- ShirtSpace has hidden savings most new buyers don't know about, from volume price breaks to coupon codes that actually work.
- Picking the right blank for your printing method is the difference between a shirt that looks professional and one that peels after two washes.
- Timing your orders and hitting the free shipping threshold can save you hundreds of dollars a year if you buy blanks regularly.
Create an Account Before You Do Anything Else
This sounds basic, but don't skip it. ShirtSpace shows different pricing to logged-in account holders versus guest shoppers. The volume discount tiers are more visible (and sometimes better) once you're signed in. Creating an account is free and takes about 30 seconds. There's no annual fee, no membership cost. Just an email and password.
Once you're logged in, you'll also get access to your order history, saved favorites, and quicker reordering. If you're buying blanks regularly, this saves real time. You'll stop googling “Gildan G500 white medium” and start just pulling it from your past orders.
How the Volume Pricing Actually Works
ShirtSpace uses tiered pricing on almost every product. The more you buy of a single style and color, the lower your price per unit. The tiers typically break at 6, 12, 36, and 72 pieces. Here's the thing most people miss: the tiers apply per style and color, not per order.
So if you order six black Bella+Canvas 3001s and six white Bella+Canvas 3001s, each group of six hits the 6-piece tier. You don't get credit for 12 total because they're different colors. This matters for planning your orders.
The price jumps between tiers can be significant. On a Bella+Canvas 3001, the difference between buying five shirts and buying six is often $0.50 to $0.60 per shirt. That means your sixth shirt basically pays for itself in savings on the other five. If you're sitting at five of any item, add one more. It almost always makes financial sense.
The 72-Piece Sweet Spot
The deepest discounts hit at 72 pieces. On budget tees like the Gildan G500, you can get per-unit pricing under $2.50 at this tier. For a Bella+Canvas 3001, you're looking at around $4.00 to $4.20 per shirt. If you have a best-selling color (black, white, and heather grey are the usual suspects), consider ordering a case of 72. You'll use them eventually, and the per-unit savings add up fast.
A quick example: 72 Bella+Canvas 3001 tees in black at $4.10 each costs $295.20. The same 72 shirts bought in batches of 12 at $4.80 each would cost $345.60. That's $50 in savings on a single style and color. Do that across your top three selling colors and you've saved $150.
Finding and Using Coupon Codes
ShirtSpace regularly offers promotional codes, and they actually work. Unlike a lot of wholesale suppliers that never discount anything, ShirtSpace runs sales and offers coupons throughout the year. Here's where to find them:
- Email signup. Sign up for their newsletter and you'll typically get a first-order discount code (usually 5% to 10% off). It's not life-changing, but it's free money.
- Homepage banners. ShirtSpace frequently posts active promo codes right on their homepage. Check before you order. It takes two seconds.
- Seasonal sales. Black Friday, back-to-school season, and January clearance tend to bring the best deals. Discounts during these periods can reach 15% to 20% off specific brands or categories.
- Coupon aggregator sites. Sites like RetailMeNot and Honey sometimes have working ShirtSpace codes. Success rates vary, but it's worth a quick check before checkout.
Pro tip: ShirtSpace promo codes usually stack with volume pricing. That means you get your tier discount AND the coupon on top of it. A 10% coupon on top of 72-piece pricing can bring a Bella+Canvas 3001 down to around $3.70 per shirt. That's legitimately cheap for that quality of blank.
Hit the Free Shipping Threshold Every Time
ShirtSpace offers free standard shipping on orders of $79 or more. This is one of the lower thresholds in the blank apparel space. But if you're placing a small order (say, eight tees for a quick project), you might come in under $79 and get hit with $7 to $12 in shipping charges.
The fix is simple: batch your orders. Instead of ordering blanks for each project individually, wait until you can combine two or three projects into a single order. Keep a running list of what you need, and place one order per week instead of three.
If you're genuinely stuck below $79 and need to place the order now, add a few extra blanks in your best-selling colors and sizes. You'll use them eventually, and the cost of those extra shirts is almost certainly less than the shipping fee you'd pay on a smaller order. Five extra Gildan G500s at $3 each ($15) versus $10 in shipping? Buy the shirts.
Picking the Right Blank for Your Printing Method
This is where a lot of new buyers waste money. Not every shirt works well with every printing method. Using the wrong blank leads to cracking prints, faded transfers, and unhappy customers. Here's what works best for each method.
Screen Printing
Screen printing works on almost anything, but it performs best on 100% cotton with a tight weave. The ink sits on top of the fabric, so you want a smooth, dense surface.
- Best budget pick: Gildan G500 Heavy Cotton. Thick, durable, holds ink beautifully.
- Best mid-range pick: Bella+Canvas 3001. Softer feel, but works great with water-based and plastisol inks. The CVC (cotton/poly blend) version of the 3001 is slightly trickier, so stick with the 100% cotton version if you can.
- Avoid: Tri-blend shirts for screen printing. The polyester content can cause dye migration (where the shirt dye bleeds through the ink), especially on dark colors.
DTF (Direct-to-Film) Transfers
DTF is more forgiving than screen printing. The transfer adhesive bonds to pretty much any fabric, which means you have more blank options.
- Best pick: Bella+Canvas 3001. The smooth surface gives you a clean transfer with great adhesion. And the soft shirt makes the final product feel retail-quality.
- Also great: Next Level 3600. Similar softness and smooth surface to the Bella+Canvas 3001.
- Works fine: Gildan G500, Comfort Colors 1717, basically anything. DTF sticks to cotton, poly, and blends. But smoother fabrics give you better detail on complex designs.
Sublimation
Sublimation requires polyester. Period. The dye bonds with polyester fibers, so you need at least 65% polyester content for decent results. 100% polyester is ideal.
- Best pick: A4 N3142 or Augusta Sportswear 790. Both are 100% polyester performance tees in the $4 to $6 range.
- For a softer feel: Look for polyester shirts with a “cotton-feel” or “soft-hand” finish. These cost more ($6 to $9) but feel less athletic and more like a regular tee.
- Important: Sublimation only works on white or very light-colored shirts. The dye is transparent, so dark base colors will wash out your design completely.
Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV)
HTV works on cotton, polyester, and blends. The key is a smooth pressing surface and a fabric that can handle the heat (usually 305 to 320 degrees Fahrenheit).
- Best pick: Bella+Canvas 3001 or Next Level 3600. Smooth surfaces give you clean weeding and application.
- Budget pick: Gildan G640 Softstyle. Softer than the G500, presses well, and costs $1 to $2 less than Bella+Canvas.
- Avoid: Heavily textured or ribbed shirts. The vinyl won't bond evenly, and you'll get lifting and peeling after a few washes.
The Cheapest Blanks That Don't Look Cheap
If you're watching your margins closely (and you should be), here are the best value blanks on ShirtSpace that won't make your customers think they got a bargain-bin product:
- Gildan G640 Softstyle ($2.80 to $3.50): Softer than the G500, with a more fitted cut. This is the upgrade that costs almost nothing extra. Customers notice the difference.
- Gildan G500 ($2.40 to $3.50): The classic. Not luxurious, but nobody's complaining about the feel of a $20 custom event shirt.
- Port & Company PC54 ($2.60 to $3.30): Under-the-radar option. Decent weight, good color range, and priced competitively with Gildan.
- Hanes 5250 ($2.50 to $3.40): Tagless, which customers appreciate. Good budget option if you want to switch things up from Gildan.
The real trick is knowing when to use a budget blank and when to spend more. Event shirts, staff uniforms, and giveaway tees? Go budget. Customer-facing retail products, branded merch you're selling for $25+, or anything on Etsy? Spend the extra $1.50 per shirt on a Bella+Canvas or Next Level. Your reviews will thank you.
Timing Your Orders for Maximum Savings
Blank apparel pricing isn't static. It shifts based on supply, demand, and cotton market prices. But there are some patterns you can take advantage of:
- January and February: Post-holiday slowdown. Suppliers want to move inventory. You'll find sales on overstocked colors and styles.
- Late July and August: Back-to-school rush. Demand goes up, and popular styles (especially in school colors) can sell out. Order early if you have fall projects coming up.
- Black Friday through Cyber Monday: ShirtSpace typically runs their biggest sitewide discounts of the year during this window. If you can stock up on staples, this is the time.
- End of season: Seasonal items like tank tops and performance tees go on clearance in September and October. If you can use them for next summer's orders, buy them at a discount now.
Also, keep an eye on individual brand promotions. Gildan, Bella+Canvas, and other manufacturers occasionally run distributor-wide sales that ShirtSpace participates in. These aren't always well-advertised, so checking the site weekly (or signing up for email alerts) pays off.
Smart Ordering Strategies the Pros Use
Experienced blank apparel buyers don't just add shirts to their cart and check out. They have systems. Here are a few worth stealing:
Order samples before committing. Buy one or two of any new style before ordering in bulk. Check the fit, the fabric weight, how it takes your specific printing method. A $5 sample order is infinitely cheaper than discovering 72 shirts don't work after you've already printed them.
Consolidate colors. If a customer gives you creative freedom on color, steer them toward colors you already have in stock or plan to order for other projects. Ordering six more black 3001s for one project when you're already ordering 36 black 3001s for another means you hit a higher price tier on all of them.
Keep a reorder spreadsheet. Track which styles, colors, and sizes you use most. After a few months, you'll see patterns. Maybe you go through 100 black Bella+Canvas 3001s per month but only 12 navy ones. Order the black in bulk at case pricing and the navy in smaller batches.
Don't ignore the Gildan Softstyle G640. Seriously. A lot of printers default to the G500 because it's the cheapest Gildan, or jump straight to Bella+Canvas because it's trendy. The G640 sits right in between. Softer than the G500, cheaper than the 3001, and it prints well. It's the underrated middle child of blank tees.
Mistakes to Avoid on ShirtSpace
- Don't assume all sizes are the same price. Extended sizes (2XL and up) usually cost $1 to $3 more per shirt. Factor this into your pricing if you offer plus sizes.
- Don't ignore fabric content. A “cotton/poly blend” screen prints differently than 100% cotton. Check the product specs, not just the product name.
- Don't order on Friday expecting Monday delivery. Standard shipping is 3 to 7 business days. If you need something by a specific date, count backward and order early. Or pay for expedited.
- Don't skip the color chart. “Heather Grey” from Gildan and “Athletic Heather” from Bella+Canvas are not the same shade. If you're mixing brands in one order for a customer, check the actual color codes.
- Don't forget about returns. ShirtSpace takes returns within 30 days for unworn, unprinted items. If a style doesn't work out, send it back. But you pay return shipping, so keep that in mind before ordering styles you haven't tested.
The Bottom Line
Shopping ShirtSpace like a pro isn't complicated. It just requires a little planning. Create an account, understand the volume tiers, check for promo codes before every order, and always hit the $79 free shipping threshold. These basics alone will save you 15% to 25% compared to buying blindly.
The bigger wins come from knowing your blanks. Pick the right shirt for your printing method, order samples before committing to bulk quantities, and consolidate your orders to hit better price tiers. Keep a reorder spreadsheet and stock up on your top sellers when sales hit.
The best blank apparel buyers aren't lucky. They're organized. A little planning on ShirtSpace goes a long way toward protecting your margins and delivering a better product to your customers.
