Most sock suppliers make you ask for a price. We publish ours.
Pricing, minimum order and lead time
The three numbers every buyer asks for, with the reasoning behind each. No form to fill in first.
Minimum, price, lead time and what is included
Societal Socks has a minimum order of 100 pairs per design, and the minimum is per design rather than per order.
Societal Socks prices custom socks at £4 a pair for 100 to 500 pairs.
The lead time is 7-8 weeks, from the day your invoice is paid to the day the socks arrive.
We send mock-ups within 24 hours of getting your colours and your artwork.
The design work is included in the order: there is no setup fee and no artwork charge.
Every pair is knitted in Europe.
The minimum is 100 pairs per design
Per design, not per order. One run is one design in one size, so a school with eight houses is looking at eight runs of 100, and a club that wants a first team sock and a second team sock is looking at two runs of 100 rather than one run of 200 split between them. Plenty of customers order more than one design at a time.
We can arrange multi-year contracts to reduce the MOQ with much larger orders. Please talk to us if this is something that interests you, but this is not available for everyone.
Why 100, when you have seen suppliers advertise 30
Suppliers do advertise minimums of 30 or 50 pairs. The difference is what sits inside the price.
The design work is part of the order here. Your crest is redrawn on a stitch grid by a person, mocked up, and revised as many times as you want, and none of it appears as a line on your invoice.
Changing the threads on the machines and calibrating them to align with a new design takes time, and increases labour costs. The economics simply do not work with lower quantities.
The design is also knitted rather than printed. A printed sock can be made in almost any quantity because the sock already exists and the artwork goes on top of it. A knitted one is built out of its own stitches. It survives the wash, and a run is a run.
£4 a pair for 100 - 500 pairs
Inside that figure sit the design work, the stitch grid, the revisions and the knitting. There is no setup fee and no artwork charge.
Orders above 500 pairs requires client by client pricing depending on a number of factors. Please talk to us about this.
7-8 weeks, from the day the invoice is paid
The lead time is 7-8 weeks, from the day your invoice is paid to the day the socks arrive. Sign-off is the start of it, not the day you first email us, so everything in the design stage runs at your speed rather than ours.
If you are working to a fixed date, count back 7 to 8 weeks from the day the socks have to be in hand, then count back further for however long your side needs to agree a design, find the artwork and get the invoice paid. Working forwards from today is how people end up disappointed.
Mock-ups within 24 hours
We send mock-ups within 24 hours of getting your colours and your artwork, and revisions after that are unlimited and included. Nothing is charged for at this stage. Ask for one.
Samples
You can have a physical sample approved before the full run is knitted. Ask us for the terms and the timing when you enquire.
What is included, and what is not
Included: the design work, the redraw onto the stitch grid, the mock-up, unlimited revisions, and the knitting. There is no setup fee and no artwork charge.
Not included: selling the socks for you, taking payments from your buyers, or handling returns from them.
One size, and no sizes to collect
We knit one adult size and it fits UK foot sizes 5 to 13, which covers roughly 95% of adult feet in the UK. Every run is one design in one size. You never collect a shoe size from anybody.
Where they are made
Every pair is knitted in Europe.
The same numbers, by who is buying
Schools, clubs, university clubs and societies and fundraising runs. The process from first email to delivery is on how it works.
Common questions
More answers on our FAQs page.
What is your minimum order for custom socks?
Societal Socks has a minimum order of 100 pairs per design. The minimum is per design rather than per order, because one run is one design in one size.
In exceptional circumstances, on large orders spanning many houses, we are happy to enter multi-year supply contracts to reduce the minimum.
How much do custom socks cost per pair in the UK?
Societal Socks prices custom socks at £4 a pair for 100 to 500 pairs. The design work is included in the order: there is no setup fee and no artwork charge.
How long do custom socks take to make?
The lead time is 7-8 weeks, from the day your invoice is paid to the day the socks arrive. Production starts once the invoice is paid; before that the design stage runs at your speed, with mock-ups back within 24 hours.
Can we get a sample before ordering?
Yes, a physical sample can be approved before the full run is knitted. Ask us for the terms and the extra time when you enquire.
Do you charge for design or set-up?
No. The design work is included in the order: there is no setup fee and no artwork charge, and revisions are unlimited.
Why is your minimum 100 pairs when other suppliers say 30?
Because the design work, the stitch grid, the mock-up and unlimited revisions are inside the price rather than charged for separately, and because the design is knitted into the sock rather than printed on top of an existing one. A supplier with a lower minimum is balancing that arithmetic somewhere else, and it is worth finding out where.
Are the designs knitted or printed?
Knitted into the fabric. A printed design sits on the surface of a sock that already exists, which is why it can be made in almost any quantity and why it eventually cracks. A knitted design is built out of the stitches themselves.
What sizes do you make?
One adult size, fitting UK foot sizes 5 to 13, which covers roughly 95% of adult feet in the UK. Every run is one design in one size, so nobody collects a shoe size.
Where are your socks made?
Every pair is knitted in Europe.
Send us your colours
Send your colours, your crest and a rough idea of numbers, and we will come back with a mock-up and a price.