How to Check Quantity Discounts on Screen-Printing Orders
A quantity discount is easier to assess when you can show which costs fall per shirt and which remain unchanged. Recalculate the larger order before reducing its unit price.
Spread setup without erasing it
A fixed $120 setup cost contributes $2.40 per shirt to a 50-shirt order and $1.20 per shirt to a 100-shirt order. The total setup cost remains $120. Only the number of units sharing that cost changes.
Suppose the variable cost is $5 per finished shirt. Total cost is $370 at 50 units and $620 at 100 units. That creates room for a lower unit price at the larger quantity while retaining the same target margin, if the other assumptions stay valid.
Compare two quantities at a 40% margin
| Quantity | Total cost | Cost per shirt | Quoted unit price | Total quote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | $370 | $7.40 | $12.34 | $617.00 |
| 100 | $620 | $6.20 | $10.34 | $1,034.00 |
The unit-price change comes from the cost model. It is not an industry discount schedule. A different setup cost, labor requirement, or garment price would produce a different result. Use the pricing calculator for each actual quantity.
A flat discount can remove more profit than expected
At 100 units, dropping the calculated $10.34 price by 10% gives $9.306 before choosing a quote-rounding rule. Using that unrounded number, revenue becomes $930.60 and profit becomes $310.60. The original $1,034 quote had $414 profit, so the 10% revenue discount removes 25% of that profit.
This happens because cost did not fall with the discount. For the percentage relationship, see margin versus markup. Choose and state a rounding convention before giving a final price.
Check what changes at each tier
Blank purchasing terms may change, but so may staffing, packing, number of production sessions, or available capacity. An order split across two runs may repeat preparation. Do not assume the same fixed-cost total if the actual workflow changes.
Mixed garment sizes can also change the average blank cost. A lower advertised unit price should not hide a different mix or scope. Keep a separate estimate for every offered tier rather than interpolating a price from two unrelated jobs.
Make the minimum quantity explicit
If the lower unit price depends on 100 delivered shirts, say so in the quote and recalculate if the customer reduces the order. Use the minimum-order guide to distinguish cost recovery from a desired profit amount. No quantity or margin in this example is a market recommendation.
Make each quantity tier auditable
Copy these fields into the record for your next comparable job.
- One row per tier
- Finished units, blank mix, repeated setups, variable costs, total quote, and achieved job margin.
- Threshold
- Write the minimum quantity and scope on which the tier depends; recalculate when either changes.
- Decision
- Only compare two unit prices after confirming they include the same garment quality, locations, and finishing work.
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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