Discuss the various aspects of direct to garment printing. DTG printers include Brother, T-Jet, Flexi-Jet, DTG Kiosk, Kornit, Mimaki, Tex-Jet and others! Discuss and learn about this up and coming printing technology.
Hi, I have been researching DTG printers for a while now. Because I am just starting out, I want to stay small: no more than 50 per day. I do want to lease a machine as opposed to purchasing one. Any opinions on this?
Also, which machine would you recommend for a beginner who hates dealing with difficult maintenance. Last but not least, can you give me information of curing machines. Are they expensive? I like the conveyor styles (used to have one years ago) Do they use a lot of electric? Will I need an electrician to install special outlets for the DTG and the curing machine?
Thank you for your help.
beginner who hates dealing with difficult maintenance
well, Im with you on the maintenance part. I hate fussing with fiddly parts, and whatnot. We have the brother gt-541, and it cleans itself, I do a big cleaning every time I change the yellow cartridge. Thats it! I love it!!
For curing, I use a heat press.
No you shouldnt need an electrician. We have the heat press, and brother plugged into their outlets.
We have a conveyor dryer, but probably won't use it much since the printer is just too slow. When we add a second DTG printer, or possibly do batch orders, then we'll turn it on, otherwise use the heat press.
Zoomom
Think serious before you lease. It's like rent money going into someone elses pocket. You might want to check with your local credit union or bank, you may get about the same payment but it would become yours at the end of payments without a large payment at the end. Another way to save is to buy used. thanks and hope some of this helps you. Karen
Last edited by sunnydayz; April 8th, 2008 at 02:40 PM.
Reason: removed sales offer
Understand that "leasing" is just another form of a loan. Only difference is that generally with leasing, you can write off each lease payment every month as a direct expense, whereas traditional financing or paying cash you would take a certain percentage value of the total machine cost each year as a deprecation write-off. You would really need to check w/ your accountant to decide which method gives you the best tax advantage. Also, read all the terms of any lease presented to you...some have a 10% or more buyout option at the end of the lease, which means you do not get clear title to the equipment from the lease company until you pay whatever fee is on the lease. Also, I would not finance any more than 36 months, as this technology is changing fast, and the machine you purchase today MAY be out of production in 2-3 years, so the value decreases greatly. Also, make sure you can get out of the lease without a severe penalty just in case the machine you purchase does not work out, or you find that there are mfg. problems with a particular model (yes, this has happened).
Brian has given some really good advice for leasing I myself went with a lease as my payout at the end is extremly low and the tax advantage of leasing saved us on our taxes this year as it was 100% tax deductible. For us what that write off saved us amost made the machine pay for itself. You really need to talk to a tax person to explain the advantages with you.
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Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
Beginner DTG'er 
I myself went with a lease as my payout at the end is extremly low and the tax advantage of leasing saved us on our taxes this year 
