T-ShirtVeterans
From single pieces to full crew runs, Cates gets designed from scratch gear with honest pricing and a 5 to 7 day door-to-door timeline.
Cates crews order designed from scratch gear from us because the numbers are public and the process is simple: free design help, a written proof within 24 hours, and delivery to any Cates address in 5 to 7 business days.
Cates covers 0.2 square miles of Indiana, and delivery reaches every address in it on the standard 5 to 7 day window. The same run covers the neighboring communities too: Lake Holiday Hideaway, IN (2 mi), Kingman, IN (4 mi), Perrysville, IN (6 mi) all order from the same shop at the same published pricing. The closest major installation is Grissom Air Reserve Base, roughly 85 miles out, and unit orders from there run through this same process daily.
No storefront visit required. Send a rough idea or finished art, a real designer builds the proof at no charge, and the finished gear ships straight to Cates.
Custom Design demand around Cates does not stop at the town line. Crews from Lake Holiday Hideaway (2 miles out) order through the same process, which is why coverage is priced by pack, never by zip code.
Unit art drawn right the first time, with anything trademark-sensitive flagged early. Every price is published before you talk to a person, so the budget math happens on your terms.
A sentence of description is enough input for a full designed proof inside a day. Youth and adult cuts run side by side in the same pack at the same price structure.
The year on the shirt sets the type style, and the team knows the difference. Packs mix garment colors freely, so squads, shifts, or grade levels can each get their own.
One design system across shirts, banners, and signs so everything matches. We handle the art, the sizing spread, and the deadline. You handle handing them out.
Merch collections designed with selling in mind, not just decoration. Deadlines get treated like formation times, not suggestions.
The rescue service: old logos rebuilt as clean vector files that print sharp forever. The second order takes two minutes because the first one is archived down to the thread color.
This shop exists for the military community, and it shows in how orders run. Deadlines are treated like formation times, proofs are honest instead of optimistic, and when Cates customers call, a person who owns the order answers.
Honesty runs in both directions here. A doomed timeline or a design that will disappoint gets called out early, with an alternative attached.
The Design Lab puts your art on the real garment, takes your size counts, and totals the whole order, shipping included, without asking who you are.
The right blank depends on budget, season, and how hard the gear will be worn. For Cates customers, these three earn their keep.
Put the design on washed heavyweight cotton and it stops being a shirt and starts being merch. The second order takes two minutes because the first one is archived down to the thread color.
Max weight, boxy drop, oversized print field: the streetwear formula. Every price is published before you talk to a person, so the budget math happens on your terms.
The proving ground for new art, with an 80-color palette to frame it perfectly. A real designer, not an upload widget, checks every file before it goes near production.
Every order includes the design team. They rescue low-resolution logos, invent art from plain descriptions, and keep insignia and period typography accurate when the concept demands it. Twenty-four hours after you send the idea, the proof is in your inbox; as many revisions as it takes come free, and your written sign-off is what starts the presses.
Or open the Design Lab and lay the design out yourself, priced in real time on the exact blank.
Budget planning for Cates customers starts with real numbers. This is our light cotton tee pack pricing with the front print already included.
| Pieces | Total | Each | Ship | Back print add |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 pieces | $180 | $18 ea | $18 | $4 ea |
| 15 pieces | $250 | $16.67 ea | $18 | $4 ea |
| 20 pieces | $320 | $16 ea | $20.99 | $4 ea |
| 25 pieces | $375 | $15 ea | $20.99 | $3 ea |
| 50 pieces | $700 | $14 ea | $22.99 | $2 ea |
| 100 pieces | $1200 | $12 ea | FREE | $2 ea |
Add-on pricing is deliberately boring: back print per the table (later $3, then $2), oversize front $3 or $2 by volume, extended sizes $6 or $4 by volume. That is the complete list, and the Design Lab computes it live before any quote is written.
Start in the Design Lab on the exact garment we print, or send whatever you have through the quote form. Rough ideas are welcome, that is what the free design service is for.
Within 24 hours you have a proof in your inbox, drawn to size, on the garment and color you picked. Revisions are unlimited and free.
You approve in writing before production starts. No surprises at the box opening, because you already saw the shirt.
Five to seven business days covers printing and delivery. Tight timeline? Rush gets a truthful quote, not a hopeful one.
Everything about the run gets archived, which turns every future reorder into a one-line email.
Every order ships tracked to Cates addresses with standard production plus shipping at 5 to 7 business days. Free shipping kicks in at 100 pieces, and pack shipping rates below that are published, not surprises at checkout.
Before sealing, every carton is counted against the size roster, and tracking goes out the same day. Anything short or damaged gets replaced at our cost on an expedited timeline.
Five to seven business days, all in, from approval to arrival. Rush exists for real deadlines and gets an honest yes or no up front.
Design help is included free. Whatever you have, a napkin sketch, a faded shirt photo, a sentence, becomes a print-ready proof from a real designer within 24 hours.
Absolutely. Bulk is where pack pricing shines, and big mixed-size runs ship counted against your roster with a single person accountable for the date.
The extended-size rule fits in one line: add $6 per piece below 25 total, $4 per piece at 25 or more. The Design Lab applies it automatically.
Custom work does not come back: due to custom orders, all work is finalized and no returns are accepted. The protection is up front instead, a free proof that must be approved in writing before anything prints, so check sizing and art carefully at that stage.
The minimum order is 10 pieces. Your cates crew can order ten today and a hundred next month; the packs just make each piece cheaper as the count grows.
More answers on the full FAQ page.
The Cates coverage page shows the full picture, custom design statewide zooms out, and the service page covers the method itself. Other services in Cates: Screen Printing, Embroidery, DTG and DTF Printing, Sublimation, Banners and Signs.
Send the idea, get a free proof in 24 hours, approve it in writing, and pay exactly the published pack price.