{
  "slug": "garment-blank-margin",
  "title": "Garment Blank Margin Calculator",
  "heading": "Garment Blank Margin Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/garment-blank-margin",
  "summary": "Margin on undecorated apparel before any decoration cost.",
  "description": "Before a single ink drop or stitch goes on, the blank garment itself carries its own margin structure that many shop owners skip analyzing separately from the decorated price. This calculator isolates blank cost (wholesale from your supplier), shipping-in cost, and any size-upcharge averaging (2XL+ shirts typically cost $1-$3 more wholesale but shops often average that into one blended cost), against your blank-only component of the final price, so you can see if you're pricing blanks at cost, a small markup, or actually losing money on plus sizes while overcharging standard sizes. It matters because many shops set one flat decorated price across all sizes for simplicity, which quietly transfers margin from standard-size orders to cover underpriced plus-size blanks — fine as a policy, but you should know you're doing it rather than discover it in a margin audit.",
  "formula": "Blank landed cost = wholesale + shipping-in per unit + size upcharge; margin = blank price component − landed cost.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=garment-blank-margin",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "wholesale",
      "label": "Wholesale blank cost (standard size)",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 3.1,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "shippingIn",
      "label": "Inbound shipping per unit",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 0.25,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "sizeUpcharge",
      "label": "Average size upcharge (2XL+ blend)",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 0.4,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "blankPriceComponent",
      "label": "Blank-only portion of your sell price",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 5.5,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "quantity",
      "label": "Units in order",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 100,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 1,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "margin",
      "label": "Margin per blank",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "marginPct",
      "label": "Margin %",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "landed",
      "label": "Landed blank cost",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "totalMarginProfit",
      "label": "Total blank margin for order",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Wholesale blank cost (standard size): 3.1 $",
      "Inbound shipping per unit: 0.25 $",
      "Average size upcharge (2XL+ blend): 0.4 $",
      "Blank-only portion of your sell price: 5.5 $",
      "Units in order: 100"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Margin per blank: $1.75",
      "Margin %: 31.8%",
      "Landed blank cost: $3.75",
      "Total blank margin for order: $175.00"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter wholesale blank cost (standard size) ($).",
      "Enter inbound shipping per unit ($).",
      "Enter average size upcharge (2xl+ blend) ($).",
      "Enter blank-only portion of your sell price ($).",
      "Enter units in order.",
      "Read your margin per blank on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "wholesale": 1.8599999999999999,
        "shippingIn": 0.15,
        "sizeUpcharge": 0.24,
        "blankPriceComponent": 3.3,
        "quantity": 60
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "wholesale": 3.1,
        "shippingIn": 0.25,
        "sizeUpcharge": 0.4,
        "blankPriceComponent": 5.5,
        "quantity": 100
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "wholesale": 4.960000000000001,
        "shippingIn": 0.4,
        "sizeUpcharge": 0.6400000000000001,
        "blankPriceComponent": 8.8,
        "quantity": 160
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "Should I charge extra for 2XL and up?",
      "a": "Most shops do, typically $2-$4 more per unit at retail, matching the $1-$3 wholesale upcharge suppliers already apply plus a bit of margin. Not charging it means smaller sizes are subsidizing plus sizes, which is a legitimate choice but should be intentional."
    },
    {
      "q": "What's a healthy margin on the blank alone?",
      "a": "Many shops target 40-60% margin on the blank component specifically, since the decoration (screen print, embroidery) margin is usually thinner and carries more labor risk. A healthy blank margin cushions the whole job's profitability."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does buying in bulk change blank cost meaningfully?",
      "a": "Yes — case pricing (typically 6-12 per case) versus dozen or less-than-case pricing can swing wholesale cost 10-20%. Distributors like SanMar or S&S Activewear post case-break pricing tiers worth checking before quoting large jobs."
    },
    {
      "q": "How often should I re-check blank pricing?",
      "a": "Cotton commodity prices and freight surcharges shift blank cost a few times a year. Re-pull current wholesale pricing quarterly, or immediately after a supplier price increase notice, since a stale cost basis silently erodes margin."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/screen-print-cost-per-shirt",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/dtg-vs-screen-print-breakeven",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/promo-product-markup"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Garment Blank Margin Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/garment-blank-margin)"
}