Your Group Is Not Too Small to Order Custom Shirts in Due West twelve pieces and up
Think a roster of fifteen is too small to get shirts printed. It is not. We start at 12 pieces on DTF and embroidery, quote per person so your treasurer can budget, and ship to Due West.
Custom T-Shirt Printing and Embroidery for Due West Groups
The objection comes up on nearly every call from a small group. We only have eighteen members and half of them will not pay until dues clear, so nobody will take the order. Plenty of shops do turn that away. We do not. Twelve pieces is where DTF printing and embroidery start here, and eighteen shirts is a normal job on our press schedule, not a favor. If you are searching custom t-shirt printing Due West or screen printing near me and getting quoted for a hundred pieces you will never sell, that quote was built for a different kind of customer. Ask us for a per person number instead and see what the real cost looks like.
DTF is what we reach for on most small group runs. The design gets printed on film, heat pressed onto the garment, and the color count does not change the price, so a four color club crest costs the same to run as a one color wordmark. That matters when your artwork came from somebody in the group who likes gradients. Embroidery is the other half of the shop, stitched onto hats, polos, quarter zips and jackets for officers and advisors who want something they can wear past graduation. Screen printing is on the table too once an order clears roughly 48 pieces, which is where the per shirt cost drops hard on a big joint event.
Printed Essentials is family owned and started with a stack of shirts for our own church, so we are used to groups where the money is other people's money and somebody has to answer for it. These days the work comes from small businesses, trades and construction crews, churches and ministries, nonprofits, schools, teams and booster clubs, restaurants, retailers and event organizers. Student groups fit right in that mix. Service clubs order custom hoodies before a cold season project. Intramural squads want jerseys that survive a season of mud. Honor societies want embroidered polos for induction night. Departments and clubs across Abbeville County order company shirts and staff apparel from us on the same terms.
Committee approval is the part shops forget about. You cannot vote on a design nobody has seen, and a proof that arrives after the meeting is useless. So we send the digital proof early, you circulate it, and we hold the job until you come back with a yes. Nothing goes on a garment before that. Once it is approved, figure 5 to 7 days, then it ships or gets delivered to Due West.
The Reasons Groups Talk Themselves Out of It
Four things stop small groups from ordering, and every one of them has a straight answer we can give you before you commit.
Our group is too small to order
Twelve pieces gets DTF or embroidery moving. That is a small club, a committee, an executive board. If you are at nine, order a few extra in common sizes and sell them later. Most groups do exactly that.
We need it approved before we pay
Normal. We quote first, then send a proof you can put in front of your officers or your advisor. Nothing prints and nothing is owed until somebody with authority signs off. If the vote fails, the job just stops there.
Nobody can pay more than fifteen dollars
Then say that up front. Garment choice, print size and method all move the number, and we can usually land near a target if you tell us the target. Blank quality is the lever most people do not know they have.
Our artwork was made in a group chat
We see that constantly. Send whatever you have, a phone photo of a sketch, a screenshot, a file somebody made two officers ago. We will tell you honestly whether it can print clean and what it needs. Art help is part of the job.
What Small Groups Order Most
Six things account for nearly every group order we run. All of them start at a headcount a small club can actually hit.
Custom T-Shirts
Cotton and blend tees printed with DTF, so a full color design costs the same as a simple one. Good for rush week tables, service days and anything you want people wearing off campus too.
Hoodies and Crewnecks
Heavyweight hoodies and crewneck sweatshirts, printed front, back or on a small left chest mark. These are the pieces members actually keep, which is why most groups sell them at cost plus a few dollars to fund the next order.
Embroidered Hats
Caps, beanies and trucker styles with your mark stitched in, not printed. Officers tend to want these. Stitch counts drive the price more than color count does, so a clean, simple mark keeps the per person number low.
Embroidered Polos and Workwear
Polos, quarter zips and jackets stitched for advisors, chapter officers and anyone who has to look presentable at a banquet or a career fair. Same 12 piece start, and you can mix sizes and a couple of colors inside one order.
Bulk Screen Printing
When several groups combine for one campus wide event and the count clears 48, screen printing takes over. Ink sits into the fabric, the per shirt cost drops, and a joint order suddenly fits inside four separate small budgets.
Event and Fundraiser Apparel
Shirts for a philanthropy 5k, a food drive, a spring formal or a chapter anniversary. Tell us the sale price you need to hit and the number you expect to move, and we will build the quote backward from there.
How a Group Order Actually Runs
Send the headcount
Tell us how many, what garment and roughly what you want on it. A rough number is fine at this stage. We quote per piece.
Proof for the vote
We send a digital proof with the art placed and sized. Circulate it, take it to your meeting, and mark up anything that needs changing.
Collect the sizes
Run your size sheet while the proof circulates. Lock the count, approve the proof, and the order goes onto the production schedule that week.
Printed and delivered
Figure 5 to 7 days after approval. Your order ships to Due West or gets delivered, boxed by size so handing it out is not a mess.
Rated 5.0 Across 21 Reviews
"Ordered 10 shirts and a hoodie. Excellent quality and service. Will definitely be using again in the future. A++"
Johnny"Extremely responsive, friendly and can get things done for you in a crunch! Needed them for something last minute and they came through."
Dustin Littrell"Where I get all the embroidery and printing done for my company. Love the quality! Unbeatable prices too."
Elias AcevedoQuestions Groups Ask Us
Twelve pieces for DTF printing on tees and hoodies, and 12 for embroidery on hats, polos and jackets. Screen printing usually needs 48 or more to be worth doing, since the setup is the same whether you print fifty shirts or five hundred. Most small groups land in the DTF range.
Yes. We work out of the Greenville, SC Upstate and there is no walk in storefront, so every order either ships or gets delivered. Due West and the rest of Abbeville County are routine for us. Tell us which address you want it going to and whether one person is receiving the whole box.
Typically 5 to 7 days once you approve the proof. The clock starts at approval, not at the first email, so a group that sits on a proof for two weeks pushes its own date. If you have a hard event date, say it early and we will tell you straight whether it works.
Usually yes, as long as the same art is going on both and you clear the minimum overall. Mixing garment types is common for groups that want a cheap tee option and a nicer hoodie option in the same run. Pricing changes by garment, so the quote will show each line separately.
Yes. We keep the approved art on file, so a reorder in the spring does not mean starting over. You still need to hit the minimum again on the new run. Groups that turn over officers every year find this useful, since the next board can order without hunting for the original file.
Get a Per Person Number
Send your headcount, your garment idea and your budget per person, and we will come back with a real quote you can take to a vote.