Hoodies are the highest-margin blanks a print shop touches. A basic tee marks up $5–$8 printed; a hoodie marks up $15–$25. But fleece also punishes bad buying harder than tees do — the blanks cost 4–5x more, boxes weigh more so freight bites, and a fit complaint on 48 hoodies is a genuinely expensive mistake. Here’s the field guide to the four fleece blanks that cover almost every job.
The lineup
- Gildan 18500 Heavy Blend hoodie— 8.0 oz, 50/50 cotton-poly. The default bulk hoodie in America. View at wholesale
- Champion S700 Powerblend hoodie— 9.0 oz, 50/50 with up-to-date fit and the C logo on the left cuff. The brand-name upsell. View at wholesale
- Gildan 18000 Heavy Blend crewneck— 8.0 oz, 50/50. The hoodie’s cheaper sibling and the corporate fleece staple. View at wholesale
- Gildan 12000 DryBlend crewneck— 9.0 oz, 50/50 with moisture-wicking finish. The budget crew for team and uniform work. View at wholesale
Gildan 18500: the volume king
8.0 oz of 50/50 fleece, a double-lined hood, and one of the widest color ranges in fleece. Wholesale cost is roughly $10–$12 depending on color and quantity tier, which is why it anchors nearly every team, event, and fundraiser quote. The fit is classic and roomy — order true to size for most buyers, and warn slim-fit customers it will read oversized.
On press, the 50/50 blend means plastisol is the safe system. Water-based and discharge inks fight the polyester — discharge only reacts with the cotton half, so prints come out muted and heathered. Some customers love that look; just show them a sample first. Watch dye migration on red and maroon polyester-blend fleece: use a low-bleed ink or an underbase gray.
Champion S700: the brand-name margin play
The S700 is a 9.0 oz Powerblend fleece with reduced-pill finish and a slightly more tailored cut than the 18500. Functionally, it’s a comparable 50/50 hoodie. Commercially, it’s a different product: the Champion logo on the cuff lets your customer charge $10–$15 more at retail than an identical print on a Gildan. Wholesale runs a few dollars above the 18500 — around $14–$17 — so the margin math favors the S700 any time the end buyer is a brand, a gym, or a school store rather than a one-day event.
Print behavior is nearly identical to the 18500: plastisol first, low-bleed on dark synthetics-heavy colors. The reduced-pill face is slightly smoother, which helps fine detail hold up over months of washing.
The crewnecks: 18000 and 12000
Don’t quote hoodies without offering a crewneck line. The Gildan 18000is the same 8.0 oz Heavy Blend fleece as the 18500 minus the hood — typically $3–$4 cheaper per piece, and the flat, hood-free chest is actually easier to print and embroider. Corporate buyers and boutique brands increasingly prefer crews.
The Gildan 12000 DryBlendis the budget-crew wildcard: 9.0 oz with a moisture-wicking DryBlend finish, built for coaches, warehouses, and uniform programs where the sweatshirt gets worn hard and washed twice a week. It’s not a fashion piece — it’s a durability piece, and for team orders it’s often the right call.
Head to head
| Style | Weight | Wholesale (approx.) | Fit | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gildan 18500 | 8.0 oz | around $10–$12 | Classic, roomy | Teams, events, fundraisers |
| Champion S700 | 9.0 oz | around $14–$17 | Slightly tailored | Brands, school stores, retail |
| Gildan 18000 | 8.0 oz | around $7–$9 | Classic crew | Corporate, boutique crews |
| Gildan 12000 | 9.0 oz | around $8–$10 | Roomy, workwear | Uniforms, coaches, heavy use |
Buying fleece in bulk without losing the margin
Because fleece blanks cost 4–5x what tees cost, quantity breaks matter more here than anywhere else in the catalog. At B2B Sportswear, six pricing tiers apply automatically in the cart and sizes/colors mix within a style — so a 48-piece hoodie job in S–3XL across two colors prices at the 48-piece tier, not the single-piece price. Fleece boxes are heavy, which makes the free Ground shipping threshold at $250+ easy to clear and genuinely valuable, and same-day dispatch by 3 PM EST from the closest of 12 US warehouses keeps a Thursday hoodie order on schedule for a Monday press day. Embroiderers: the 18000 crew is the easiest hooping in this list — see the embroiderer program.
Where to buy
Every style above is stocked in the B2B Sportswear hoodies & sweatshirts catalog at true wholesale pricing with no minimums. Compare the Gildan 18500 and Champion S700 side by side, and check bulk pricing for the exact quantity tiers before you quote the job.
FAQ
Is the Champion S700 worth the extra cost over the Gildan 18500?
If the end buyer is a brand, gym, or school store, yes — the Champion logo supports a $10–$15 higher retail price on the finished hoodie, which more than covers the few dollars of extra blank cost. For one-day events and fundraisers, the 18500 wins on pure economics.
What is the best hoodie for screen printing in bulk?
The Gildan 18500 is the standard: 8.0 oz 50/50 fleece, wide color range, and around $10–$12 wholesale. Use plastisol or low-bleed inks — 50/50 blends resist discharge and can dye-migrate on reds and maroons.
Do hoodies run big or small?
The Gildan 18500, 18000, and 12000 all run classic and roomy — order true to size for most buyers. The Champion S700 is slightly more tailored. Put the size chart on every quote; fit disputes are the most common fleece complaint.
How much does a bulk hoodie order cost?
A 48-piece Gildan 18500 order runs roughly $500–$600 at wholesale quantity-break pricing — around $10–$12 per piece depending on color and tier — and ships Ground free since it clears the $250 threshold.