Is Heart & Hook right for you?
Probably the most useful thing we can do for someone comparing shops is tell them when the answer is no. So here's both halves — who we're genuinely good for, and the jobs we'd send somewhere else.
The short answer
We're the right shop if you're ordering 12 or more pieces for a business, church, school, trade or team, you'll reorder the same gear again, and you want one place that prints and embroiders in house. We're the wrong shop for single pieces, next-week deadlines, invoicing after delivery, and jobs where the lowest price is the only thing that matters.
Who we're genuinely good for
None of these are rules. They're just the shape of the work we do best, and the customers who stay with us for years all look a lot like this.
You order in bulk and you need a store
This is our best customer, and it's most of our best customers. One big run a season for the whole crew, plus a store sitting open the rest of the year for new hires, replacements, and the second location. The run gets your pricing down; the store stops you re-ordering twelve shirts in a panic every March.
You'll reorder the same thing
We digitize your logo once, keep the stitch file, and every order after that matches the first one exactly. If you want your logo to look the same in two years, that file is the whole reason it will.
You care how the garment feels
Plenty of jobs come down to the blank, not the logo. If you'd rather pay a bit more for a polo people actually wear than save four dollars on one they don't, we're going to get along.
You want one shop for print and stitch
Screen printing, embroidery, and DTF all happen on our own machines in Mesa. Nothing is sent out, so one deadline covers the tees and the polos and the hats, and one person knows where all of it is.
You have a real date
Camps, openings, tournaments, conferences. Dates don't move, so we plan backwards from yours and tell you honestly whether it's realistic before you pay us anything.
You're a church, school, trade, or team
Not a requirement, just the truth about who we spend our days with. We know what a VBS week needs, what a spirit-wear window looks like, and why a tech's shirt has to survive an attic in July.
If you only recognise yourself in the first one, that's the one that matters. Tell us the headcount and we'll show you what the run and the store would each cost.
The jobs we'd point somewhere else
Every one of these has cost us an order, and we'd still rather you read it here than find out after you've paid a deposit.
You need one or two pieces
Our embroidery minimum is 12 and screen printing starts at 48. Under 48 on a printed tee we'll run DTF instead, which gets you down to 12 — but a single shirt isn't a job we can do well or price fairly.
An online store has no minimum at all, so if the pieces trickle out one at a time, that's the fix. See how stores work.
You need it next week
Standard turnaround is about two to three weeks from the moment you approve the mockup, not from the day you call. Rush is sometimes possible and carries a fee. If your date is seven days out, we'd rather say so now than take your money and miss it.
You want to be invoiced after delivery
Every order is paid up front. That's how we hold your garments at the supplier and how we stay a shop that can quote you a real number instead of pricing in the risk of chasing payment.
Tax-exempt? Send us your certificate and we'll take the sales tax off the quote.
The lowest price is the whole decision
We're not the cheapest, and we're not going to pretend otherwise. What we do is put the whole number in the quote — digitizing, setup, shipping — so the price you see is the price you pay. If someone quotes lower, add their setup fees back in before you compare.
You mainly need promo products, not apparel
We'll happily source drinkware, bags, and the rest alongside an apparel order, and we build gift kits all day. But if the job is purely stickers, signage, or hard goods with no garments in it, a promo specialist will serve you better than we will.
You want the art designed from scratch
We clean up blurry logos, vectorize, and lay out your art for free — that's normal and we don't bill for it. Original design work, where we invent the artwork, is a real service with its own price, and we'll quote it before anyone starts.
What it actually costs
Real published prices, not a starting point. Every one of these links to the page it comes from, where you'll find the rest of the detail.
Embroidered polos
$28 / $24 / $20
each at 12 / 24 / 48 — shirt, left-chest logo and digitizing included
Embroidered caps
From $18
each at 48 — hat, front logo and digitizing included
Screen-printed tees
$12 – $17
each at 48–71 for a one- or two-color print, with no screen or setup fee
Minimums
12 or 48
12 for embroidery and DTF, 48 for screen printing, none through a store
Turnaround
2 – 3 weeks
from artwork approval, not from the day you ask
Setup fees
None
digitizing and screen setup are included on orders that meet the minimum
Premium brands sit above these — embroidered Nike polos run $62 to $54 depending on quantity, TravisMathew higher again. Extended sizes carry the blank maker's upcharge, which we pass along at cost rather than marking up.
Questions people ask before they pick a shop
What makes Heart & Hook different from other custom apparel shops?
Three things, honestly. Everything is made on our own machines in Mesa, Arizona, so nothing is outsourced and one person can tell you where your order is. The quote includes digitizing, setup and shipping rather than adding them later. And we'll tell you when a different method is cheaper for your job, even when that's the smaller sale for us.
Do I have to choose between a bulk order and an online store?
No, and our best customers do both. A bulk run gets your per-piece price down for the gear everybody needs at once. A store stays open the rest of the year for new hires, replacements and second locations, with no minimum. Most of our store customers started with a single bulk order.
What is your minimum order?
Twelve pieces for embroidery and DTF printing, and 48 for screen printing. Through an online company store there is no minimum at all — someone can order one polo and we'll make it and ship it to them.
How much does a custom embroidered polo cost?
About $28 each at 12 pieces, $24 at 24 and $20 at 48, with the shirt, a left-chest logo and digitizing all included. Premium brands run higher — Nike is roughly $62 to $54 depending on quantity. There is no separate setup fee on orders that meet the minimum.
Do you charge a digitizing or setup fee?
Not on orders that meet our minimums, and not on store orders. Your logo gets turned into a stitch file once and we keep it, so every reorder matches. Worth knowing when you compare quotes: most shops bill $25 to $100 for this regardless, so add it back in before deciding which quote is actually lower.
How fast can you turn an order around?
About two to three weeks from the day you approve the mockup. Rush timelines are sometimes possible depending on what's on the schedule and they carry a fee. Tell us your real date up front and we'll work backwards from it and say honestly whether it's doable.
Do you offer payment terms or invoicing?
Orders are paid up front. If your organization is tax-exempt, send us your certificate and we'll remove sales tax from the quote.
Do you ship outside Arizona?
Yes. We're in Mesa and plenty of customers pick up here, but most orders ship, and online company stores ship to each person individually anywhere in the country.
Just ask us
Tell us what you're trying to do and roughly how many people. If it's not a good fit we'll say so, and usually we can tell you who to call instead. That costs you one email and no sales call.
Sound like your kind of shop?
Send us your logo and a headcount — we'll come back with a free mockup and a real number.