How does custom patch pricing work?
Designing your patch is free, and so is shipping - you only pay for production (the cost to manufacture your patches). This page covers that production pricing, which depends on patch type, size, and quantity. Our calculator gives an instant estimate, and your production price is guaranteed to be the lowest.
First, the part people miss: designing your patch is completely free, and so is shipping. There are no design fees, setup fees, artwork fees, or subscriptions. Everything on this page is production pricing - what it costs to manufacture the physical patches after you approve your design. Standard shipping is included free.
That production price is also guaranteed to be the lowest. If you find a lower like-for-like quote - same patch type, size, quantity, backing, and colors - from another maker, we will match it under our Lowest Price Guarantee (see the Lowest Price section of our Terms). So you get the free AI design and the lowest production price in one place.
Production pricing is set by four main factors: patch type (embroidered vs. PVC), size (measured in inches at the longest dimension), quantity ordered, and for embroidered patches, the number of thread colors and embroidery coverage percentage.
Embroidered patches are priced per piece on a quantity-tiered scale. A 3-inch patch is $14.04 each at the 10-piece minimum, $2.29 each at 100 pieces and $1.25 each at 500 - the setup work behind the first patch is the same whether you order ten or five hundred, so spreading it across more pieces is what drops the per-patch price.
PVC patches do require a custom silicone mold, but you are not billed for it separately - the tooling is already absorbed into the per-piece price you see in the calculator, which is why PVC is priced above embroidered at the same 10-piece minimum. There is no mold fee line added at checkout. After the first order the mold is kept on file, so reorders of the same design skip the tooling step entirely.
The one case where the mold cost becomes visible is cancellation. Cutting the mold is the first thing production does, and once it exists it cannot be undone or reused for anyone else. If you cancel after that point, the mold is the part of the order that is no longer refundable - which is why we name the amount at checkout and again on your confirmation, rather than leaving it in the fine print. Cancel before production starts and you are refunded in full.
Our Pricing page includes an interactive calculator where you can set patch type, size, and quantity to get a real-time estimate before you ever talk to anyone. For quotes involving non-standard shapes, unusual materials, or large volumes (1,000+), we confirm a formal quote within 2 business hours.
Design and standard shipping are free at any order size - you pay for production only. Standard production and shipping is about 10 business days from when you approve your artwork, assuming you approve the first sample. Each additional sample round adds about 3 business days - there is no separate rush tier.
| Quantity | 10 pieces (run minimum) | 100 pieces | 500 pieces |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per patch | $14.04 | $2.29 | $1.25 |
PVC tooling is already included in the per-piece price — there is no separate mold fee. Design and standard shipping are always free; you pay for production only.
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