PrinquoShort answer: Price a screen printing job in layers: the blank garments, a per-shirt print price for each location (set by color count and quantity), a one-time setup fee per screen, and any extras like rush or specialty inks. Then check the total against your real costs to make sure you keep the margin you want. Below is a full worked quote for 48 shirts with a 2-color front and 1-color back.
I'm Sam Hernandez, owner of Studio208 Print Shop in San Francisco. All dollar amounts in my tables are example numbers I picked to show the method, not market rates or my shop's actual prices. Use your own costs and your own market. Where I cite a published range, I link the source.
How do you price a screen printing job?
Every quote is the same five parts:
- Blanks. The garment, priced at your cost plus your margin.
- Print price. Charged per shirt, per location, based on how many colors are in that location and which quantity tier the order falls in.
- Setup fees. One-time charges per screen, covering screen prep and registration.
- Extras. Specialty inks, oversized prints, small-run premiums, art time.
- Rush fee. An added percentage when the customer needs it faster than your standard turnaround.
Set your prices so the total clears your cost plus the margin you want. I walk through the cost-plus math in my guide on how much to charge for custom shirts.
What are setup fees and screen fees?
Every color in every location needs its own screen. A setup fee covers the time and materials to make it: prepping the screen, coating and exposing it, and registering it on the press. It doesn't change with order size, which is why it's a separate line on the quote.
The Printable Press screen printing pricing guide describes $15 to $25 per color, per screen, as a typical setup fee. Treat that as a starting point and replace it with your actual screen cost and time.
On larger runs, some shops fold setup into the per-shirt price. The same guide says many shops do this on orders above 100 units, as long as the margin still holds.
How do you charge per color and per location?
Price each print location separately. A front print and a back print are two locations, each with its own colors and its own screens.
Here's an example matrix for dark garments. Prices are per shirt, per location, and don't include the blank or setup:
| Colors in the location | 24 to 47 shirts | 48 to 99 shirts | 100 to 249 shirts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 color | $3.30 | $2.60 | $2.10 |
| 2 colors | $4.50 | $3.60 | $3.00 |
| 3 colors | $5.40 | $4.40 | $3.70 |
Two details to decide for your own matrix:
- Dark vs light garments. Dark shirts usually need a white underbase, which adds a color pass. Many shops keep separate price grids for dark and light garments. My example assumes the underbase is already built into the dark-garment prices.
- Where extra colors stop. Decide the most colors you'll run per location before the job becomes a custom quote.
How do quantity breaks work?
Quantity breaks lower the per-shirt price as the order grows, because setup and handling time are spread across more shirts. The Printable Press guide recommends breaks at 12, 24, 48, 100, and 250 units. My example matrix uses a few of them.
See what the same job costs per shirt at three quantities, using the example matrix above. The job is a 2-color front and a 1-color back on dark tees, with a $60 setup (3 screens at $20 each):
| Order size | Blank | Front (2 colors) | Back (1 color) | Per shirt before setup | Setup | Total | Per shirt, all-in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | $5.50 | $4.50 | $3.30 | $13.30 | $60 | $379.20 | $15.80 |
| 48 | $5.00 | $3.60 | $2.60 | $11.20 | $60 | $597.60 | $12.45 |
| 100 | $4.75 | $3.00 | $2.10 | $9.85 | $60 | $1,045.00 | $10.45 |
The all-in price per shirt falls by about a third from 24 to 100 shirts. Show your customers this kind of table when they ask whether it's worth ordering more.
How much should you charge for rush fees?
Rush fees are a percentage added to the job, shown as a separate line so the customer sees why. The Printable Press guide puts typical rush surcharges at 15% to 25% above the standard quote for same-day or next-day turnaround. Some shops use a flat percentage, some build the fee from real overtime costs, and some use a sliding scale that rises with each day cut from their standard turnaround.
A simple way to set yours:
- Decide your standard turnaround and write it on every quote.
- Set a percentage for jobs inside that window, and a higher one for next-day.
- Include the cost of the work you'd push back to fit the rush job.
What other fees belong on a screen printing quote?
- Minimum order. Printable Press says most established shops set minimums between 12 and 24 shirts per design.
- Small-run fee. Under the minimum, a flat premium covers the same setup on fewer shirts. The same guide cites roughly $30 to $50.
- Specialty inks. The guide suggests a 20% to 30% upcharge for specialty inks like metallic, glitter, or puff.
- Art and layout. Charge for artwork cleanup, vectorizing, or building a layout.
- Oversized or unusual prints. Large prints use more ink and take longer.
- Special handling. Names and numbers, individual bagging, or folding.
What does a fully worked screen printing quote look like?
Here's the job: 48 black Gildan 5000 tees, 2-color front, 1-color back, needed by Friday. It uses the example prices above and a 20% rush fee, which I chose for illustration.
| Line item | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Blank tees | 48 × $5.00 | $240.00 |
| Front print, 2 colors | 48 × $3.60 | $172.80 |
| Back print, 1 color | 48 × $2.60 | $124.80 |
| Setup, 3 screens | 3 × $20.00 | $60.00 |
| Subtotal | $597.60 | |
| Rush fee, 20% | $597.60 × 20% | $119.52 |
| Total before tax | $717.12 |
Per shirt, that's about $14.94 all-in. Sales tax is added according to your location and your customer.
How do you check that the quote isn't underpriced?
Compare the subtotal to what the job costs you. Here's the cost side of the same job, again with example inputs:
| Cost item | How I got it | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Blanks | 48 × $3.00 | $144.00 |
| Ink and consumables | 48 shirts × 3 color passes × $0.20 | $28.80 |
| Screen materials | 3 screens × $6.00 | $18.00 |
| Setup labor | 3 screens × 30 minutes at $20/hour | $30.00 |
| Print labor | 48 shirts × 3 passes × 0.75 minutes at $20/hour | $36.00 |
| Order handling | 20 minutes at $20/hour | $6.67 |
| Overhead | 48 × $0.50 | $24.00 |
| Total cost | $287.47 |
Before the rush fee, the $597.60 subtotal leaves $310.13 profit, a 51.9% margin. The rush fee is added revenue on top, which is the point: it pays you for the schedule disruption and any overtime. If your costs came out higher, you'd see the margin shrink before you send the quote.
This example counts 3 screens. If your dark-shirt prints need a separate underbase screen, add it to both the setup fee and the cost side.
What mistakes do shops make when pricing screen printing?
- Skipping setup fees on small jobs. The screens cost the same whether you print 12 shirts or 120.
- Not counting every screen. Front colors plus back colors plus any underbase screen.
- Giving the same price at every quantity. Without breaks, you either lose big orders or lose money on small ones.
- No rush fee. Rush orders cost you other customers' time.
- Forgetting your time. Setup, printing, cleanup, and quoting all take hours.
- Quoting from memory. Prices drift when they live in your head.
How can you build quotes like this faster?
Once your price matrix, setup fees, and rules are written down, quoting is mostly arithmetic. That's the part Prinquo handles. You describe the job in plain English, like "48 black Gildan 5000 tees, 2-color front, 1-color back, need them Friday," and the AI builds an itemized quote from your own price sheet and pricing rules.
Each AI-built quote uses 1 AI credit. The Starter plan includes 100 credits a month, so about 100 AI quotes, and manual quotes are unlimited. It's one login per account right now. If you're comparing tools, see Best AI Quoting Software for Print Shops.
Want to try AI quoting on your own prices?
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FAQ
How much should I charge for screen printing?
It depends on your costs, your colors, your quantities, and your market. Price each job from blanks, per-location print prices, setup fees, and extras, then check the total against your cost. The example in this guide gave a 48-shirt job a $597.60 subtotal and a 51.9% margin, but those inputs are examples only.
How much is a screen setup fee?
The Printable Press pricing guide gives $15 to $25 per color, per screen, as typical. Your number should reflect your own screen materials and time.
Do I charge per color or per location?
Both. Each location has its own price based on its color count, and each color in each location needs its own screen, so setup is charged per screen.
How much should I charge for a rush order?
The Printable Press guide cites 15% to 25% above the standard quote for same-day or next-day work, shown as a separate line item. Some shops use a flat percentage, a cost-based fee, or a sliding scale tied to the days cut. Set yours from what a rush actually costs you.
Should I set a minimum order for screen printing?
Most shops do. The same guide says minimums of 12 to 24 shirts per design are typical. A minimum protects you from jobs where setup costs more than the profit.
Is it cheaper to print more shirts?
Per shirt, yes. Setup is spread across more shirts and your print price drops at higher quantity breaks. In the example, the all-in price falls from $15.80 at 24 shirts to $10.45 at 100.