Screen-Printing Cost Example: From 100 Shirts to a Complete Quote
For this constructed 100-shirt job, the modeled cost is $628.50 and a 40% target job margin produces a rounded quote of $1,048. Follow each input to see what is included and what would change the result.
Define the order before assigning a price
This example delivers 100 identical finished shirts with one print location. All figures are invented to demonstrate a reproducible estimate, not a market price or a production yield. The blank purchase budget includes five spares. Ink is budgeted on expected consumption with a recoverable operating reserve tracked separately. Tax and delivery are excluded.
Use the quote scope checklist for a real job. A second location, a different garment mix, or another production session requires revised inputs.
Turn material planning into a cost per finished shirt
With a 5% extra-stock allowance, buy ceiling(100 × 1.05) = 105 blanks. At $3.50 each, the budget is $367.50. This is an extra-stock model, not a 5% reject-rate model; the blank allowance calculator distinguishes them.
Suppose a comparable measurement supports 2 g per impression, a separate 20% handling allowance, and a 50 g recoverable operating reserve. For 100 impressions, expected consumption is 100 × 2 × 1.20 = 240 g. Prepare 290 g including the reserve. At $30/kg, the consumed budget is $7.20 while the prepared amount is valued at $8.70. The ink calculator reports the prepared amount; do not transfer its $8.70 unchanged if your quote deliberately uses the consumed basis.
Add $17.80 for other run consumables in this example. Total run consumables are $25, or $0.25 per finished shirt. Any test materials already inside setup must stay out of this line. The purchase, preparation, and consumption guide explains these different boundaries.
Build the complete job cost sheet
| Cost line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Blank purchase budget | 105 × $3.50 | $367.50 |
| Run consumables | 100 × $0.25 | $25.00 |
| Production labor | 4 person-hours × $24 | $96.00 |
| Setup | Separate preparation budget | $60.00 |
| Allocated overhead | 4 allocation hours × $20 | $80.00 |
| Total modeled cost | Sum of the five lines | $628.50 |
The production labor excludes preparation already included in the $60 setup budget. The $24 labor rate excludes the overhead allocated separately. The four overhead allocation hours happen to equal the labor hours here; that is a stated example assumption, not a rule that press-hours and person-hours are interchangeable. Check labor time boundaries and overhead allocation before using your own rates.
Convert cost to a quote and check rounding
Unit price rounded up to cents = $10.48
Final quote = 100 × $10.48 = $1,048.00
Modeled job profit is $1,048 − $628.50 = $419.50. Achieved job margin is $419.50 ÷ $1,048 ≈ 40.03%. It is slightly above 40% because the unit selling price rounds upward. This is margin on the stated cost base, not a claim about accounting gross margin or final business net profit.
To reproduce the result in the pricing calculator, enter quantity 100; blank cost 3.50; consumables 0.25; production hours 4; labor cost/hour 24; setup 60; overhead 80; extra blanks 5%; target job margin 40%. The margin and markup comparison explains why adding 40% to cost would give a different quote.
Test an unconfirmed blank price
If the supplier increases blank cost by $0.50 before purchase, the job costs another 105 × $0.50 = $52.50. At the unchanged $1,048 quote, cost becomes $681 and job profit falls to $367, a margin of about 35.02%. Repricing to retain a 40% target gives $681 ÷ 0.60 = $1,135, or $11.35 per shirt.
This scenario does not predict a price rise. It identifies why confirming the blank price matters before promising a quote. Use the sensitivity workflow for other uncertain inputs.
Close the loop after production
Suppose production takes five person-hours at $24 rather than four. Holding the other cost boundaries unchanged, labor rises by $24, total cost becomes $652.50, and job profit at the original quote is $395.50. Record the task that took longer before changing the next estimate.
If all five spare blanks remain usable, show their $17.50 value separately in an inventory reconciliation. Do not silently compare a quote that budgets all purchased blanks with an actual-cost sheet that only counts consumed blanks. Use the estimated-versus-actual review to distinguish a real time overrun from a change in costing convention.
Put this into practice
Open the job pricing calculator with your own job values.
AI-assisted educational content. Examples are illustrative; arithmetic is checked against the stated methods. This is not a field-tested production specification. Read our editorial policy.
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