Walk into any print shop in America and you’ll find the same two brands making up 70% of their stock: Gildan on one shelf, BELLA+CANVAS on the other. They cost different money, feel different on the body, print different under the squeegee, and appeal to different buyers. Anyone who tells you one is simply “better” is selling you something.
We ran 400 shirts through our test press — 100 each of the four blanks below — to get past the spec sheets and into what actually matters: how they land on a customer’s hanger and whether they come back.
The four contenders
- Gildan 5000— 5.3 oz, 100% cotton, tubular construction, straight cut. The classic cheap-and-reliable. View on B2B Sportswear
- Gildan Softstyle 64000— 4.5 oz, ring-spun cotton, side-seamed, mid-tier price. Gildan’s answer to the Bella request.
- BELLA+CANVAS 3001— 4.2 oz, Airlume combed ring-spun, side-seamed, retail fit. The default boutique blank.
- Next Level 3600— 4.3 oz, combed ring-spun, side-seamed. The one everyone forgets about until Bella is back-ordered.
Weight, hand, and feel
The Gildan 5000 is noticeably heavier and thicker than the other three. For event shirts (a charity 5K, a family reunion, a one-off conference giveaway) that thickness reads as “real shirt, good value” to the buyer. For a boutique retail brand it reads as “cheap,” full stop. Price your Gildan 5000 prints against giveaway budgets, not retail price points.
The BELLA 3001, by contrast, is so light and soft it almost reads as a women’s tee. It drapes, it doesn’t box out at the hem, and it photographs well on a model. If your customer is selling D2C on Shopify, this is what their photo shoot needs.
Next Level 3600 sits between the two — combed cotton like Bella, but slightly more body to it. If a customer is nervous about Bella feeling “too thin” this is the diplomatic sell. Gildan 64000 is the direct counter-swing: ring-spun softness at a price closer to the 5000. We think of it as “Gildan for people who asked for Bella.”
Fit and sizing
This is where new print shops get burned. The Gildan 5000 runs boxy. A size M measures about 21” across the chest and 28” from shoulder to hem. BELLA 3001 in the same labeled M is about 19” across the chest and 28.5” long — narrower and longer. If your customer expects “modern fit” and you ship them a batch of 5000s, they will write you a passive-aggressive email.
Next Level 3600 and Gildan 64000 both split the difference and run close to true-to-size for most adults. They’re the safest bet for a mixed customer base.
Rule of thumb: put the size chart on every quote. Screenshot it from the product page and send it with the approval PDF. Fit complaints are the #1 reason customers dispute a print job.
Print quality
On a 4-color plastisol print with a halftone, the BELLA 3001 holds the cleanest detail — combed ring-spun cotton has a flatter, more uniform surface, so the screen lays down ink evenly. The Gildan 5000 is grainier; small halftones look slightly muddy at 55 LPI. For single-color bold designs, nobody can tell the difference.
Water-based and discharge prints are where the gap widens. Those ink systems bond to ring-spun cotton beautifully and Gildan 5000’s open-end yarn gives a slightly more faded, vintage look. Some shops love that for retro designs. Tell your customer what they’re getting.
Margin math
Here’s where the decision gets made. These are realistic wholesale costs via a dropship supplier on a 24-piece order, in white, medium:
- Gildan 5000 — around $2.30
- Gildan Softstyle 64000 — around $3.10
- Next Level 3600 — around $4.20
- BELLA+CANVAS 3001 — around $4.80
The Gildan 5000 at $2.30 lets you sell a 1-color print for $8 retail and still clear 60% margin. The BELLA 3001 at $4.80 pushes that same math to a $12 retail price point. Both are profitable — but they target completely different customers.
The verdict: buy both, upsell at the quote
This isn’t a one-blank answer. The shops we watched do best stock at least two options and quote the customer on both tiers at once:
- Tier 1 (budget):Gildan 5000 at $7–$9 retail. For events, giveaways, teams, volunteers.
- Tier 2 (premium):BELLA 3001 at $13–$16 retail. For retail brands, boutiques, merch lines.
Send both prices on every quote. Most customers pick Tier 2 once they see the $4–$5 difference, and the ones who pick Tier 1 still close the deal. You’re not competing on price — you’re giving them a choice.
Where to buy either one
We stock every Gildan style and every BELLA+CANVAS style at wholesale pricing, same-day shipping on orders by 3 PM EST, and plain-packed shipments with no supplier branding. Start your cart with a dozen of each, run a test print on your press, and see which one your shop likes better.