Rush orders in New York: how the same-day window works

The printing is the predictable part of a rush order. The rest of this article is about the parts that are not, and about how to brief us so the day goes to plan.

Where we print

Long Island City, Queens, at 43-01 21st St, across the East River from Midtown. The shop is open 8 AM to 7 PM on weekdays, and pickup is open 24/7: we text you when the order is ready. That matters more than it sounds like it should, because shirts finished in the evening can be collected the same night for an early start the next morning.

The window

Order before 1 PM on a business day and the job prints today. That is the published rule and we hold to it.

After 1 PM the order normally moves to the next business day. Normally, not always: a small job often still fits into the same day, so call the shop before you order. Somebody will look at what is already on the printers and give you a straight yes or no.

Getting them across the city

Three ways, in descending order of how much control you have.

Collect them yourself. Free, and the only option where nothing can go wrong on the road. If your venue is anywhere in Queens, Brooklyn or east Midtown this is usually also the fastest.

Courier, $44 within New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Same day printing does not include delivery time, so plan the courier run from the time the order is ready, not from the time you placed it.

Overnight carrier. Only makes sense when the shirts are needed tomorrow somewhere else.

What goes wrong, honestly

The printing almost never fails. Four things do.

Artwork is the big one. A logo saved at 400 pixels for a website header cannot be printed 11 inches wide, and discovering that at noon on the day costs you the day. Send the file as soon as you know you need shirts, even before you know the quantity or the sizes. We will tell you whether it will print before anything goes on a shirt, and our design team prepares artwork at no extra cost, with rush orders at the front of that queue.

Sizes are the second. A crew list arriving as "mostly large" means we guess, and guessing on a rush order is how you end up with eleven larges and one person in a 2XL that does not exist. We stock S to 2XL in unisex cuts; get a real count.

Then there is the delivery address being a building with a loading dock, a security desk, and nobody at either who knows a courier is coming. Give us a mobile number for a person who will answer, not a main switchboard.

Last, holidays. We print on business days. A Friday afternoon order before a Monday holiday is a Tuesday order, which is easy to miss.

What we keep on the shelf

Same-day work depends on stock. For rush orders we hold Next Level 3600 tees in black and white, Hanes F170 hoodies, Gildan midweight crewneck sweatshirts, tote bags, youth and toddler tees, mugs and 16x20 photo posters. The classic cap and the trucker hat can be embroidered the same business day too.

No minimum, which changes the maths

One shirt is a real order at noon. That is worth knowing for the specific New York situation where somebody needs a single shirt for a presentation at six — there is no twelve-piece floor to work around on the stocked blanks above.

Start at same day printing in New York, or the broader New York printing page for everything else we do here. The same day article lists the stocked blanks, and the design guide covers the file requirements that actually hold rush orders up.