T-Shirt: wholesale price
A typical US business buyer pays a median of $6.50 per unit at small order quantities, falling to $1.92 at volume, on a typical 28-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 | $6.50 |
| 1,000–4,999 units | $3.60 |
| 5,000–9,999 units | $3.10 |
| 10,000–24,999 units | $2.80 |
| 25,000–99,999 units | $2.02 |
| 100,000+ units | $1.92 |
What moves the price
For t-shirt, 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.
For a mid-range custom-printed tee, the biggest price drivers are fabric spec (GSM, ring-spun vs. basic cotton, and blend), print complexity (1-color screen print versus multi-color or full-color), and whether pricing is for blank goods only or includes decoration and freight. US-facing merch printers usually quote higher per-unit prices at 500–1,000 units because setup, screening, and fulfillment overhead are still material, while factory-direct/import quotes get much lower above 10,000 units. Realistic sourcing routes are US trade printers for 500–5,000 units and OEM/import factories for 5,000+ units, with landed-equivalent container pricing becoming most relevant at 25,000+ units.
Paying more than the median?
If you reorder t-shirt 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.