Pricing for profit, not for guess
A worked example: 100 black tees, 2 colours, 1 position. The full margin calculation, line by line.
The single biggest reason indie print shops shut down is that they undercharged for three years and didn't realise. Here's a worked example so you don't.
The job
- Garment: AS Colour Heavy Tee, black, 100 units
- Decoration: Plastisol screen print, 2 colours, front position only
- Customer: Local sporting club, 12% off list (club rate)
- Promised: Ready in 7 days
The cost
| Line | Per unit | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Garment wholesale (AS Colour, 55% of $18 RRP) | $9.90 | $990 |
| Plastisol ink + emulsion + screen | $1.20 | $120 |
| Setup (2 screens, 1 position) | - | $70 |
| Press operator (2 hours @ $40) | $0.80 | $80 |
| Pack + label | $0.40 | $40 |
| Total cost | $12.30 | $1,300 |
The price
Default screen print 2-colour quantity tier at 100 units in Printer's Friend: $3.20 per print. Apply that to the garment list ($18) + decoration ($3.20):
| Line | Per unit | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Garment list price | $18.00 | $1,800 |
| Decoration 2c, 100+ units | $3.20 | $320 |
| Setup fee | - | $35 |
| Subtotal | $21.55 | $2,155 |
| Club rate 12% off | - | -$258.60 |
| Total ex GST | $18.97 | $1,896.40 |
The margin
$1,896.40 revenue - $1,300 cost = $596.40 gross margin (31.5%). After GST, that's roughly $542 banked.
The quote builder shows this percentage live before you hit send. If it dips below 25%, raise the price or walk away. Sometimes walking away IS the right call: a low-margin job ties up press time you could spend on a high-margin one.
The pricing engine is doing the maths; your job is to set the rules once. Most owners adjust their cost matrix twice a year (after a supplier price rise and after a wage rise). That's it.
The rules to set
- Wholesale cost per garment style (Inventory > Styles, "wholesale cents" field).
- Decoration cost matrix (Pricing > Decoration Methods, per-method per-quantity per-colour-count grid).
- Setup fee per decoration method (waived automatically on repeat customers within 90 days).
- Pricing rules: quantity break tiers, setup waivers, club rates, coupon codes.
That's the entire job. The engine takes over from there.