How much does a setup fee typically cost?

Industry-average pricing for a standard one-color imprint is typically around $45 to $55 per imprint location. Designs with more colors or more complex artwork cost more to set up.

What Is a Setup Fee in Promotional Products?

Q: What is a setup fee in promotional products?

A setup fee, sometimes called a screen fee or imprint fee, is a one-time charge to prepare your artwork for a specific decoration method, such as burning a screen for screen printing or digitizing a logo for embroidery.

Q: Do I pay a setup fee every time I reorder?

Often not. Many suppliers keep your artwork on file once it has been set up, so reordering the same design later may not trigger a second setup charge, though this varies by supplier.

If you've gotten a promotional products quote before and seen a charge you didn't expect, it was probably a setup fee. Here's exactly what it is and why it's there.

What a Setup Fee Actually Covers

A setup fee (sometimes called a screen fee, imprint fee, or art charge) is a one-time cost to prepare your specific artwork for a specific decoration method. For screen printing, that means burning a physical screen for each color in your design. For embroidery, it means digitizing your logo into a stitch file the embroidery machine can read. It's separate from the per-unit price of the product itself.

Why It Exists

Preparing artwork for production takes real labor and materials — it's not something that happens automatically. The setup fee covers that one-time work, while the per-unit price covers the actual product and printing.

Roughly How Much Does It Cost?

Setup fees vary by supplier and decoration method, but for a standard one-color imprint, industry-average pricing typically runs about $45-55 per location. Designs with more colors or more complex artwork cost more to set up, since each additional color often means an additional screen or digitizing step.

Do You Pay It Every Time?

Often, no. Many suppliers keep your artwork on file once it's been set up, so reordering the same design later may not trigger a second setup charge — though this varies by supplier and how much time has passed.

Other Charges to Know About

Beyond the setup fee, a few other charges can apply depending on your order: rush production, rush shipping, and orders placed below a product's standard minimum quantity. All of these are shown in your quote before you approve anything — nothing gets added after the fact.