Minimum Order for Wholesale T-Shirts
By The Velocity Wear Team
The minimum order for wholesale t-shirts is 50 pieces per design. Sizes mix freely inside that 50, from XS to 3XL, in whatever split you need. What counts as a second order is a second design, or a colourway that needs its own screens. Understanding that one distinction is what stops a straightforward order turning into three separate runs of 50.
Does the 50 have to be one size?
No, and this is the part buyers most often get wrong. You can order 3 extra small, 9 small, 14 medium, 14 large, 7 extra large and 3 double extra large and it is one order of 50. There is no per-size minimum. That means a team of mixed builds, a society with two members who need 3XL, or a retail drop that needs a weighted curve all fit comfortably inside a single run. Our wholesale t-shirts page lists the size range, and the tier prices are on the pricing page.
What counts as a separate design?
A different printed image, a different print position, or a different garment colour that needs its own screens. Practically: a front logo in white on black, and the same logo in black on white, are two designs. A chest logo and a full back print of the same logo are two designs. A shirt with a name added per person is not a second design, because the base artwork is unchanged and the names are added individually on top.
What if you genuinely need fewer than 50?
Then buy 50 and use the surplus. The honest answer is that the minimum does not move, and there is a reason: the setup work for screens, embroidery files and colour matching is the same whether the run is 12 pieces or 500, and spreading it across 12 would make the unit price worse than retail. Buyers who need twenty shirts almost always find a use for the other thirty: spares, new starters, samples for partners, or stock to sell. If the concern is committing before you have seen the garment, a £150 sample is credited against the bulk order.
How do you use the 50 well?
Order to the sizes you will actually issue, weight the middle of the curve, and keep a handful back rather than distributing everything on day one. Think about the year rather than the week: a second run is another 50 pieces plus another 10 to 15 working days of production, so the cost of under-ordering is much higher than the cost of a dozen spare shirts in a box. Size splits goes into the curve in detail.
Does the minimum change the price?
Fifty pieces is the lowest tier, so it is also the highest per-piece price, starting at $13. The tiers step at 100, 250, 500 and 1,000, reaching up to 35% below the 50-piece price at the top. If you are close to a break, look at the total rather than the unit price. Going from 90 to 100 pieces often costs very little more in total and leaves you with ten more shirts, which is why the first tier step is the one worth checking. If you want to see the fabric first, how sampling works sets out the £150 fee and the credit that comes with it.
How does the minimum interact with the lead time?
They compound, which is the part people miss. A run of 50 takes 10 to 15 working days from artwork approval plus transit, and so does a second run of 50 placed three weeks later. Buying twice therefore costs you two lots of the highest tier price and two lots of waiting, against one order that would have been cheaper per piece and available all at once. This is why the right question is rarely how to get below 50 pieces. It is how many of the next twelve months you can sensibly buy in a single run without ending up with stock you cannot use.
