Order 200 mugs and the total is $1,840. Order 250 and the total is $1,795. You get 50 more mugs and pay $45 less.
This is not a trick. It is what happens when fixed costs meet a pricing tier, and once you can see it you will stop leaving money on the table.
The arithmetic
Every decorated order has fixed costs that do not change with quantity: setup, screens, digitizing, art prep, the labor of quoting and scheduling. Call it $150 on a simple job.
Spread across 50 units that is $3.00 per mug. Across 250 it is $0.60. Across 1,000 it is $0.15.
On top of that, suppliers buy blanks in cartons. A carton might be 36 or 48 or 144. Ordering 200 when the carton is 48 means buying 240 and eating 40 — or paying a broken-carton fee.
Stack those two effects and you get the tiers you see on a quote: 25, 50, 100, 250, 500, 1000. Sitting just below a tier is the worst place to be.
Quoting across price breaks
Tell us the item you are looking at and the quantity you have in mind, and we will quote it at your number and at the next tier up so you can compare total cost rather than unit cost. Every quote includes a free virtual proof, and nothing goes to production until you approve it in writing.
Reply within 24 business hours · no order minimum — per-item minimums typically start around 100–250 pieces · setup charge waived above $500 in product · artwork kept on file two years, so an exact reorder carries no new setup charge
Get a quote with price breaks or browse promotional products · call 1.888.452.0027, Mon–Fri 9–6 ET
Finding your break
Ask for pricing at your quantity and the next tier up. Any supplier will do this. Then compare total cost, not unit cost.
Do it for real:
- You need 180 shirts
- Quote at 180: $12.40 each = $2,232
- Quote at 250: $9.60 each = $2,400
Here the jump costs you $168 for 70 extra shirts — $2.40 each, well under the $12.40 you would pay to reorder them later. If you will plausibly need more within a year, take the 250.
Rounding up to the next break isn’t automatically right. If you genuinely won’t use the extra units, $168 is $168 — and anyone telling you the break is always worth taking has stopped doing the arithmetic on your behalf.
Derek Capo, owner, CustomMark
Where the curve flattens
Price drops are steep early and shallow later.
That flattening point is the most useful number in the whole quote. Below it, more units means dramatically better value. Above it, you are just buying inventory.
Ask directly: at what quantity does the per-unit price stop dropping steeply? On most decorated apparel it lands lower than people expect — ask us where the curve flattens for the item you are pricing, because it moves depending on the product and the decoration method.
When rounding up is wrong
Dated or event-specific items. 300 shirts with a 2026 conference date are worth nothing in 2027.
Apparel with a size curve. Extra units are only useful in sizes people actually wear. 70 extra 3XL is not 70 extra shirts.
Anything with a shelf life. Food, hand sanitizer, sunscreen, batteries.
When you have nowhere to put it. Storage is a real cost and boxes in a hallway have a way of getting damaged.
The move most people miss
If three departments each order 100 shirts separately, that is three setups, three minimums and three sets of freight. One order of 300 with three ship-tos is one setup.
Consolidating internal orders is usually the single largest saving available to any organization buying promotional products, and it requires no negotiation at all — just one conversation with the other departments before anyone places a PO.
Ready to price it? Send us the item, the quantity you have in mind and the next tier up, your in-hands date and your artwork file, and we’ll come back with real pricing at both so you can see the break for yourself. Start a quote or call 1.888.452.0027.