What we don’t charge for
Custom patches with no setup fees
Panda Patches charges no setup fee, no digitizing fee, no mold fee on PVC, no art fee, no revision fee and no mockup fee, at any quantity including a run of five. Free worldwide shipping is included and orders arrive delivered duty paid, so nothing is owed on delivery. The per-piece price you are quoted is the entire cost of the patches. Minimum 5 pieces per design, on every patch type and size — order three designs, that's 5 of each.
| Charge | Ours | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Setup fee | $0 | No per-design setup charge at any quantity, including a one-off run of five. |
| Digitizing | $0 | Converting your artwork into a stitch file is included. It is a real production step, and it is not billed. |
| Mold feePVC | $0 | PVC needs a new mold cut for every design. That tooling is included, which is the single largest fee most PVC buyers are quoted elsewhere. |
| Art fee | $0 | Redrawing, cleaning up or rebuilding your file is included, and so is designing from a description if you have no artwork at all. |
| Revisions | $0 | Unlimited, until you approve the mockup. There is no revision cap. |
| Digital mockup | $0 | Delivered in 12 to 24 hours, before you commit to production. |
| Worldwide shipping | $0 | Every order, every destination, every quantity — including a 5-piece order. |
| Duties on arrivalDDP | $0 | Shipped delivered-duty-paid, so the price you are quoted is the price you pay. No customs invoice lands after delivery. |
The two things that are charged separately: Velcro backing at $0.35 per piece, and rush production at 25% of the order total with a $50 minimum, refunded if we miss the date we confirm. Both are shown in the calculator before you order.
Why a setup fee decides your minimum
The two charges are the same problem wearing different clothes. A supplier who bills, say, $50 to set up a design has to spread it across the run: on 500 pieces it disappears into the rounding, on five it is $10 a patch. So the minimum goes up until the fee stops being visible. That is why so much of this industry starts at 50 or 100 pieces, and it is why removing the fee is what actually makes a five-piece order possible rather than merely advertised.
The same logic runs through PVC and its mold. A mold is cut for each new design, and on a small PVC order that tooling can cost more than the patches. Included, it stops being a reason to over-order.
The proof is the one people forget to check. Seeing your design before it is manufactured reads like a basic courtesy rather than a line item, and it is not always free: one large US patch supplier publishes a $19.99 proof charge on orders under $300, waived above it. That is the wrong way round, because the buyer ordering ten patches is the one who most needs to see it first. Ours is free at every size, with unlimited revisions, and production does not start until you approve.
Our published from-prices already include shipping and a standard backing — custom embroidered patches from $0.91 and PVC from $1.40 per piece at 2 by 2 inches and 1,000 pieces, with smaller orders costing more per piece.
Where we are genuinely different, and where we are not
We benchmarked fourteen published US patch suppliers in September 2026, quoting their own public pages. It is worth reporting the part that went against us: free setup and free artwork are the norm, not a differentiator. None of the fourteen publishes a setup charge, seven state it is free, and nine include artwork. Our $0 on both is true and it is unremarkable. What follows is what actually differs.
| Panda Patches | What competitors publish |
|---|---|
| 5 pieces per design, on every type and size | PVC minimums of 50 to 100 pieces at six of the fourteen suppliers benchmarked; one charges a $55 fee to order below its minimum at all |
| Rush at 25% of the order total, $50 minimum, refunded if we miss the date we confirm | Published rush surcharges reach 50% of the unit price, and one supplier states plainly that it does not offer rush on patches |
| Iron-on, sew-on and peel-and-stick backing included at $0 | Iron-on is a paid add-on at 10 to 25 cents a piece at some suppliers, hook backing at 60 cents and hook-and-loop at 90 cents |
| No per-colour surcharge | Extra thread colours cost 10 to 15 cents a piece at some suppliers, above an included-colour limit of seven or eight |
| Free shipping worldwide, delivered duty paid, at any order value | Free shipping is common but usually conditional: continental United States only, or above a spend threshold. None of the fourteen publishes a shipping rate, and none offers duty-paid delivery |
A new mold has to be cut for every PVC design, and charging that tooling back as a separate one-time fee per design is normal in this industry. We do not: the mold is $0 at any quantity. On a small PVC run that charge can cost more than the patches themselves, which is why it decides whether a short run is worth ordering at all.
Physical pre-production samples cost $75 to $90 at the suppliers that publish a fee. Our digital mockup is free at every order size, and a free physical sample ships on orders of 500 or more.
Figures from a September 2026 benchmark of 14 published US patch suppliers, quoted from their own public pages. Suppliers change their pricing without telling us, so every figure here is re-checked at least every six months.
Questions about fees
Do you charge a setup fee for custom patches?
No. Setup is $0 on every order, every patch type and every quantity, including a one-off run of five pieces. There is no per-design charge, no minimum-order fee, and no separate charge for a second or third design on the same order. The per-piece price you are quoted is the entire cost of the patches.
Do PVC patches have a mold fee?
No. PVC patches need a new mold cut for each design, and that tooling is included at $0. This is usually the largest single fee a PVC buyer is quoted, and it is the reason PVC quotes elsewhere often look reasonable per piece and then arrive with a separate line item. On a small PVC run the mold charge can exceed the cost of the patches themselves.
Do you charge a digitizing fee?
No. Digitizing — converting your artwork into the stitch file an embroidery machine reads — is included at $0. It is a real production step done by a person, and it is not billed to you. The same applies to the vector work behind PVC, woven and printed patches.
Do you charge an art fee if my file is not print-ready?
No. Redrawing, cleaning up or rebuilding a file is included at $0, and so is designing from scratch if you have no artwork at all. Send a photograph, a sketch on paper, or a description in an email, and the design team builds it into a mockup at no cost.
Are revisions to my mockup charged?
No. Revisions are unlimited and free until you approve the mockup. There is no revision cap and no charge for changing your mind about a colour, a size or the whole design. Production does not begin until you approve in writing, so nothing is manufactured against a design you are not happy with.
Is there a charge for the mockup itself?
No. The digital mockup is $0 and arrives within 12 to 24 hours, at every order size, with unlimited free revisions. This one is worth checking on any quote you compare: proof fees are real in this industry. One large US patch supplier publishes a $19.99 charge for a proof on orders under $300, free only above that, which means a small buyer either pays to see their design or sends it to production unseen. Ours is free at five pieces and at five thousand.
Do you charge for shipping?
No. Free worldwide shipping is included on every order, at every quantity and to every destination, including a 5-piece order. Orders ship delivered duty paid, so there is nothing to pay a courier on arrival either.
What is the minimum order if there are no setup fees?
Minimum 5 pieces per design, on every patch type and size — order three designs, that's 5 of each. Setup being free is what makes a small run viable at all: when a supplier charges $50 to set up a design, a 5-piece order carries that $50 across five patches, which is why most suppliers set a minimum high enough to bury it.
Are there any fees at all beyond the per-piece price?
Velcro backing is charged separately, at $0.35 per piece, and rush production is charged at 25% of the order total with a $50 minimum, refunded if we miss the date we confirm. Those two are the complete list, they are both shown in the calculator before you order, and everything else on this page is $0.
Related: custom patches with no minimum order, free worldwide shipping delivered duty paid, and the full pricing breakdown by type and quantity.
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