Traditional print shops require 12 to 24 piece minimum orders on custom shirts. For a small dog daycare with three staff or a new hire who needs one uniform shirt right away, that minimum makes custom apparel either expensive or impossible. Bear Grips Pro Shops uses a print-on-demand model with no minimum order: one custom shirt costs the same per-unit as 50 shirts, with no setup fees, no screen-burning charges, and free US shipping on every order.
Three scenarios where traditional minimum order requirements typically block dog daycares:
Print-on-demand removes the friction. The first order can be a single shirt. As the daycare grows, individual additions come through the same per-unit pricing without setup penalties.
Traditional screen-print shops charge less per shirt at higher quantities because setup costs (screen burning, color separation, labor) spread across more units. Print-on-demand uses different equipment with effectively zero per-shirt setup cost, which makes single-unit pricing the same as 100-unit pricing.
What dog daycare owners get:
What is lost compared to high-volume screen print: the bulk discount at 100+ identical pieces. For a daycare ordering 100+ identical shirts in one batch, traditional screen print may save $2-4 per shirt. For everything under that volume, print-on-demand is the better economics.
Bear Grips Pro Shops: Custom Apparel for Your Team. No Minimums. Free Shipping.Common single-piece orders for dog daycare operations:
A typical new-hire apparel order for an active daycare:
| Item | Quantity | VIP Cost | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Daycare Tee | 2 | $19.88 each | $39.76 |
| Hat | 1 | $25.86 each | $25.86 |
| Hoodie | 1 | $36.88 each | $36.88 |
| New Hire Outfit Total | $102.50 |
That outfit ships in about a week. New hire shows up to their first shift in proper uniform without waiting for a bulk-order cycle. Total cost is small compared to the operational cost of having a new hire look out-of-uniform for weeks until the next traditional bulk order arrives.
For most daycare orders, print-on-demand wins. Two scenarios where bulk wholesale screen-print may still beat per-unit price by a few dollars:
Most dog daycare orders fall well under those volumes. For ongoing daily operations, new hire outfits, and recognition apparel, print-on-demand is clearly the better economics.
New hire? Order one shirt. Full staff? Order twenty. Same price per shirt, no setup fees, free shipping, delivered in about a week.
Start FreeYes. A single shirt can be ordered with full customization at the same per-unit price as a bulk order. No setup fees, no minimum quantity, no small-order surcharge.
About one week from order to delivery. Order placed Monday typically arrives the following Monday or Tuesday for most US addresses. Free shipping included.
Usually cheaper for orders under 75 pieces. Setup fees on local shops push effective per-unit cost above print-on-demand pricing at low volumes. For 100+ identical shirts in one batch, traditional screen print may be a few dollars cheaper per shirt.
Yes, if the shop is configured to allow direct staff ordering. Most daycares set up a staff-only product variant at base cost with a private link for staff. Each staff member orders their own size directly.