton), which lands meaningfully cheaper than a Comfort Colors 1717 (premium, 6.1oz ringspun garment-dyed cotton). The decoration cost on top is the same across all three. What you're paying for at the higher tiers is hand-feel, drape, color depth, and how the shirt reads on the wearer.
Criterion 02
How many decoration locations
A single chest print is the most common request and the cheapest path. Adding a back print (chest + back) bumps the per-piece by a fixed amount. A third spot — sleeve, hem, or chest tag — bumps it again, but by less than the second add. OTIA's decoration math is transparent and exposed on the live calculator at /pricing: enter your spec, get the exact all-in per-piece number for any combination of placements.
Criterion 03
Quantity (almost) doesn't matter
This is the part competitors don't tell you. At most custom apparel shops, the per-piece price drops as quantity goes up — but only because they charge a setup fee they amortize across the run. We don't charge setup. Which means the per-piece price you see at qty 1 is the same per-piece price you see at qty 1,000. Ordering more saves on freight and per-piece logistics, but the unit price on the shirt itself doesn't move.
Criterion 04
Art complexity (it doesn't change the price)
DTF prints don't care if your art has one color or fifteen colors. The press cycle is identical. We don't surcharge for full-color, gradients, photo-real imagery, or white underbase — that's all included in the per-location decoration fee. The only art-related charge that ever appears is if we have to substantively rebuild the file (vectorizing a phone-photo logo, redrawing a pixelated mark), and we tell you up front if that's the case before any work happens.
03 · The picks
What we actually order for restaurant teams.
Ordered by where they belong on the team — not by price.
- Pick 01Worked example — entry blankGildan
Gildan 5000 — entry tier (5.3oz preshrunk cotton)
The most-ordered tee in custom apparel for a reason. 5.3oz preshrunk cotton, holds up to industrial wash, runs broad in size (S-5XL) and color (60+ stock colors). The default pick for event shirts, fundraiser tees, BOH kitchen tees, and any program where the budget needs to land tight.
Why it wins
Pricing on this blank with a single left-chest DTF print: $16.00 per piece, all-in. Same number whether you're ordering 1, 24, or 100. Adding a full back print (chest + back, 2 locations): $20.00 per piece, all-in. A 100-piece run of the chest-only spec lands at 100-piece run at $16.00 each, all-in including decoration.
Tradeoff
Reads as a value tee. Fine for events, fundraisers, and back-of-house — not the right blank for a brand-forward retail drop or a premium gift program. For those, step up to the 3001 or 1717.
Decoration
DTF print, single location or chest + back. We don't recommend embroidery on this fabric weight — 5.3oz cotton puckers around the stitch.
- Pick 02Worked example — mid blankBella+Canvas
Bella+Canvas 3001 — mid tier (4.2oz airlume combed cotton)
The current default for retail-feel custom tees. Lighter than the Gildan but softer hand, modern fit, the blank most younger demographics expect. Strong color palette, including triblends and heathers that read intentional.
Why it wins
Pricing on this blank with a single left-chest DTF print: $19.00 per piece, all-in. Adding a back print: $23.00 per piece, all-in. A 24-piece run of the chest + back spec lands at 24-piece run at $23.00 each, all-in including decoration.
Tradeoff
Lighter weight (4.2oz) means slightly faster wash-life than the Gildan. Not the right pick if the program is going through commercial laundry weekly — for that, the 5000 or a heavier premium tee is the safer call.
Decoration
DTF print, any combination of locations. Embroidery is workable on the 3001 but the fabric is at the lower edge of what supports a clean stitch — keep logos small and simple if going embroidered on this tee.
- Pick 03Worked example — premium blankComfort Colors
Comfort Colors 1717 — premium tier (6.1oz ringspun garment-dyed)
The retail-quality tee. 6.1oz ringspun cotton, garment-dyed for the lived-in color depth you can't get with reactive-dyed blanks. The default for brand drops, premium event merch, and any tee where the shirt itself is part of the brand story.
Why it wins
Pricing on this blank with a single left-chest DTF print: $23.50 per piece, all-in. Adding a back print: $27.50 per piece, all-in. A 50-piece run of the chest + back spec lands at 50-piece run at $27.50 each, all-in including decoration.
Tradeoff
Significantly higher garment cost than the Gildan — about 2x. For a 100-shirt event run the budget delta is real. Where it earns its premium: the shirt itself reads as a quality piece, not a giveaway. Customers actually wear Comfort Colors tees outside the event context, which is the goal of any branded apparel program.
Decoration
DTF print is the right answer. The 6.1oz fabric weight does support embroidery, but the garment-dyed cotton makes the embroidery thread color pop more sharply than most buyers expect — preview the thread choice carefully if going embroidered.
04 · What to avoid
Three patterns that don't survive a kitchen.
These are the failures we see on reorder calls. Skip them at the spec stage and you save a season of grief.
No setup fee — ever
Most custom apparel shops charge $25-75 per color per location as a screen-print setup fee. DTF is a different process and we don't charge one — the per-piece price you see is the per-piece price you pay. If a competitor quotes you a 'setup fee' or 'screen charge' on a DTF order, that's margin padding, not a real cost.
No minimum order — really
We'll print one shirt. Same per-piece price as a 100-shirt run. This is the part new buyers don't believe until they see the quote — most shops have minimums because their workflow doesn't support short runs. Ours does.
No quantity-tier markup
The per-piece price at qty 1 equals the per-piece price at qty 1,000. We don't raise the unit price on small orders to subsidize larger ones — we run the same per-piece math at every quantity. Ordering more saves on freight and per-shirt handling, but the shirt itself costs the same.
No surprise art charge
DTF doesn't surcharge for color count, gradients, or photo-real art. The only art-related fee that ever appears is if we need to rebuild your file substantively (vectorizing a phone photo, redrawing a pixelated mark) — and we surface that as a one-time quote before any work happens, never as a line item on the production invoice.
05 · How to order
Embroidery or DTF — and where the price actually lands.
OTIA's published pricing promise is the short version of everything above: Flat per-piece pricing · Same at qty 1 or 1,000 · No setup fees · No minimums. The live calculator at /pricing returns the exact all-in per-piece number for your specific blank, decoration method, and location count — typically in under five seconds. We quote real dollars, not ranges.
When to budget more than the worked examples above: premium garments (Comfort Colors, Champion, AS Colour, Stanley/Stella) sit above the Gildan/Bella numbers because the blank itself costs more — but the decoration math doesn't change. Multi-placement decoration adds a known fixed per-piece per added spot. Rush production (under our standard 5-7 business day lead time) is available on most orders with a surcharge surfaced at quote time, not as a surprise. If your art is a phone-photo logo or a pixelated mark, plan for a one-time file rebuild fee — we tell you before any work happens, and the rebuilt file is yours to keep for future orders.
FAQ
Questions buyers actually ask.
Do you have a minimum order quantity for custom t-shirts?
No. We'll print one shirt at the same per-piece price as a 100-shirt run. Most shops have minimums because their workflow doesn't support short runs — ours does. If you want one custom tee for a gift or a sample, we'll ship one custom tee.
Is there a setup fee for DTF-printed t-shirts?
No setup fee. No screen charge. No per-color fee. DTF is a film-transfer process — we print your full-color art onto film and heat-press it into the shirt. The press cycle is identical regardless of color count, gradient, or photo-realism, so there's nothing to set up beyond loading your file.
What if I want to order more later — does the price change?
No. The per-piece price you paid on the first order is the same per-piece price you pay on the reorder. We don't have a 'first-order discount' that quietly disappears later, and we don't gate volume pricing behind quantity thresholds. The published per-piece number is the number.
Can you match a competitor's quote?
We'll look at it honestly. If a competitor is quoting lower per-piece on a comparable blank with comparable decoration, send us the quote and we'll either match it or tell you exactly where their math is hiding a tradeoff (setup fee buried in qty math, lower-tier garment, fewer included locations). We don't race to the bottom on quality, but we don't surrender margin to a confusion advantage either.
Do you charge for art proofs?
No. We send a digital proof before production on every order. You confirm placement, color, and sizing, then we print. If you want changes, we revise — no per-revision fee. Proofs are part of the order, not a billable extra.
What's the all-in cost for a 24-piece event tee run?
On a Gildan 5000 with a single chest print: a 24-piece run lands at 24-piece run at $16.00 each, all-in including decoration. On a Bella+Canvas 3001 (chest + back): 24-piece run at $23.00 each, all-in including decoration. On a Comfort Colors 1717 (chest + back): 24-piece run at $27.50 each, all-in including decoration. Live calculator at /pricing handles other specs.
How does the per-piece price compare at qty 100 vs qty 1?
It's the same number. This is the part new buyers don't believe — but we run flat per-piece pricing at every quantity. The 100-piece run total is just the per-piece number times 100. No quantity tiers, no breakpoint discounts (and no quantity-tier surcharges either).
What's the lead time on a custom t-shirt order?
Standard production is 5-7 business days from artwork approval. Rush production is available on most orders for an additional fee surfaced at quote time. For sample orders (1-3 shirts), we usually ship within 3-5 business days.
Next step
Ready to spec it out?
Tell us the blank, the art, the quantity, and the location count. We come back with the all-in per-piece price — no setup fee, no minimum, same per-piece at qty 1 or qty 1,000.
Keep reading
Related to this decision.
DTF vs embroidery
When DTF is the right call for tees and when embroidery wins. The decoration-method decision tree.
DTF vs screen printing
Why we run DTF instead of screen printing on most custom tee orders, and the breakeven where screen would actually win.
How much do custom hoodies cost?
Cost-guide companion — DTF on entry hoodies vs embroidered premium fleece, with the worked examples.
How much does DTF printing cost?
The decoration-method angle — what DTF adds per piece across any garment, plus multi-location pricing.
DTF printing service
OTIA's in-house DTF service — full-color flat printing on cotton, poly, and blends.
Live pricing calculator
Enter your blank, method, and locations. Returns the exact all-in per-piece number in seconds.