How to Recalculate a Repeat Screen-Printing Order
A reorder can reuse some work, but it is still a new cost estimate. Check what remains reusable and what has changed before carrying forward the old price.
Verify that the job is actually the same
Compare artwork version, print dimensions, locations, garment style and color, size mix, finished quantity, and delivery requirements. A familiar customer name or logo does not make those inputs identical.
Check the condition and availability of any retained resources. This guide does not assume how long screens, materials, or artwork setups remain reusable. Use the real condition and your production requirements when determining the preparation still needed.
Refresh current costs even if the artwork is unchanged
Blank prices, consumables, labor rates, and overhead assumptions can change. A lower preparation cost may be offset by a higher unit cost. Keep those effects separate rather than applying a general “repeat customer” discount before estimating.
If quantity changes, the fixed preparation cost is shared across a different number of shirts. A smaller reorder can have a higher cost per shirt despite less total setup work. The setup-fee guide explains why a customer-facing charge and internal preparation cost are not interchangeable.
Example: less setup but a higher blank price
For an illustrative original 100-shirt job, blank cost is $350, other variable cost is $100, and setup is $100. Total modeled cost is $550. At a 40% margin, a rounded $9.17 unit price gives $917 revenue.
On a same-quantity reorder, suppose blank cost rises to $400 while other variable cost stays $100 and setup falls to $40. Total cost is now $540. The cost saving is $10, not the $60 setup reduction. At a 40% margin, the calculated quote is $900, or $9 per shirt.
These simplified totals omit any cost not explicitly included. Rebuild the complete job in the pricing calculator before treating the example as a customer price.
Keep a reusable-job note
- Which preparation tasks were reused and which were repeated.
- Current prices and the dates checked.
- Any changed artwork, garment, or quantity specification.
- Actual time and material observations from the previous run.
- Any new assumptions requiring a test or confirmation.
The record should explain the estimate to someone who did not produce the first order. Do not depend on the old unit price as the only surviving job information.
Check the assumptions that are still uncertain
If the preparation time or blank price is not confirmed, run a base and higher-cost case. The sensitivity guide shows how to test those changes without presenting a scenario as a prediction. A reorder price can then be linked to stated scope and costs instead of an unexamined historic quote.
Reorder does not mean identical estimate
Copy these fields into the record for your next comparable job.
- Match the specification
- Compare artwork version, print size, garment mix, locations, quantity, and required delivery date.
- Reuse evidence
- List preparation that can actually be reused and the checking or preparation work still required.
- Reprice
- Refresh supplier costs and task times before applying a commercial discount; a smaller quantity can offset setup savings.
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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