Custom Company Hoodies: Which Cut, What It Costs
Three fleece cuts, one 330 GSM fabric. A pullover with one print is $23.96, the zip is $25.22, and we price the crewneck in one business day. Orders start at 15 pieces. This guide picks the cut, places the logo and prices a team order at 50 and 150.
A hoodie is the piece a team still wears a year later, provided it was heavy enough to begin with. A thin one gets worn twice and donated. A 330 GSM one gets pulled on for the cold commute and the school run, and it stays on for the video calls with your mark on the chest.
That leaves three things to settle, taken here in order: which cut, where the logo goes, and how to size an order for a team you haven't measured.
Three cuts from one fleece
All three are sewn from the same 80/20 brushed fleece, which leaves the cut as the one thing to decide.
| Piece | Price | Cut | Order it when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pullover hoodie | $23.96 with one print | Relaxed drop shoulder, lined hood, flat drawcord, kangaroo pocket | You want the widest appeal and an unbroken front for a big print. It's the default for onboarding kits and offsites. |
| Zip hoodie | $25.22 with one print | Same fleece, YKK metal zip, split pockets | It goes on and off over a shirt all day, which makes it the office cut. It reads a step more grown-up, and it's the one leadership and customer-facing teams pick. |
| Crewneck sweatshirt | Priced in one business day | Same fleece, ribbed 1x1 collar and cuffs, no hood | You want the most retail-looking piece and a clean centered canvas, or you have people who don't wear hoods. |
On fit, the pullover and crewneck are cut roomy. Most people keep their normal size, and anyone who wants it closer sizes down. The zip is cut roomy in the body and true in the sleeve.
You don't have to pick one. A pullover as the main piece plus zips for the people who asked is a normal order. Because the tiers count the whole mix, splitting across two cuts costs you nothing.
What the fleece spec means
Ours reads 80/20 cotton-poly brushed fleece, 330 GSM, and each of those terms is something you can feel in the garment.
- 330 GSM is grams per square meter, the weight of the fabric. At that weight the fleece drapes and holds warmth without wearing like a coat. Most promotional hoodies come in well under it, and you can tell.
- 80/20 cotton-poly is the blend. The cotton gives the soft hand, and the 20% polyester holds the cuffs and hem through the wash, where an all-cotton fleece bags out by month six.
- Brushed means the inside face has been raised into a nap. That's the fuzz you feel, and the air it traps is the warmth.
- The build on the pullover is a lined hood and a flat drawcord, plus the kangaroo pocket. The zip hoodie swaps in a YKK metal zip and split pockets.
When you compare vendors, ask each one for the GSM and the blend, because a spec sheet with no weight on it is hiding a low one. How to read a fabric spec sheet walks through the rest, and the fabric guide covers the other seven garments.
Logo placement picks the method.
Fleece takes embroidery for a raised mark that outlives the garment and DTF print for full color.
- Left chest, embroidered. This is the retail look, a mark up to about 4 in wide in tonal or contrast thread at 5,000 to 12,000 stitches. It works on all three cuts, and it's the one chest placement a zip doesn't cut in half.
- Center chest, printed. A big graphic up to about 10 in wide across the front of a pullover or crewneck, because a zip would split it.
- Full back, printed. Up to about 12 in wide, and the place for a gradient or an illustration. Pair it with an embroidered chest and you have the classic two-mark hoodie.
- Sleeve, embroidered. A small second mark, such as a year or a department code. It's quiet enough that some teams put nothing on the chest at all.
Each method on a piece adds one fee, however many places it goes. A pullover printed on the chest and the back is $23.96, the same as a single print, because both prints are DTF. Swap the chest print for embroidery and the stitching is a second fee, which we price in one business day. If you're stuck, the embroidery vs DTF guide has a rule per product.
Sizing a mixed team
Hoodie orders go wrong when someone guesses the size spread from headcount, or forgets that the cut is already roomy.
- Collect sizes. The Design Studio gives you a share link. Each person picks against the chart, and each piece ships sleeved with their name.
- Say the fit out loud. Cut roomy means the normal size is already relaxed. Someone who wants it oversized goes up one size, and nobody needs to go up two.
- Offer the whole run. Because XS to 4XL is one price, trimming the range saves nothing, and the one person who can't get their size remembers it.
The sizing guide has the measurements per size and a message you can paste to collect sizes without a spreadsheet.
What a team order costs at 50 and 150
Every hoodie in the table carries one DTF print, and its price covers design, name-sleeved packaging and every size. The discount is 12% on the whole order from 50 pieces and 22% from 150.
| Order | Pieces | Tier | Math | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| One team, pullovers | 25 | List | 25 at $23.96 | $599 |
| A department, pullovers | 50 | −12% | 50 at $21.08 | $1,054 |
| A department, zip hoodies | 50 | −12% | 50 at $22.19 | $1,109.50 |
| Mixed: 30 zip + 30 pullover | 60 | −12% | 30 at $22.19 + 30 at $21.08 | $1,298.10 |
| Whole company, pullovers | 150 | −22% | 150 at $18.69 | $2,803.50 |
| Mixed: 100 pullover + 50 zip | 150 | −22% | 100 at $18.69 + 50 at $19.67 | $2,852.50 |
Per piece, the printed pullover drops from $23.96 to $21.08 at 12% off and to $18.69 at 22%, while the zip goes from $25.22 to $22.19 and then $19.67, each rounded to the cent. Every order here from 50 pieces ships free, and the 25-piece order's shipping is on the quote. The crewneck isn't in the table because we price it in one business day. Northwind Labs put 60 people in a hoodie, a tee and a cap on a 180-piece first order, which priced every line at −22%.
Hoodies for onboarding kits and offsites
Nearly every company hoodie order is one of two programs.
Onboarding kits. The hoodie is the piece in the first-day photo. Lock the design once, order per cohort, and ship it to the home address so it's there before day one. Ordering a cohort at a time works because we hold the design and the size list between orders. Technology teams use this model most, and Northwind Labs puts a teal pullover in every kit for a 60-person team. The onboarding kit guide has budget tiers, and this post takes apart a kit people posted about.
Offsites and kickoffs. The hoodie is a group marker and a keepsake. Order the whole headcount at once, which is how an order reaches 150. Put the event graphic on the back so it dates well as a memory, and keep the embroidered chest mark on the permanent brand so it still gets worn after. Because an offsite has a fixed date, count back 8 to 10 weeks from it. Design and approval take about two of those weeks at your pace. Production then runs three weeks from your approval and shipping adds two, which leaves a week of buffer. If you'd like to hold the hoodie first, ask for a sample set, which is paid and adds about two weeks.
Related reading.
- Team Onboarding Kits: The New-Hire Welcome Kit Guide
- Embroidery vs DTF Printing for Team Apparel
- Why Your Team Doesn't Wear the Merch
Questions we get.
Which hoodie cut should a company order?
Order the pullover ($23.96 with one print) for most teams and for any big front graphic, and the zip ($25.22) for office wear and people who layer. The crewneck is for when nobody wants a hood, and we price it in one business day. All three are the same 330 GSM fleece, so you're choosing by use and the quality is the same.
What does 330 GSM fleece mean?
GSM is grams per square meter, a measure of how heavy the fabric is. At 330 GSM ours is heavier than most promotional hoodies and sits in the retail range. It's an 80/20 cotton-poly blend, brushed inside for softness, with the polyester share holding the shape through the wash.
How much do custom company hoodies cost in bulk?
With one DTF print the pullover is $23.96 and the zip is $25.22. At 50 pieces those come to $21.08 and $22.19, and at 150 to $18.69 and $19.67. The thresholds count the whole mixed order, and sizes XS to 4XL are one price. Embroidery and the crewneck are priced in one business day.
How do we size a team we haven't measured?
Don't guess. The Design Studio gives you a share link, each person picks their own size, and every piece ships sleeved with their name. A late joiner or a swap after the order is handled by email.