Whether you’re organizing a charity run, a frosh week event or a corporate team-building day, special event custom t-shirts are a great way to help people feel part of the event and let the celebration live on well past the event date. Event planners are commonly faced with tight budgets and have to hunt for deals for event swag. Too often this means sourcing low quality event t-shirts. Here are Entripy’s top strategies for getting the best price on your event custom t-shirts and avoid breaking your budget on swag.
Consider Cost When Designing Artwork
The artwork you choose for your event t-shirts will be a key factor in determining the cost. When screen printing on custom t-shirts, the cost per t-shirt is raised each time you add a new colour to your design. This is because every additional colour in your design requires a new screen to be printed and additional labour to set up the printing press with multiple colours. This is why a 12-colour event logo will cost more to print than a 2-colour design. When designing your event logo, take printing costs into consideration to avoid disappointment when it comes time to quote your custom t-shirts.
Order More Than You Think You Need
When it comes to purchasing custom t-shirts, the more you buy, the more you save. This is because the majority of the time spent printing custom t-shirts is spent setting up the print job.
It takes the same amount of time to set up a print run for 20 t-shirts as it does for a 200 t-shirt run, so most custom apparel companies offer clients price breaks for larger quantities.
You can take advantage of these price breaks by adding a buffer when estimating your t-shirt quantities. Most events add 5% to their event orders to account for late registrations. If you think you need 200 t-shirts, order 220. The last thing you want to do is place an order for 200 custom t-shirts and then have to go back to your custom apparel vender with a small order of 20 additional custom tees. Those 20 t-shirts will cost much more per shirt than the original order for 200.
One other tip to ensure you get the best price possible for your custom t-shirts is to ask your custom apparel provider what their quantity price break levels are. If you think you need 220 t-shirts, but you know the price per t-shirt drops at 250, it may be worth ordering the extras to get the lower price per t-shirt.
Play the Sizing Game
Sizing is often the most stressful part of ordering custom event t-shirts. It’s an event organizer’s nightmare to end up with an overstock of one size and not enough of another size. When ordering for large groups when you don’t have the luxury of asking everyone for their size, we recommend stocking up on the mediums and larges and order a smaller quantity of small, XLs. Don’t forget to have a few XXLs and XXXLs on hand as well.
Manage Your Deadlines
Planning ahead can not only mean less stress leading up to the big day, but it can also help you save.
Entripy offers a 5% discount to clients who are willing to wait 10 business days (instead of our standard 5 days) to get their custom apparel. If you are placing your order with a few extra days to spare before your event, this option can help you save a few bucks on your event t-shirts.
Ask About Discounts
Ask your custom apparel provider if they have any special discounts or promo codes. Entripy offers a welcome discount for new clients as well as a nonprofit discount for charity events and a school discount program. Thousands of our clients have saved money on their custom event t-shirts simply by inquiring about our discount programs.
Inquire About Sponsorships
If you’re organizing a charity event, school event or community fair, consider asking your custom apparel provider if they’d be willing to provide a sponsorship discount. Sponsorships present a great opportunity for companies to get their brand in front of your audience. Many times, custom apparel companies will offer a sponsorship discount in exchange for having their logo printed on your event t-shirts. Read Entripy’s tips for securing a custom apparel sponsor.
