What a run actually costs
Cloth and finishing are charged per piece. Setup is charged once per position, whatever the run size. Pick a blank and a run size below and both numbers move.
Setup is the reason small runs cost more per piece
The screen, the digitised embroidery file and the woven label die are made once. Nothing about them is cheaper because the run is long.
- Screen print, 1 position
- 45.00€ setup
- Embroidery, left chest
- 60.00€ setup
- Woven neck label
- 90.00€ setup
- Custom Pantone dye lot
- 120.00€ setup
Held for 24 months. A repeat run of the same artwork carries no setup at all.
- Screen print, 1 position
- 1.20€ per piece
- Embroidery, left chest
- 2.40€ per piece
- Woven neck label
- 0.90€ per piece
- Custom Pantone dye lot
- 2.10€ per piece
Ink, thread and the labour to place them. This is the part that scales with the run.
Volume bands on the cloth
Six bands, quoted as terms rather than a curve. The band applies to the dyed blank, not to setup.
| Run size | Off the cloth | Classic T-Shirt 270 | Heavy Hoodie 500 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 25 pcs | none | 18.40€ | 48.00€ |
| 50 pcs | 4% | 17.66€ | 46.08€ |
| 100 pcs | 9% | 16.74€ | 43.68€ |
| 250 pcs | 14% | 15.82€ | 41.28€ |
| 500 pcs | 19% | 14.90€ | 38.88€ |
| 1000 pcs | 24% | 13.98€ | 36.48€ |
Every date, counted from approval
Clocks start when you approve, not when you enquire. A custom Pantone adds the lab dip to the front of the run.
- Digital proof
- Same working day
- Lab dip for a custom Pantone
- 5 days
- Sample of the approved spec
- 7 days
- Production after approval
- 14–21 days
- Repeat run, artwork unchanged
- 10–14 days
- Call-off from stock held in Porto
- 5 days
How this compares
The three routes a team usually chooses between, on the terms that decide it.
| Threads Supply | Print-on-demand | Direct from a mill | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | 25 pcs | 1 pc | 500–1,000 pcs |
| Cloth | 240–500 gsm organic cotton, garment dyed | Whatever the catalogue stocks that week | Specified by you, if you can read a spec sheet |
| Colour | 2,625 Pantone references, lab dip in 5 days | Stock colours only | Custom, with a dye lot minimum |
| Setup | Once per position, held 24 months | None, paid back in the unit price forever | Once, plus tooling and sampling costs |
| Lead time | 14–21 days | 2–5 days | 60–90 days |
| Repeat run | Same spec, same dye lot record, 10–14 days | No lot record kept | Re-sampled, re-negotiated |
Get the numbers for your run
Send the garment, the run size and the artwork positions. A quote comes back in one working day, with the setup and the per-piece cost listed separately.
