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Cost-vs-value guide
How many custom shirts should I order?
Short answer: the sweet spots are 24, 48, and 100 pieces. Bumping from 12 to 24 pieces on a Gildan 5000 costs $96 more and gets you 12 extra shirts at $8 each — less per shirt than the $12 you were already paying. This guide shows the math for every common quantity so you can decide with your eyes open.
The pattern behind every scenario below: our per-piece price drops at 6, 12, 24, 48, 100, and 250 pieces. Orders of $50 or more ship free ($12 flat below), so any order of 3 tees or more ships free too. The step from $12 a piece to $10 at 24 pieces is where most orders find their best value — aim for at least 24 if you can use them.
Scenario 1: Gildan 5000 tee, 1-color front print
The most common Harborside order. Restaurant staff, event tees, camp shirts, brewery merch — all live here.
Bump 12 → 24: +12 shirts for $96 more$8 per extra shirt
Bump 24 → 48: +24 shirts for $192 more$8 per extra shirt
Bump 48 → 100: +52 shirts for $368 more$7.08 per extra shirt
Practical rule: if you need 8–20 shirts, order 24 anyway. The extra shirts cost less per unit than the ones you were already buying, and you get spares for staff turnover or lost/damaged shirts. If you need 30–40, order 48 — same logic.
Scenario 2: Harriton M200 polo, embroidered chest
HVAC crews, restaurant hosts, real-estate teams — the professional apparel benchmark.
3 pc
$31/pc
$93 + $55 digitizing
shipped
6 pc
$27/pc
$162 + $55 digitizing
shipped
12 pc
$23/pc
$276 + $55 digitizing
shipped
24 pc
$21/pc
$504
shipped + digitizing WAIVED
Big tip: the digitizing fee ($55 one-time per new logo) is waived on 24+ pieces. Going from 12 to 24 polos adds 12 pieces for $173 more — $14.42 per extra polo, because the digitizing goes away and the per-piece price drops. If you were considering 15–20 polos, jump to 24.
Scenario 3: Gildan 18500 hoodie, embroidered
Crews, coaches and staff who live in a hoodie from October to April.
1 pc
$36/pc
$36 + $55 digitizing
shipped
6 pc
$32/pc
$192 + $55 digitizing
shipped
12 pc
$28/pc
$336 + $55 digitizing
shipped
24 pc
$26/pc
$624
shipped + digitizing WAIVED
On hoodies, quantity matters less — the blank is a bigger share of the price, so the per-piece savings from ordering more are smaller. Order what you actually need; if you're close to 24, the digitizing waiver tips it. Carhartt hoodies are quoted per order — see
Carhartt embroidery.
Scenario 4: Small crew hire order (2–5 pieces)
New employee starting Monday. You've got the design on file from a previous order. What's the cheapest way to just add them to the crew?
For 1–5 pieces on your existing logo: there's no small-run surcharge and no re-digitizing fee because your file is on record forever. A single embroidered Harriton M200 polo for a new hire lands at $43 shipped ($31 + $12 shipping, because one polo is under the $50 free-shipping line; two clear it). A single printed tee runs $32 shipped ($20 + $12 shipping). Details on the reorder page.
Combine mid-season adds into one order. If you know 3 people are joining over the next 6 weeks, order all 3 shirts at once — one shipping fee (usually free once you hit $50), one production run, one proof to approve. Otherwise you pay $12 shipping 3 separate times ($36 wasted).
The universal decision rule
Look at how much you'd pay to add the next 10–20 pieces. If it works out to less per extra shirt than your current per-piece price, bump up. Almost always the case at the 12→24 and 48→100 transitions.
Also worth remembering:
- Free shipping starts at $50 — in practice 3 tees or more already clears it
- Free digitizing on embroidery at 24+ pieces — $55 saved
- Same-artwork reorders skip all setup — no digitizing, and the proof is quick because your art is already on file
- Order 10–15% over your headcount — new hires, lost shirts, spare demand. Reordering 3 pieces later is expensive vs. adding 4 to the initial order
Related
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