Events
How many printed bags do you need for an event?
For an event where everyone gets a bag, order your confirmed numbers plus about 10% for speakers, staff and late arrivals. For a stand or a stall, count the people you'll actually talk to, not everyone who walks past. Then leave the date off the design, so any spares are useful next time.
5 min read · Updated 11 September 2026
A quick guide by event
Start from the people who will really get a bag, then add a margin.
| Event | Who gets a bag | How to count |
|---|---|---|
| Conference or seminar | Every delegate | Registrations, plus speakers and staff, plus about 10% |
| Exhibition stand | People you talk to | Staff on the stand x conversations an hour x hours open |
| Fun run or sports event | Every entrant | Entries, plus marshals and volunteers, plus a few for late entries |
| Freshers or careers fair | Students who stop at your stall | Hours at the fair x how many you can hand over an hour |
| Shop opening or launch | Customers on the day | Expected sales on the day, not footfall |
| Selling bags as merch | Customers who buy one | A cautious first run, then reorder |
These are starting points, not rules. You know your event better than we do.
Conferences: registrations plus a bit
A conference is the easy one, because you know who's coming. Take your registrations and add the people who never appear on the list: speakers, the organising team, the AV crew, sponsors staffing stands, and the handful who register on the day. Around 10% on top covers most events. For a small seminar, round up to the nearest sensible number instead; ten spare bags is a lot on forty delegates.
If delegates pick up bags from a table rather than being handed one, expect some people to take two. Put the bags behind the registration desk and hand them over with the lanyard. More on choosing the bag itself in our post on conference bag ideas.
Exhibition stands: count conversations, not visitors
The mistake at trade shows is ordering for the footfall. The organisers say 5,000 visitors, so the bags are ordered for 5,000, and most of them go to people who never stop long enough to learn what you do.
Count conversations instead. Two people on a stand, each talking to someone new every five minutes, over a seven-hour day, is about 170 conversations. Over a three-day show that's roughly 500 bags. If the stand is busier than that, you'll know by lunchtime on day one, and you'll be glad the spares have no date on them.
Keep the bags out of reach at the front of the stand. A pile on the counter empties in an hour, mostly into the hands of people collecting freebies. Handing a bag over at the end of a proper chat is what makes it worth the money.
Fun runs, sports days and club events
Entries give you a clear number, and bags make a good finisher's gift or race-pack bag. Add the marshals, volunteers and first-aiders, who usually get forgotten, and a few for late entries.
If entries are still open when you need to order, order for your best estimate plus a margin, not for today's count. A small top-up order later has its own screen charge spread over far fewer bags, so it costs a lot more per bag than a few extra on the first order.
For clubs and sports events, a cotton drawstring bag is often more useful than a tote: it goes on the back and holds kit. Our sports club bags page has more ideas.
How the price per bag changes with quantity
Live prices for our Recycled Cotton Tote Bag, printed on one side. The screen charge is spread across the run, so the price per bag falls quickly up to a couple of hundred bags and then levels off.
| Quantity | 1 colour | 2 colours |
|---|---|---|
| 50 bags | £2.02£101.00 total | £3.07£153.50 total |
| 100 bags | £1.62£162.00 total | £2.27£227.00 total |
| 150 bags | £1.49£223.00 total | £2.00£300.50 total |
| 250 bags | £1.38£345.00 total | £1.79£447.50 total |
| 500 bags | £1.30£650.00 total | £1.63£815.00 total |
| 1,000 bags | £1.26£1,260.00 total | £1.55£1,550.00 total |
Live prices for the Recycled Cotton Tote Bag in Natural, printed on one side, ex VAT. Each price includes the one-off £40.00 screen charge per colour, spread across the order. Delivery is added in the basket.
What the numbers tell you
Two things are worth knowing before you settle on a quantity.
First, under about 100 bags the screen charge is a big part of each bag's price, so adding a few spares costs very little per bag, and splitting one order into two costs a lot. Order once, with a margin.
Second, beyond a few hundred bags the price per bag barely moves. There's no point ordering 1,000 to save a few pence each when you only need 600: the extra 400 bags cost more than the saving. Order what you'll use, plus your margin, and stop there.
If you run the same event every year, or several events with the same branding, that changes the sums. One order for the whole season, with no date on the design, spreads the screen charge across all of them. You can see how the number of ink colours affects the price in our colour cost tool.
Over-order or under-order?
Running out at 11am on the first morning is worse than a box left over, especially if the spares have no date on them and can go to the next event, the office or the staff kitchen. So we'd lean towards 5 to 10% over.
The exception is merch you're selling. There, start cautiously: a first run you're confident of selling, then a reorder once you know what moves. Our standard turnaround is 7 to 10 working days from the approved proof, and the express range can be printed from the next working day, so a quick reorder of a best-seller is possible.
There's no fixed minimum, either. Prices on each bag's page start from 25 and you can type any quantity, so a 30-person workshop is as easy to order for as a 3,000-person show. For a full price guide by quantity, see tote bag printing prices.
Questions people ask
How many tote bags should I order for a conference?
Your registrations plus speakers and staff, plus about 10% for late registrations and walk-ins. For small events, round up to a sensible number rather than adding a full 10%.
How many bags do I need for an exhibition stand?
Count the conversations your team can have, not the show's total visitors. Two staff talking to someone new every five minutes over a seven-hour day is about 170 bags a day.
Is it better to order extra bags or reorder later?
Order a few extra. A second, small order has its own screen charge spread over fewer bags, so a top-up costs much more per bag than spares on the first order.
Is there a minimum order for printed bags?
No fixed minimum. Prices on each bag's page start from 25, and you can type any quantity into the configurator.
Should I put the date on event bags?
Only if you want a souvenir. Without the date, spare bags can be used at the next event or given to staff, so nothing goes to waste.
Still not sure on numbers?
Tell us about the event and we'll help you settle on a number. We'd rather you ordered the right amount than the most.