Base Layer: wholesale price
A typical US business buyer pays a median of $10.00 per unit at small order quantities, falling to $4.75 at volume, on a typical 45-day lead time. These medians come from published supplier pricing. Treat them as a starting point for a sourcing conversation rather than a binding quote.
Median price by order quantity
| Order size | Median /unit |
|---|---|
| 500–999 units | $10.00 |
| 1,000–4,999 units | $8.50 |
| 5,000–9,999 units | $7.50 |
| 10,000–24,999 units | $6.50 |
| 25,000–99,999 units | $5.75 |
| 100,000+ units | $4.75 |
What moves the price
For base layer, the drivers are size run, fabric weight, blend, print method, color count — the same item can land at either end of the band depending on how those are specified.
Real supplier quotes for base layers cluster around about $7–$12 per piece at 500-piece minimums for custom women’s, polyester/spandex, merino, and allover-print styles, while marketplace listings show lower-cost factory options but often without clear custom specs. For mid-range custom-printed programs, the main price drivers are fabric composition (poly/spandex vs merino), fabric weight, print complexity, color count, and size-run upcharges; larger factory-direct or import programs can push unit cost down, but customization and QC keep pricing above commodity blanks. The most realistic sourcing routes are direct manufacturer quotations from China/B2B factories and import-equivalent landed pricing, with US-facing wholesalers more often serving as a higher-cost benchmark than true custom-manufacture pricing.
Paying more than the median?
If you reorder base layer regularly, run a free savings check — enter what you pay and see it against these researched medians, item by item. About three minutes, no card or account.