Pricing for custom woven labels in the UK is rarely published clearly. Most suppliers ask you to submit a brief and wait for a quote — which makes it almost impossible to plan a budget before you’ve committed to a conversation. This guide changes that.
Below, you’ll find a transparent breakdown of what custom woven labels actually cost in the UK in 2025: the factors that influence price, realistic cost ranges by quantity, what setup fees cover, and how to make sure you’re getting fair value. These aren’t theoretical numbers — they reflect real-world pricing across the UK woven label market.
The 5 Factors That Determine Your Woven Label Price
1. Quantity
Quantity is the single biggest driver of unit cost. The economics of woven label production are straightforward: the loom setup is a fixed cost, so the more units you produce, the more that setup cost is spread across your order. Ordering 500 labels does not cost five times as much as ordering 100 — it typically costs 50–70% more, while giving you five times the labels.
2. Label size
Larger labels require more thread, more loom time, and more material — so they cost more per unit. Standard brand labels (50mm x 25mm) are the most cost-effective size. Labels above 80mm wide attract a meaningful premium. If you’re budget-conscious, keeping your label to a standard size is one of the easiest ways to control cost without compromising appearance.
3. Colour count
Each thread colour in your design is loaded onto the loom separately, adding complexity to the setup and production process. A 2-colour label is significantly cheaper to produce than a 6-colour label at the same size and quantity. Most brand logos translate beautifully to 2–3 colours at label scale — and the woven texture adds depth regardless of colour count. Reducing from 5 colours to 3 can cut your unit price by 15–25%.
4. Weave type
Damask weave — the premium standard for brand labels — uses a higher thread density and costs slightly more than taffeta. The difference is not dramatic at the unit level (typically £0.03–£0.08 per label at equivalent quantities), but it compounds across large orders. For most brand labels, damask is worth the premium. For care labels and size labels, taffeta is the economical and appropriate choice.
5. Fold and finish
Standard folds — centre fold, end fold, straight cut — are included in base pricing with most UK suppliers. Specialist finishes such as laser-cut edges, iron-on backing, or mitre cuts attract a small per-unit premium. Unless your design specifically requires these finishes, standard options give you a professional result at no additional cost.
2025 UK Woven Label Pricing Guide
The table below shows realistic cost ranges for a standard damask woven label (50mm x 25mm, centre fold, 2–3 colours) from a quality UK-focused supplier. Prices are indicative and will vary based on the factors above.
| Quantity | Unit price (est.) | Setup fee | Total cost (est.) |
| 50 units | £0.70–£1.00 | £30–£80 | £65–£130 |
| 100 units | £0.40–£0.80 | £30–£80 | £70–£160 |
| 250 units | £0.25–£0.50 | £30–£80 | £93–£205 |
| 500 units | £0.18–£0.35 | Included | £90–£175 |
| 1,000 units | £0.12–£0.25 | Included | £120–£250 |
| 5,000+ units | £0.06–£0.12 | Included | £300–£600+ |
* Setup fees are typically charged once per new design and are not repeated on reorders. Some suppliers include setup in their pricing at higher quantities.
💡 Key insight: the price difference between 100 and 500 units is often less than £50-100 in total cost — but gives you 5x the labels. If your design is finalised, ordering ahead of immediate demand almost always makes financial sense.
What Does the Setup Fee Actually Cover?
The setup fee — sometimes called a loom programming fee or digitising fee — covers the creation of the weave programme for your specific design. When you submit your logo or artwork, a technician converts it into a thread-by-thread instruction set for the loom. This process takes time and skill, and the fee reflects that.
Critically: the setup fee is a one-off charge. Once your design’s loom programme has been created, all future reorders use the same programme at no additional setup cost. This means the effective cost of your setup fee falls with every reorder — on a third order, it has already paid for itself several times over.
When comparing quotes from different suppliers, always check:
- Is the setup fee included in the quoted total, or is it additional?
- Is the setup fee waived on reorders?
- What happens to the loom programme if you want to make a minor design change?
A reputable supplier will answer all three questions clearly and in writing before you commit.
What Does a Woven Label Actually Cost Per Garment?
To put the pricing in commercial context, here’s what your label investment looks like relative to your garment’s retail price:
| Garment retail price | Label cost (100 units) | Label cost (500 units) | Label as % of retail |
| £30 | £0.60 | £0.25 | 0.8–2.0% |
| £60 | £0.60 | £0.25 | 0.4–1.0% |
| £120 | £0.60 | £0.25 | 0.2–0.5% |
At almost any price point, the woven label represents well under 1% of the retail value of the garment. For a product retailing at £60, the difference between a cheap printed label and a quality woven label is often less than £0.40 per unit — an investment that materially affects how the product is perceived and valued.
★ The label is the detail that communicates whether a brand takes quality seriously. At under 1% of retail price, it is one of the highest-return investments a clothing brand can make.
How to Get the Best Price Without Sacrificing Quality
These are the practical steps to optimising your woven label spend:
- Order slightly above your immediate need. The unit price drop between 100 and 200 labels is significant — and labels have an indefinite shelf life if stored correctly.
- Simplify your colour count. If your logo currently uses 5 colours, ask your designer to produce a 2–3 colour version for use on labels. The cost saving is real and the visual impact at label scale is minimal.
- Use taffeta for care labels, damask for brand labels. You don’t need to use the same weave type across all your label types. Using the appropriate (cheaper) weave for functional labels keeps costs efficient.
- Consolidate label styles per order. If you’re producing multiple garment types with the same brand label, order them all at once rather than in separate smaller runs. The volume discount across the combined order is worth more than the flexibility of ordering separately.
- Always request a written itemised quote. Compare unit price, setup fee, and delivery separately. A lower unit price with a higher setup fee can easily be more expensive in total at low quantities.
You can explore our full range of label options and request a quote directly via our products page. To learn more about who we are and how we price our work, visit our about us page.
Start With a Sample — Then Scale
Before placing any significant order, the most important step is to request a sample. A sample run lets you verify colour accuracy, weave quality, and label size on your actual garment — before committing your budget to a full production run. It’s a small upfront cost that eliminates a much larger potential cost further down the line.
Once you’ve sampled and approved, reorders are straightforward: no new setup fee, the same loom programme, and unit pricing that improves with every quantity step up.
To get started, request your sample here, explore pricing options on our products page, or contact us directly for a detailed quote tailored to your specific requirements. For more guidance on label types and how to choose the right option for your brand, visit our blog.
