where can I find cheap t-shirts?

January 31, 2006 8:50 PM

where can I find a great deal on bulk t-shirts?

I'm looking for the best deal on bulk t-shirts for diy screen printing. I'm only looking for about 100 right now, but I'm interested in any great deals. Best I could find after a bit of googling is $1.55+s/h ( http://www.blankshirtstore.com/tshirts/shortsleeve/?idcust=887607856 ). Choice in colors is a plus, previous experience even more sought after. Will be shipped to Portland, Oregon.

posted by psychobum to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (5 answers total)

I don't know what their minimum order or prices are these days, but:

Murina / Alstyle used to have some of the best prices and highest quality for the buck around.

My family used to own a large screen printing company, and 90-99% of our orders went through them back in the day. It was worth the extra change or buck or so for their shirts 'cause the cotton was denser and a tighter knit, they had a great cut and fit, the colors were excellent and fade resistant and so on.

The particular shirts we bought met and eventually exceeded the quality of the infamous Hanes "Beefy-T" label shirts.

As in all things you usually get what you pay for.

$1.55 sounds a bit too cheap for even a medium/light cotton knit in plain white. That's probably, like, a Wal-Mart grade undershirt quality T-shirt. Try to find out what the knit "weight" is, IE, how many ounces per yard - and then compare it to other brands.

But I could be completely wrong. A lot of the knitting/sewing houses went overseas or south of the border over the past few years, so perhaps there's been some brutal price wars.
posted by loquacious at 9:10 PM on January 31, 2006

Unless you are looking for all white shirts, that price is pretty good for ~100 shirts. At times you can find white shirts for $1USD/each, but if you are looking for colors...$1.55USD is cheap. I doubt you will find a better deal than that apart from establishing an account with a wholesaler (i.e. www.broderbros.com). I show that Broder Brothers will sell white shirts in qty. 100 for ~$1.32USD/each. For colors you are going to pay a premium as $1.55 is inexpensive for someone sans wholesale account.

That being said, Broder Bros. is not an impenetrable fortress for someone not in the trade, so make an account with them and check out the pricing. Though I show dark colored shirts at about $1.87 in case quantities (72 pcs). As soon as you start mixing and matching the price goes up, if you can stand to order 72 of the same color, you'll get a better deal.
posted by ibechase at 9:11 PM on January 31, 2006

How much are American Apparel tees in wholesale? They are by *far* the nicest shirts I've worn, but I have a feeling they're nowhere near $2 even wholesale.
posted by kcm at 9:32 PM on January 31, 2006

American Apparel shirts are ~$3.79 wholesale. Nice shirts, though.
posted by ibechase at 9:39 PM on January 31, 2006

Note that the color shirts in your original link are $2.39. Only the whites are $1.55.

Also note that when wholesalers say "bulk", they usually mean a large number in a particular size and color. Since an average screenprinter wants a mix of sizes and colors, this is a serious problem at low volumes.
posted by smackfu at 10:22 PM on January 31, 2006