My friends friend wants me to make him 100 double sided shirts using the sublimation process. The image would be 8.5 x 11. I don't know what to charge per shirt. Can anyone help me with this? Thanks
I faced this same dilemma when I first go started with my laser engraver. It was difficult to figure a fair rate unless I broke down the costs, overhead and margins.
The cost of machinery & equipment:
The laser cost $25,000 and I intend to use it over a 5 year period without major repair or upgrade. That's an easy one.
It runs on electricity, and needs a roof over it's head. That's not so easy.
It needs an operator. The guy who runs it every evening is a systems engineer by day... making $125K/yr. I also worked for minimum wage in my early life... so my time is worth some between $70.00 and $7.00 an hour.
The shirt costs something... the ink costs something... the transfer paper costs something... the box costs something... the plastic bag costs something.
Between all of these numbers you'll find YOUR bottom line... and then you need to decide how much of YOUR time you'll be willing to spend to capture that 500 piece order.
All things being sort of equal, your cost for a polyester tee or a tee made for sublimation (no cotton) and the cost of paper/ink is $7.50 or $8. That is only for one side print!.. I also try to avoid two sided sublimation unless you can slide the tee over the platen. With the numbers you are stating, you would do your friend and you a favor and outsource to a DTG operator. I have been doing dye sub for 7 years. I would never make a dye sub shirt with just one side print for less than $15 and if you figure in a screwed up shirt or two, even that price is low
For less than half the price of just a sublimation tee, you can have a shirt AND the imprint..
call Logo2go at 909.268.7681 in Pomoma (brother machine)
or
Marvela...925.864.6433 near San Fran (brother machine)
or
Titian Promotional at 925.207.1940 Concord...east of San Fran(fast T jet)
With the numbers you are stating, you would do your friend and you a favor and outsource to a DTG operator.
Unless there is a specific reason your friend wants sublimated shirts, you could also consider plastisol transfers. I do not know how DTG shirts compare pricewise but for 100 transfers, it would cost you 80-90 cents per color per transfer from a company like First Edition. Double that for two sides. Plastisol also doesn't have the requirement of inserting a barrier when doing the 2nd side, although I've needed to use a sheet of silicone paper to keep the front transfer from flaking onto the platen in microscopic (but annoying) amounts.
If you don't need to use sublimation then plastisol is the answer. depending on the design size you might be able to get more than one on a sheet. I use Ace Transfer Company for all my plastisol jobs.they will take care of you....Good luck... JB
for ibt70.... I only have one contact in Florida for DTG. They have a flexijet printer. They are U-Name-It Promotional Printing. 727.388.4254. I think they are in the St. Peterburg area..
Sorry for the delay in respone...I missed your question
You should probably consider ContractDTG - INDEX. They have a location close around the L.A. area and they use the Kornit machines - the best (and also the most expensive) DTG machine in the market. The ink cost and labor is less on the Kornit machines, so their pricing is extremely competitive.
I think your cost on sublimation T's might be a bit high... I can get 100 white Vapor Apparel T's from conde.com for $4.60 ea. Plus not quite $1 per page if you use refillable cartridges(which you definitely would for this). That puts your cost on a two sided shirt about $6.60. Figure it takes you 2 1/2 min per shirt, thats about 4 hours. Consider way overestimating of taking you a full 8 hour day. I would charge $12/shirt or so. That would be me making $5/shirt give or take, or $500 for a single day. Not bad.
$12/shirt isn't bad for a full color shirt front/back that will last forever, either.
Might be able to get more depending on your area, I'm in Des Moines, IA, so our cost of living is pretty low here. I offer $20/shirt for a single shirt, usually do $14/shirt for 20-50 or so. Don't get any orders for more than that right now.
What to charge for sublimation shirts 
