How DTG Pricing Behaves, and Where That Stops Helping You

Last Updated: Wednesday 4th November 2026 By Ben Gellbert

The good news is that DTG runs from a single unit.

One shirt, one price, no setup charge, no small order fee, no vector artwork requirement.

Twelve staff polos, or forty event shirts carrying a photograph, is exactly the job the method was built for.

The catch is the same fact seen from the other end.

Because there is no setup cost to spread across the run, there is nothing to spread, and the per-unit price stays roughly flat from 1 shirt to 100.

Screen printing starts expensive and gets cheaper with every shirt you add. DTG starts reasonable and stays there.

So the two lines cross. On a one or two-colour design, screen printing overtakes DTG on cost somewhere around 80 to 120 units, and the gap only widens past that.

On a full-colour photographic design, the crossover sits much higher, because screen printing that job would need six or more screens and still would not reproduce it properly.

Ordering 200 shirts with a two-colour logo and DTG is the wrong tool. We will tell you so rather than take the order.

Next: DTG, DTF and Screen Printing: The Real Comparison

Getting a Price

Send us the garment, the quantity, the print positions and the artwork, and we will quote it. If your job sits near one of the crossover points above, we will price it both ways and tell you which one wins.

• Get an instant quote
• Design online and order from one unit
• Or call 1300 916 433 and talk it through. Office hours are 9.00am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday, AEST.