Starting a small screen printing business takes roughly $11,000 to $72,000, depending on how you set it up. The low end is a garage shop with a manual press and flash dryers. The high end is a leased space with a six-color manual press, a conveyor dryer, proper ventilation, and starting stock. An automatic press, usually the largest upgrade a small shop makes, comes later and costs considerably more. Profit in screen printing comes from order size: setup is a fixed cost, so the more shirts per design, the better each one pays.
What a Screen Printing Business Does
A screen printing business prints designs onto shirts, hoodies, bags, and other items by pushing ink through a mesh screen, one screen per color. Customers include schools, sports teams, local businesses, events, and brands. Many small shops print on blank garments they buy for each order, then charge per piece based on quantity, colors, and print locations.
Startup Costs for a Screen Printing Business
| Cost item | Planning range used in this breakdown |
| Manual press, four to six colors | $1,000 to $5,000 |
| Flash dryers or a conveyor dryer | $1,500 to $12,000 |
| Exposure unit, washout booth and pressure washer | $1,000 to $6,000 |
| Screens, squeegees, emulsion, inks and chemicals | $1,500 to $5,000 |
| Shop deposit and first month’s rent (garage start: none) | $0 to $15,000 |
| Electrical work and ventilation | $500 to $8,000 |
| Starting blank garment inventory | $1,000 to $5,000 |
| Website, design software and mockup tools | $500 to $3,000 |
| Insurance, licenses and registration | $1,000 to $3,000 |
| Operating reserve | $3,000 to $10,000 |
| Total | $11,000 to $72,000 |
Treat these as estimates, not quotes. Used presses and dryers are widely available, and the dryer and the exposure unit are the lines most worth spending on, because undercured ink and underexposed screens are common causes of reprints. Whatever dryer you use, test that prints reach the ink maker’s full-cure conditions.
Plan for chemicals from the start. Screen reclaiming produces wash water carrying ink, emulsion remover, and solvent residue, so check local wastewater rules before anything goes down a drain, and store chemicals and ink-soaked rags safely.
Pricing Shirts by Quantity
Every order carries setup work: burning screens, registering them on the press, mixing ink, then cleaning up. That cost is roughly the same whether you print 24 shirts or 240, which is why price breaks by quantity are standard in the trade.
Imagine a shop quoting 48 shirts with a two-color front print. It charges a $20 screen fee per color, or $40, and $11 a shirt, for $568 in total. Blanks cost $3.50 each, or $168. Ink and press labor run about $2.25 a shirt, or $108, and screen materials about $20. That leaves roughly $272 before rent, equipment payments, and the owner’s time.
Now quote the same design at 144 shirts and $8.50 each. The order brings in $1,264. Blanks cost $504, ink and labor $324, and screens $20, which leaves about $416. The per-shirt price fell by nearly a quarter, while the order’s contribution rose by more than half. Set a minimum order size that keeps small jobs worth running.
Review the price list at least once a year. Blank, ink, and labor costs move, and a price list that hasn’t changed in a year may be losing margin without anyone noticing.
Equipment Upgrades Worth Planning For
The usual upgrade path runs from flash dryers to a conveyor dryer, from a four-color to a six- or eight-color manual press, and then to an automatic press. An automatic can print several times faster than a manual press with one operator, which changes what a shop can quote on, but it also needs more floor space, compressed air, and steady volume to justify the payment.
Many shops also add a heat press or a direct-to-film setup for short runs, names and numbers, and full-color designs that would take too many screens. That mix is common: PRINTING United Alliance’s Winter 2026 State of the Decorated Apparel Industry report, based on responses from 68 participating companies, notes that most use multiple in-house decoration technologies. Screen printing still wins on cost per piece once quantities climb.
Seasonality and Inventory
Demand tends to bunch around school sports seasons, spring events, and year-end holiday orders, and large orders often require buying blanks before the customer pays the balance. Taking a deposit at order time is common practice. When you need to stock up ahead of a busy stretch, our guide to inventory financing explains how businesses fund stock purchases, and our comparison of a line of credit and a term loan can help you match the funding to the need.
Finance Your Print Shop with Delta Capital Group
If your screen printing business has been operating for at least six months and you’re moving up to an automatic press or a conveyor dryer, Delta Capital Group provides equipment financing and working capital to business owners across the country. Equipment financing is structured around the equipment’s useful life. No collateral is required beyond the equipment for most equipment financing. Approvals happen in as little as 24 hours, and 95 percent of approved applicants are funded within 48 hours. Minimum qualifications are 6 months in business, $15,000 in monthly revenue, and a 500 credit score. Apply at deltacapitalgroup.com.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you start a screen printing business at home?
Many shops do, in a garage or basement with a manual press and flash dryers. Check local zoning for home businesses, make sure you have ventilation and safe chemical storage, and confirm how your area wants screen-reclaiming wastewater handled.
Is screen printing or direct-to-film better for a new shop?
They serve different orders. Screen printing is cheaper per piece on larger runs of the same design, while direct-to-film handles short runs and full-color art without screens. Many shops run both.
How many colors should my first press have?
A four-color press handles most beginner orders. A six-color press gives room for more complex designs and for keeping a screen set up while you print another job, and it often costs only modestly more on the used market.
What should I charge for screen printed shirts?
Build the price from blank cost, ink and labor per print, screen setup and your overhead, then add margin. Quote by quantity breaks and by the number of colors and print locations, and compare against local shops.
Can I finance an automatic screen printing press?
Yes. Presses, dryers, and exposure units are commonly financed as equipment. Delta Capital Group funds businesses with at least 6 months in business, $15,000 in monthly revenue and a 500 credit score.