You need 8 shirts. Maybe 12. Definitely not 144.
But every print shop you’ve called has looked at your order like you just asked them to cater a dinner party with one chicken nugget. “Our minimum is 50 pieces.” Cool. That’s 38 shirts you didn’t need, stuffed in a box in your garage forever.
Inkrun doesn’t do that. Order what you need. Print what makes sense. Keep the rest of your money.
Why Most Shops Have High Minimums (And Why We Don’t)
Traditional screen printing requires setting up physical screens for each color in your design. That setup has a fixed cost — so shops spread it over large orders to make the economics work. 50 shirts. 100 shirts. Sometimes more.
We use direct-to-garment (DTG) and print-on-demand production, which means:
- No screen setup costs — Every order starts from digital, no physical screens required
- Same quality at small quantities — Your 10-shirt order gets the same treatment as a 500-shirt run
- Full color designs at any size — Gradients, photos, complex artwork — no limits
You’re not subsidizing our setup costs. You’re just paying for shirts.
Real Situations Where Small Orders Make Sense
People act like only big organizations need custom shirts. That’s simply not true. Here are some real, completely normal reasons to need fewer than 50 shirts:
The “We’re a Small Team” Business You’ve got 6 employees. You want branded polos for a trade show next month. Ordering 50 means you’re drowning in polo shirts until 2031. Just order 6. Maybe 8 for new hires. Done.
The Birthday Party That Got Slightly Out of Hand Your kid’s turning 10 and you promised their friend group matching shirts. There are 11 kids. You need 11 shirts. Not a bulk pallet.
The Bachelorette Squad There are 9 of you. “Bride Tribe” tank tops. That’s it. That’s the order. Nine shirts. Why is this complicated?
The Youth Sports Team 15 kids on the roster. Some coach decided everyone gets a practice shirt with the team name. 15 shirts. Not 50.
The “Just Testing” Business Owner You want to launch branded merch but don’t want to sink $800 into inventory before you know if anyone will buy it. Order 10. Sell them. Order more if it works.
All of these are legitimate. All of them are what Inkrun is built for.
What You Actually Get With Every Order
Regardless of order size — whether you need 5 shirts or 500 — here’s what Inkrun delivers:
- Digital proof before production — You see it before we print it
- Full color printing — Your design, your colors, no compromises
- Soft, quality blanks — Shirts that don’t feel like wearing a grocery bag
- US shipping — To your door, no middleman pickup required
- Responsive communication — Real responses, not auto-replies that say nothing
How Pricing Works Without Minimums
We’ll be straight with you: per-shirt pricing is slightly higher on smaller orders than bulk. That’s just math — larger orders spread costs further.
But here’s the thing: paying $22 per shirt for 10 shirts beats paying $14 per shirt for 50 shirts if you only needed 10. You spend $220 instead of $700. The math isn’t hard.
We give you a transparent quote upfront. No hidden fees, no surprise charges at checkout, no “processing fee” that materializes at the last second.
Get a Quote in 3 Minutes
Tell us what you need — quantity, design, shirt style, deadline — and we’ll send you a price within 24 hours.
Start your quote → — Small order, big quality. That’s the whole deal.