Packaging For T Shirts
A folded adult tee measures about 9 by 12 inches and weighs 5 to 8 ounces, and that single fact does most of the deciding. One shirt rides in a 10x13 poly mailer for about a quarter. Two to four shirts want a longer mailer or a shallow box. An order that should feel like a gift earns a rigid 12x9x3 box and a sheet of tissue. What follows is the working math for each lane, priced per order, so packaging becomes a number in your margin sheet instead of a guess.
The quick answer, by order size
| Order | Reach for | Packaging cost per order |
|---|---|---|
| 1 shirt, standard fold | 10x13 poly mailer | 18 to 26 cents |
| 1 shirt, tight 8x10 fold | 9x12 poly mailer | 11 to 22 cents |
| 2 shirts | 10x13 poly mailer | 18 to 26 cents |
| 3 to 4 shirts | 12x15.5 poly mailer | 38 cents |
| 3 to 4 shirts, crease-sensitive prints | 12x9x3 kraft box | 82 cents |
| Gift, first order, or collab drop | White 12x9x3 box plus tissue | $2.32 before tissue |
One shirt: the 10x13 poly mailer, with the math
The 10x13 is the single-shirt default because it clears the 9x12 footprint of a standard retail fold with an inch to spare in each direction. That inch absorbs the shirt's thickness, keeps the corners from straining, and leaves the self-seal strip a flat landing zone, which is the difference between a seal that survives a sorting facility and one that peels at the first pinch. One size also covers the whole size run: a folded 3XL heavyweight and a small ringspun tee fit the same bag.
Per-order cost is where mailers end the argument. A case of 100 clear-front 10x13 mailers is $25.97, which works out to 26 cents a shipment. Step up to the 500-count case at $91.99 and the identical mailer drops to about 18 cents, keeping roughly $38 of the case price in your pocket. The same 100-count price also buys the mailer in black, blue, or red, if you would rather the bag hide its contents or carry a brand color than show the fold through a clear panel.
Folding tighter buys one more tier. An 8x10 fold drops a single tee into a 9x12 mailer without strain, and a 500-case of white 9x12 mailers at $54.33 takes packaging down to 11 cents an order. Shirt plus bag lands in the 6 to 9 ounce range, squarely inside the lightest tiers every carrier publishes, and 2.5 mil poly shrugs off a rainy porch in a way cardboard never will.
Two to four shirts: go longer, then go flat
Every folded midweight tee adds roughly three quarters of an inch of stack height, a little more for heavyweight blanks. Two shirts still close comfortably in a 10x13. At three the bag pulls drum-tight, and at four the flap starts lifting, which is how shirts end up loose on a conveyor with your label riding a bag somewhere behind them.
The long fix is a 12x15.5 poly mailer: three or four folded tees squared into one brick, with enough length left to wrap the flap over the top of the stack instead of across its edge. At $38.06 per 100, that lane costs 38 cents an order and still ships lighter than any box.
The flat fix is a 12x9x3 kraft corrugated box, which matches the folded footprint exactly and stacks three to four tees flat inside its 3 inch depth. A 25-pack is $20.47, so 82 cents an order. Choose it when the shirts carry foil, puff, or fresh heat-press graphics you do not want folded under tension, or when fifty finished orders need to ride to a drop-off without avalanching across the back seat.
The retail-feel order: a box, tissue, and thirty extra seconds
Some orders are worth more than their line total: first purchases, gifts, influencer sends, anything likely to get filmed. Poly bags read as logistics; boxes read as product. The white 12x9x3 easy-fold mailer box assembles from a single die-cut blank with no tape gun, keeps its shape under a stack of heavier parcels, and gives you a clean white face for a stamp, a sticker, or nothing at all. Fifty cost $116.24, which prices each unboxing at $2.32.
Tissue is the cheap half of the effect. Wrap the folded shirt in a sheet, close the wrap with a sticker, and the customer performs a small reveal instead of tugging fabric out of plastic; the same sheet keeps decorated surfaces from pressing against each other through a warm truck. Spend it deliberately. A $2.32 box under a clearance single is margin on fire, while the same box inside a full-price two-shirt bundle is the cheapest brand impression you will buy all quarter.
Where bubble mailers fit: almost nowhere
A t-shirt is the most ship-ready product in e-commerce: soft, flat, crush-proof, and indifferent to impact. Bubble lining defends against exactly one thing, shock, and a shirt cannot experience it. Padding only adds weight, bulk, and cents per order, the three lines this page has been shaving. The longer comparison lives in poly mailer vs bubble mailer; the shirt-specific verdict is plain 2.5 mil poly, no padding, and spend the savings on tissue.
Print care in transit: fold so the graphic lies flat on a panel instead of across a crease, let DTG cures finish before bagging, and slip tissue between decorated layers on multi-shirt orders. A sealed poly mailer is nearly airtight, and a still-warm print in an airtight bag is a humidity experiment you did not mean to run.
T-shirt packaging FAQ
What size poly mailer fits one t-shirt?
A 10x13 poly mailer is the standard single-shirt size. It clears the 9 by 12 inch footprint of a folded adult tee with room for thickness and the seal flap. Fold down to 8 by 10 and a 9x12 mailer works too, for a few cents less per order.
How many t-shirts fit in a 10x13 poly mailer?
Two midweight tees fit comfortably, and a third lightweight one will close if you square the stack first. Past that the bag pulls tight and the self-seal starts to lift, so move to a 12x15.5 mailer or a 12x9x3 box.
Do t-shirts need bubble mailers or extra padding?
No. Fabric is not fragile, so cushioning adds cost and weight without protecting anything. A plain 2.5 mil poly mailer keeps a shirt dry and intact; save bubble lining for products that can actually break.
What does t-shirt packaging cost per order?
From 11 cents for a 9x12 poly mailer bought by the 500-case, to 18 to 26 cents for the standard 10x13, to 82 cents for a shallow kraft box, to $2.32 for a white gift-grade box. Match the spend to what the order is worth to you.
Shirts are one aisle of the operation. For the rest of the fulfillment shelf, from tape to tubes to the mailer sizes on either side of these, work through packaging for Shopify stores, which sizes everything the same way this page just did.
Case prices are Packrift list prices at the time of writing; per-order figures are the case price divided by the unit count, rounded to the cent.