Pricing is one of the most common struggles I run across in the apparel decorating world, and for good reason. Get it right, and you build a profitable, sustainable business. Get it wrong, and you find yourself working harder for less, constantly wondering why your bottom line isn’t growing. Or worse yet, underpricing so badly that you are starting down the road to going out of business and you won’t even know it until it is too late.

For years, screen printing has been priced based on an economy-of-scale model. The more shirts a customer orders, the cheaper it gets per unit, thanks to the efficiency of bulk production. The famed price list is a grid with the number of screens and the number of shirts. While that worked for a while, the landscape has changed, and many decorators cover a gamut of decoration methods. Then try to introduce digital printing — whether it’s direct-to-garment (DTG), direct-to-film (DTF), or sublimation — and the rules change. The old “order more, pay less” structure doesn’t translate well, and the decorator’s customers are confused with inconsistent pricing and have unrealistic expectations.

The truth is: Pricing today requires a different mindset. It’s time to focus less on volume discounts and more on perceived value, customization, and problem-solving. That said, the years of the pricing grid are going to be hard to overcome.

Screen printing is built for efficiency — once the screens are burned, the job is set up, and the ink is mixed, it costs very little to run additional prints. That’s why screen printing is priced with big quantity breaks. You’re covering the setup cost upfront, and the more shirts you print, the less those setup costs impact your per-shirt price. Digital printing, on the other hand, eliminates setup but doesn’t benefit from the same speed at scale. Every print takes the same amount of time, whether it’s one or 100. Plus, digital printers have higher consumable costs — DTG ink, pretreatment solutions, DTF film, and even machine maintenance all add up in ways that screen printing doesn’t. Even so, your customers are going to expect drastically cheaper pricing as quantity increases.

How to Price the Right Way

The key to my suggested pricing strategy is shifting from economy-of-scale to value-based pricing. Where the final price you land on and the formula you use to get there are focused on value, not costs. Most decorators are too reliant on spreadsheets for their pricing. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good spreadsheet. But to me, the spreadsheet is a guardrail for our instincts and storytelling, not the decision-maker.

I teach about pricing a lot and will be hosting a full workshop on pricing soon. There are some simple, straightforward steps to follow to come up with your customized pricing strategy that will help you cover both your analog and digital pricing needs.

Step 1: Know Your True Costs

Let’s start with the basics. If you don’t know how much it costs you to be in business, you’re just guessing at your prices. Many business owners focus only on direct costs, like blank garments, ink, and supplies, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The real key to pricing for profitability is knowing your overhead costs, factoring in the time you invest, and paying yourself a livable wage.

Think about it: If your business is keeping you busy but not making you money, you’ve essentially created a job for yourself that doesn’t pay well. And nobody starts a business just to be underpaid and overworked.

So, what should you consider when calculating your true costs?

♦ Overhead expenses – Rent, utilities, equipment maintenance, software, and all of the expenses your business requires to operate from day to day. These costs don’t go away whether you make 100 shirts or none at all.

♦ Your time – If you don’t build in the cost of your labor, you’re working for free. What would you pay someone else to do what you do?

♦ Future planning – Do you want to grow? Replace equipment down the road? Take a vacation without your business collapsing? Those things need to be built into your pricing strategy.

Understanding your numbers is about setting yourself up for sustainable success. If you know what it takes to keep the lights on, you can price confidently instead of crossing your fingers and hoping for the best.

Step 2: Determine YOUR Business’s Perceived Value Formula

What is important and what are your values? This is where pricing moves from science to art. While knowing your numbers sets the foundation, the real key to profitability is pricing based on perceived value.

Here’s the reality: Your customers don’t care about your supply costs. They care about what your product means to them. A plain white T-shirt can sell for $5 at a big-box store or $300 from a high-end fashion brand. Why? Perceived value. One is just a shirt; the other is a status symbol. The same concept applies to your printing business. Are you selling a printed garment, or are you offering a personalized experience, a marketing tool, or a unique artistic expression?

To price effectively for perceived value, ask yourself:

♦ What problem am I solving for my customer? Are you making their brand stand out? Helping them create one-of-a-kind merch? Saving them time and effort?

♦ What experience am I delivering? Are you offering expert guidance, high-touch customer service, or ultra-fast turnaround times?

♦ How do I position my business? Are you the budget-friendly option or the premium go-to source for top-tier prints?

Your pricing should reflect the value you bring, not just what it costs you to produce. If you’re competing only on price, you’ll always be racing to the bottom. But when you price based on the impact and experience you provide, customers will pay more. They are not just buying a printed shirt, they’re buying what that shirt represents​.

Pricing with Confidence in a Changing Landscape

Pricing in today’s apparel decorating industry isn’t just about covering costs any longer. Pricing today is about aligning your pricing with the value you bring to your customers. The old bulk discount model worked when screen printing was the dominant method, but as businesses expand into digital printing and customization, a new approach is needed.

Rather than relying solely on spreadsheets and outdated pricing formulas, decorators need to embrace value-based pricing. Customers aren’t just paying for ink on a shirt; they’re paying for your expertise, your ability to solve their problems, and the experience you create. Whether it’s a one-off personalized design or a large-scale branding project, your pricing should reflect the impact of your work, not just the materials used to produce it.

A sustainable pricing strategy starts with knowing your numbers. As with any business strategy, you must start with a solid foundation. But beyond that, it’s about shifting your mindset. Instead of focusing on how much a job costs you, start focusing on how much it’s worth to the customer. When you do that, you’ll move away from price-driven competition and start building a business that’s profitable, sustainable, and rewarding.

At the end of the day, your pricing should serve your business, not just your customers. When you price with confidence you are grounded in real data and backed by an understanding of what your customers truly value.