“We only need eight shirts — can you still do that?” comes up almost as often as rush orders do. Custom decorators set minimums for real reasons, but the minimum you hear quoted isn’t always the end of the story. Here’s what minimum order quantities actually are, why they exist, and what your options look like when your order is smaller than the number on the price sheet.
Here’s the short version, then the details.
The Short Version
Minimums exist because setup work — burning a screen, programming an embroidery machine, cutting a film — costs roughly the same whether you print 6 shirts or 60. Screen printing usually has the highest practical minimum since it’s least efficient at tiny quantities; embroidery and DTF can often go lower. If your order is under the usual minimum, you still have real options: a different decoration method, a small-run setup fee, or combining your order with a future one.
Why Minimums Exist in the First Place
Every decoration method has a fixed setup cost that doesn’t change with quantity. For screen printing, that’s burning a screen per color and dialing in the press. For embroidery, it’s digitizing the design into stitch instructions. Spread that setup cost over 6 shirts and the per-shirt price is painful; spread it over 100 and it barely registers. Minimums are a decorator’s way of keeping per-shirt pricing reasonable — below a certain quantity, the math just doesn’t work the same way. Knowing your real quantity before you ask for a price also helps — see our rundown of what to have ready before requesting a quote.
Minimums Vary by Decoration Method
Not every method has the same floor:
- Screen printing — typically the highest minimum, since screens and press setup are the most labor-intensive part of the job.
- DTF (direct-to-film) — often friendlier to small runs; there’s no screen to burn, so a handful of shirts is more realistic.
- Embroidery — digitizing is the real cost driver here, not quantity, so a small embroidery order can sometimes work better than a small screen-printed one.
If your order is small and you’re set on screen printing, ask whether a different decoration method might fit both your quantity and your timeline better.
What to Do If You’re Under the Minimum
A handful of realistic options when your order doesn’t clear the usual minimum:
- Pay a small-run fee — many shops (us included) will still run a small order for a flat setup fee that covers the screen or digitizing cost.
- Switch decoration methods — a design built for screen printing often works just as well embroidered or printed via DTF at a lower minimum.
- Batch it with a future order — if you know you’ll need more of the same design in a few months, ask about combining runs.
- Reorder through a saved setup — once a screen or digitized file exists, a future small reorder is cheaper since the setup cost is already paid for. Our guide on ordering for a team with mixed sizes covers a related wrinkle: a small total order can still need a wide size range.
Avoiding the Minimum Problem Altogether
If small, irregular orders are a recurring need — a new hire here, a replacement shirt there — the minimum conversation gets old fast. An online company store solves this structurally: your artwork and setup are already in place, and individual orders of any size can be fulfilled on demand without hitting a new minimum each time. It’s worth considering if “just a few shirts” keeps coming up. For a one-off small order, our guide to budgeting for custom apparel has more ideas for keeping costs reasonable at any quantity.
Final Thoughts
A minimum order quantity isn’t a hard wall — it’s a reflection of setup cost, and there’s usually a way to work with it: a different decoration method, a small-run fee, or a smarter ordering setup for the future. Tell us your real quantity and timeline, and we’ll tell you honestly what your best options are.
Have a smaller order in mind? Get in touch with Screen Tek and we’ll walk you through what’s possible.
