A profitable shirt price starts with the complete delivered cost, not the blank garment plus transfer alone. Small expenses and unpaid labour can erase margin surprisingly quickly.
Use a repeatable worksheet for every product so discounts, wholesale tiers, and rush fees are decisions rather than guesses.
Calculate the True Unit Cost
Add the blank garment, transfer allocation, inbound freight, pressing labour, packaging, payment fees, and a spoilage allowance. If one gang sheet contains several designs, divide its total cost by the usable transfers actually produced.
Pay for Labour and Overhead
Time spent ordering blanks, preparing art, cutting transfers, pressing, quality checking, packing, and answering the customer is production labour. Overhead includes rent, utilities, software, equipment maintenance, insurance, and marketing.
Set a Margin, Not Just a Markup
Markup and gross margin are different. If an item costs $15 and sells for $30, the markup is 100 percent but the gross margin is 50 percent. Work backward from the margin your business needs after expected discounts and reprints.
Create Clear Price Rules
Separate one-off retail, quantity pricing, wholesale, artwork services, personalization, and rush production. State what is included so customer expectations are aligned before work begins.
Review Prices When Inputs Change
Garment and shipping costs move. Recalculate representative products regularly and whenever a supplier changes pricing. Avoid silently absorbing every increase.
Practical Takeaway
A sustainable price pays for materials, labour, overhead, risk, and profit. If one of those lines is missing, sales growth can increase workload without improving the business.
Ready for the next step? reduce transfer cost with efficient gang sheets.