T-Shirts for Gyms: cost
By The Velocity Wear Team
Gym t-shirts start at $13 a piece at our 50-piece minimum, and the 50 can be split across sizes however you like. The per-piece figure falls as quantity rises, reaching up to 35% below the 50-piece rate at the top tier. Decoration, the £150 sample and freight are quoted alongside it rather than inside it, so the invoice is the garment plus those lines.
What does a gym t-shirt cost per piece?
The from-price is $13 at 50 pieces of one design, on a blank of 150–240 GSM combed ring-spun cotton in a regular or boxy fit. Weight is the biggest lever inside the garment price. A lighter shirt is cheaper and suits a member giveaway; a heavier one costs more and survives being worn on shift and washed several times a week. Pick the weight for the job rather than for the quote, because a staff shirt that goes see-through by month three costs you a second order.
Decoration sits on top and depends on method. A one-colour screen print is the most economical way to put a logo on the chest at volume. DTF handles gradients and photographic artwork without a setup per colour. Embroidery costs more and is priced on stitch count. The wholesale t-shirts page lists the from-price and the fabric range together.
How far does the price drop as quantity rises?
Our tiers step at 50–99, 100–249, 250–499, 500–999 and 1,000+, and the discount reaches up to 35% against the 50-piece rate at the top. Crossing a tier boundary lowers the price on every unit in the order, not only the ones above the line, so an order sitting just under a boundary is worth pricing both ways before you commit. A gym running a members shirt through the year often finds that one deeper run beats three shallow ones.
The exception is a design you are not sure about. Buying 500 of an untested graphic to save on the unit price is a false economy if half of them sit in the back office. Start at 50 on anything new, then go deep once you know which one people actually wear. Our pricing page shows the tier structure so you can model both.
Should staff and member shirts be the same design?
It is the single biggest cost decision on a gym order. The 50-piece minimum applies per design, so a staff version and a member version are two runs of 50 unless the artwork is identical. If you want them visually distinct, the cheaper route is one design in two colourways — though each colourway that needs its own screens counts separately too. If staff just need to stand out on the floor, a different garment colour with the same print is usually enough, and it keeps the whole thing inside one order. Our gyms and fitness page covers the wider kit list.
What else lands on the invoice?
A £150 sample if you take one, credited back against the bulk order. Private label extras such as woven neck labels or swing tags, which matter more on a members shirt you are selling than on staff kit. Individual bagging if you want them handed out by name. And freight, which depends on weight and destination across the UK, USA and Europe. None of it is large next to the garment line, but it is all real, and it is the part people leave out of the first budget. If the sizes are still open, how to split a gym order across sizes is the next thing to settle.
How should a gym think about cost over a year?
Per piece is the wrong unit for staff kit. A shirt worn on shift and washed several times a week has a working life, and the number that matters is what it costs to keep a team properly dressed for twelve months. On that basis a heavier garment at a higher unit price frequently comes out ahead of a light one bought twice. Member merch is the opposite calculation, because it is sold rather than consumed, and there the unit price sets your margin directly. Price the two lines separately even when they sit on one invoice.
