Guide
Why minimums exist
Nearly every print shop sets a minimum, and to a first time buyer it can read like a sales tactic. It is not. It is a straight consequence of the work that sits either side of the press, and once you see the sequence it stops feeling arbitrary.
Most of the labor happens before the first shirt. Setup takes the same time whether the run is twelve pieces or five hundred.
Our minimums are low and counted per order, in any mix of sizes and designs.
It is a minimum, not a limit. Start with a small run, see how it moves, come back for more.
What happens before the first shirt
Here is the actual sequence between approving artwork and the first finished piece.
Artwork prep. The file is checked at the size it will actually print, cleaned up and positioned. This is where most delays start, and it is why we wrote a whole guide about artwork.
Proof. You see the design on the garment, in the color you chose, at the size it will run. Nothing is produced until you approve it in writing.
Blanks. Garments are ordered once the proof is signed off. They come from the wholesaler by the case with freight on top, and a small order carries much the same freight as a large one.
Receiving and counting. Every box is opened, counted against the order and checked for mill defects. Blanks do turn up damaged sometimes, and catching it here is far cheaper than catching it later.
Print prep. The approved artwork is output at final size for the run.
Setup and test. The press is dialed in for that specific garment, then tested on a spare until the placement and the finish are both right.
Only then does the first real piece run. Afterward every piece is checked, folded, counted again and packed.
Nearly every step above costs the same at 12 pieces as at 500. That is the whole explanation. The run itself is quick. The work wrapped around it is not, and most of it does not shrink with the order.
Where the minimum lands
Every shop sets its minimum roughly where the fixed work stops dominating. Below it you are mostly paying for preparation rather than product, and the per piece number climbs somewhere most people would rather not be.
Above it, the math flattens fast, because each extra piece adds a garment and press time rather than another full setup round.
Different shops land in different places. Ours stays low, and we count it per order rather than per design, which is the part that matters most for a first run.
What counts toward the minimum
Sizes mix freely. The press does not know what size shirt is under it. One order can run from small through 2XL in whatever spread you need. Extended sizes sometimes cost more, but that is the blank, not the print.
Designs mix too. The minimum is per order, not per design, so one order can carry two or three designs. Every design carries its own artwork and its own proof, so more designs costs more per piece, but a second design does not need its own minimum.
Garment colors do not split the run. The same design goes onto a white shirt and a black shirt the same way here, so a mixed color order still counts as one run toward the minimum. Pick the colors you actually want.
Positions add cost. A chest print and a full back are two passes through the press, so a design on both sides is priced as two positions rather than one.
It is a minimum, not a limit
The point people miss is that the minimum is the floor, not the recommendation. You do not have to commit to a closet full of stock to find out whether merch works for you.
Start with a small run. Put it out. See what actually sells and which size runs out first. Then reorder with real information instead of a guess.
Reorders are also easier. The artwork is already prepared, so a repeat run skips the artwork prep entirely and starts at a quick proof. Coming back with the same design is the simplest order you will place.
A first run is smaller than it sounds
The word minimum puts people off before they do the arithmetic. For a shop, a bar, a gym, a team or a staff, a first run is a small counter display, or one shift of front of house with spares, or a season of one design.
It also does not have to be one thing in one size. Any mix of sizes counts toward the order, so a spread from small to 2XL clears it comfortably. If you are close but not quite there, tell us what you are working with and we will look at it with you.
Common questions
Why is there a minimum order?
Because the work either side of the press, preparing artwork, proofing, ordering and checking blanks, setting up and packing, takes about the same time no matter how many shirts follow. Below a certain count that work costs more than the garments.
What is your minimum?
Our minimums are low and counted per order rather than per design, so one order can carry more than one design. Tell us what you are planning and we will tell you plainly what works.
Can I mix sizes within the minimum?
Yes, any combination. The press does not care what size is underneath it.
Does a second garment color count as a separate run?
No. The same design goes onto light and dark garments the same way, so a mixed color order still counts as one run.
Are reorders cheaper?
A reorder is simpler rather than cheaper. The artwork is already prepared, so a repeat run skips the artwork prep and starts at a quick proof.
Start with a small run
Tell us what you are thinking and we will tell you plainly whether it makes sense to print. Including when it does not.
Start an order →