WHY IS SCREEN PRINTING SO EXPENSIVE?
A lot of time and material costs go into artwork prep and creating screens.
Once the artwork is prepared it needs to be printed to film. The film is exposed to screen. Each color is a separate artwork and screen. Once screens are made, prints are produced... one color at a time. The screens are then reclaimed and coated for the next production. It's quite a process to go from idea to finished apparel.