How to price custom banners on Shopify
Short answer: price banners by area. The customer enters a width and height, picks a material, and adds finishing: width × height × the material's rate per sq ft, with a minimum charge, plus hemming per foot of edge, grommets per piece and pole pockets per pocket. A Shopify Function then charges that exact total at checkout.
Why variants don't fit banners
Banner customers order the size of their fence, stage or shopfront, not the size on your list. A shop that offers banners from 2 to 10 feet in half-foot steps, in three materials, would need 17 × 17 × 3 = 867 variants before adding any finishing. And every price change means editing all of them.
The banner trade already prices by the square foot. The product page just needs to do the same arithmetic you'd do on a quote.
What goes into a banner price
| Part | Charged by | Example rate |
|---|---|---|
| 13 oz vinyl | Square foot | $3.50 |
| Mesh vinyl (wind-through) | Square foot | $4.25 |
| 18 oz blockout (double-sided) | Square foot | $5.75 |
| Minimum charge | Per banner | $25.00 |
| Hemming | Foot of edge, 2 × (width + height) | $0.75 |
| Grommets | Each | $0.50 |
| Pole pockets | Each pocket | $12.00 |
These are example rates for the arithmetic below; use your own. The minimum applies to the material price; finishing is added on top.
Worked examples
| Order | Material | Finishing | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 × 4 ft vinyl, no finishing 8 sq ft × $3.50 = $28.00 | $28.00 | $0.00 | $28.00 |
| 3 × 6 ft vinyl, hemmed, 8 grommets 18 sq ft × $3.50; 18 ft of edge × $0.75 + 8 × $0.50 | $63.00 | $17.50 | $80.50 |
| 4 × 10 ft mesh, hemmed, 12 grommets 40 sq ft × $4.25; 28 ft × $0.75 + 12 × $0.50 | $170.00 | $27.00 | $197.00 |
| 3 × 8 ft blockout, 2 pole pockets 24 sq ft × $5.75; 2 × $12.00 | $138.00 | $24.00 | $162.00 |
Quantity breaks: with 10% off from 10 banners, ten of the 3 × 6 ft hemmed banners cost $72.45 each. The break comes off each banner's full price, finishing included.
Getting finishing right
- Hemming follows the edge, so price it per foot of perimeter rather than per square foot. A 3 × 6 ft banner has 18 ft of edge; a 4 × 10 ft has 28 ft.
- Grommets are counted: let the customer enter how many, with a minimum and maximum, and charge per piece.
- Pole pockets are a choice (none, top, top and bottom), each with its own price.
- Show only what applies: a "Pocket size" option can appear only when pole pockets are chosen.
See Add-ons for every way to price an extra: flat, per piece, per area, per length or a percentage.
Set it up with Trimsize
- Install Trimsize and, under What do you make?, choose Vinyl banner or Mesh banner. Trimsize puts ready-made banner pricing on your product: materials with rates per square foot, a minimum, hemming, grommets and pole pockets, with example prices.
- Change the rates and minimums to yours. See Materials.
- Set size limits to your printer's widest roll and longest run. See Size limits.
- Add rush or oversize fees if you charge them, as add-ons or pricing rules.
- Add the Trimsize block to the product page.
- Turn on artwork upload if customers send print files: they get a resolution check for the size they ordered. See Artwork uploads.
On Pro, paid orders land in a production queue with each banner's size, material, finishing and due date, and material totals for buying stock.
Common mistakes
- Pricing hemming per square foot. Edge work grows with the perimeter; per-area pricing overcharges large banners and undercharges thin ones.
- No minimum. A 2 × 2 ft banner at $3.50 is $14.00, less than the setup.
- Grommets as a yes/no. A 3 ft banner and a 20 ft banner need very different counts.
Questions
How do I price banners by the square foot on Shopify?
Give each banner material a rate per square foot and a minimum charge. Customers enter the width and height, and the price is the area times the rate, never below the minimum, with finishing added on top.
Can customers order any banner size?
Yes, within the limits you set. You choose the smallest and largest width and height, and customers can enter any size in between.
How do I charge for grommets and hemming?
Make grommets a number add-on priced per piece, and hemming a yes/no add-on priced per foot of edge. Trimsize works out the edge as two times the width plus height.
Can I give bulk discounts on banners?
Yes, on Pro. Quantity breaks take a percentage off each banner from the quantity you set, and the product page shows the table of breaks.