With the cotton prices soaring, it has been very challenging for T-shirt manufacturers to keep shirt prices down and therefore very difficult for the screen printers to offer shirts at the same low prices as in the past. Screen printing requires a lot of ink and chemicals, most of which is also getting expensive with the rising price of oil. Consumers however, are unwilling to adapt to the change and are constantly struggling to find the pricing they have been accustomed to. The price of screen printed shirts depends little on the size of the image and a lot on the type of shirt they choose and number of colors in their design. A basic 5.4 oz cotton T-shirt is less expensive then a 6oz cotton T-shirt. Most consumers cannot even tell the difference between theses shirts.

If you are planning to use these shirts as a free give away promo at your next big event, then you can easily save around $0.50 – $0.75 a shirt by going with 5.4oz quality. Many customers have different experiences with different brands of shirts. Some insist on a particular brand of T-shirt such as Hanes, Jerzees, Anvil, Gildan or AAA. In our experience the difference between these major brand basic t-shirt is very minimal when comparing the same category shirt. If you are comparing a Gildan 5.4 oz T-shirt to a Hanes ring spun Beefy-T in your closet you will never be satisfied with a Gildan shirt quality. It is important to remember that you are not comparing apples to apples. A ring spun T-shirt is a much better quality T-shirt then an open end T-shirt. Without getting into all the technical details of the knitting techniques behind the two shirts, just remember, that a ring spun cotton T-shirt is going to feel much softer then an open end T-shirt.

And yes, it does come with a premium price, usually $0.75-$1.00 more per shirt. If you are planning to buy these shirts to uniform your employees or a gift for your own office staff we recommend that you spend a little more and buy a ring spun T-shirt which they would love to wear over and over. Some customers like to see a design with a lot of colors, while others like a very simple 1 color design. Although the design is a matter or personal preference, you must remember that more colors means higher price. If your quantity requirement is small and your design has too many colors it is usually difficult to negotiate a good price. In screen printing each color requires a separate screen to be made, which is charged back to the customer as a setup charge. Usually about $20-$30 per color. If, for example, you have a quantity of 1000 pieces and the design has 5 colors, many suppliers may ask for $100 setup charge, but it is possible to negotiate it down to $0.00 because of your quantity. The key to buy shirts at a good price is to find a supplier who offers in-house screen printing. Those who offer in-house printing will almost always offer a better price because there is no middle man markup. They will also deliver your order on time as promised because on his machine, his direct customers are always his priority.