Promotional Products Budget for 2026: How to Plan It in January

The easiest time to plan a year's promotional products budget is January, while you already know your event calendar and there are no urgent orders yet. In practice, small and medium Latvian businesses set aside roughly 1–3% of annual turnover for promotional products and printing, or 15–40 EUR per employee and 3–8 EUR per expected event visitor. If you split the budget by quarter and combine orders, the cost per unit usually drops by 20–40%, since both printing and product prices fall with larger quantities.

Where to start: a yearly calendar before the numbers

A budget without a calendar is just a guess. First, list every event this year that will need branded products: trade shows, client days, sports events, conferences, school or club events, anniversaries, Christmas. For each event, note the approximate number of attendees and the date.

Then add your ongoing consumption — items used up steadily throughout the year: business cards, packaging stickers, flyers, new employee apparel, office mugs. This part is usually 30–50% of the total budget and can be ordered 2–3 times a year in larger batches.

Indicative budget breakdown by quarter

Below is a typical breakdown for a company with 20–30 employees and 4–6 events a year. The amounts are indicative, excl. VAT, and depend in each case on quantity, material and the number of print colours.

The key principle: order uniform items (pens, notebooks, stickers) once a year in a single batch, and seasonal items ahead of the season — not in the middle of it.

Indicative unit prices for planning

These figures are useful for calculating an approximate total in January. We prepare an exact quote based on quantity and print size.

Apparel — the largest budget item

Apparel usually accounts for 30–40% of the annual promotional products budget, so it's worth planning first. From our catalogue, a popular choice is the Helios 180 g/m² men's short-sleeve polo shirt — available in 62 colours, which lets you match your corporate colour precisely and reorder in the same shade next year. If your team needs both a summer and a winter set, plan two deliveries: polo and T-shirts in April, sweatshirts and jackets in September.

The printing technique affects the price more than the garment itself. Embroidery is more expensive than screen printing for small batches, but more durable; DTF transfer suits small quantities and multicolour designs; screen printing becomes cost-effective from around 50 pieces in one colour.

How to cut costs without cutting quality

• Combine batches. 3 × 200 business card sets made at once cost less than three separate orders placed in different months.
• Reduce the number of print colours. A single colour on a pen or bag often looks cleaner and costs 15–25% less than two.
• Avoid rush orders. Standard timelines: stickers, banners and posters 2–5 business days; printed promotional products 5–10 business days after artwork approval; urgent jobs are handled by agreement, but usually cost more.
• Plan Christmas in October. November and December are the busiest months of the year, and catalogue availability shrinks.
• Keep a unified visual guide. If your logo files are ready in vector format (.ai, .eps, .pdf, CMYK), you won't pay for artwork rework every time.

Reserve and unplanned orders

Leave 10–15% of the budget as a reserve. Almost every year something unplanned comes up: a new client, an extra trade show, a replaced employee, a torn banner. A reserve means you won't have to reopen the budget when that happens.

For small extra needs, we also work with orders of just 1 piece — one mug, one shirt, one roll-up stand. This lets you top up stock throughout the year instead of ordering 200 pieces "just in case" that end up sitting in storage.

Example: a 2,500 EUR annual budget

A company with 25 employees and four events: 1,000 business cards and 1,000 stickers (around 300 EUR), 250 pens and 100 notebooks (around 350 EUR), 30 polo shirts with embroidery (around 600 EUR), 150 tote bags for events (around 550 EUR), a roll-up stand and two banners (around 350 EUR), Christmas mugs and cards (around 350 EUR). Total: around 2,500 EUR excl. VAT, with a small reserve.

You can browse all printing services in the digital printing section, and branded products in the promotional products catalogue.

Frequently asked questions

What's a normal promotional products budget for a small business?

In Latvia, it's typically 1–3% of annual turnover. For a business with 10–30 employees, that in practice means 1,000–3,000 EUR per year excl. VAT, including business cards, stickers, apparel and event materials.

How much can you save by ordering a whole year ahead?

Depending on the product, 20–40%. The biggest difference is for apparel and printed products, since setup costs are spread over a larger run. For business cards and stickers, the difference between 250 and 1,000 pieces is often just a few euros per hundred.

How long does production take?

Stickers, banners and posters usually take 2–5 business days, and printed promotional products 5–10 business days from artwork approval — depending on the product and quantity. For embroidered apparel and large catalogue orders, plan for the upper end of the timeline. Urgent jobs are possible by agreement.

When should Christmas gifts be ordered?

Ideally in October, at the latest by early November. In December, catalogue availability is limited and lead times are longer.

What files need to be submitted?

Vector graphics in .ai, .eps or .pdf format, colours in CMYK. If you only have a logo image, we can help redraw it in vector format — it's worth sorting out in January so that orders go faster all year round.

Send us your annual event list at info@attaprint.lv, call +371 25776699 or message us on WhatsApp — project manager Madara will help you split the budget by quarter. We prepare quotes within one business day.