"How much do personalised plastic cups cost?" is the first question almost every buyer asks. The honest answer is that there is no single price, because the per-cup cost depends mostly on how many you order. Here is exactly how the pricing works.
We are Drinksmate. We mould and print personalised plastic cups at our factory in Stockton-on-Tees, and we have shipped more than ten million of them in the past three years. That means our pricing is factory-direct, with no distributor markup between you and the people who actually make the cup.
The short answer
At high volume, our cheapest personalised cup works out at 33 pence per cup. That is the half pint single colour print on the Eco Saver tier at 2,000 units. At the other end, a small run of premium full colour cups can sit closer to a pound or more per cup, because the print setup is being spread across far fewer units. Most personalised orders we ship land somewhere in between, and the single biggest lever on your price is volume.
What actually drives the price
Four things move the number on your quote.
Volume. This is the big one. Print setup is a fixed cost, so the more cups you order, the more thinly that cost is spread. Tiers kick in at 50, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,000 and 5,000 plus units, and the per-cup price drops at each step. Jumping from 250 to 1,000 cups often cuts the per-cup price more than people expect.
Print method. Single colour screen print is the cheaper route at smaller volumes. Full colour IML costs more per cup at entry level, but it carries no per-colour upcharge, so a full-colour photographic design costs the same to print as a one-colour logo. If you want detail and durability, IML is better value than it first looks.
Cup size and model. A half pint uses less material than a pint, and a pint less than a two pint, so size feeds into the unit cost. The cup sizes guide covers which size suits which job.
Lead time tier. Eco Saver (25 working days) is our lowest unit price and where the cheapest cups live. Standard (10 working days) costs a little more for the faster turnaround. Genuine emergencies go through our sister site Express Cups, which is the fastest and the priciest tier.
How to get the cheapest per-cup rate
If price is your priority, three moves help. Order to the next volume tier if you are close to one, because the per-cup saving often outweighs the cost of the extra cups. Choose the Eco Saver lead time if you have planned ahead. And pick single colour print if your design is a simple one-colour logo or wordmark. Do all three and you are at our lowest pricing.
One thing not to cut: the free 3D digital proof. Every order includes one before production, and it is the cheapest insurance there is against a print that comes out wrong. A reputable manufacturer should never charge for it.
Cheaper than disposables over the long run
Per unit, a reusable personalised cup costs more than a disposable. Per drink served, it is far cheaper. A reusable cup at a 5,000 capacity festival serves up to 250 drinks across a weekend before it is washed and packed away, and you skip the waste-removal bills and the cost of reordering disposables for the next event. Roughly half also go home as souvenirs, which means your branding keeps working long after the event. For the full case, see are reusable festival cups worth it.
Get your exact price
The only way to get an accurate number is to price your specific cup, print method and quantity. Use the quote form below and we come back inside the hour with a price, lead time and free 3D proof. Our price promise means if you find a better like-for-like quote elsewhere, we will beat it by 10%. To choose a cup first, browse the personalised plastic cups range, or read the personalised plastic cups buyer's guide.