Hey all . .
Thank the man upstairs this site exists!! So full of info, I've spent 5 hrs reading through this site,lol. BIG THANX to the creator of t-shirt forums & all who surf it!
I know there's lost of posts with refs & replies on pricing that I've checked out,but my brain's gone all spagetti like now.
I have a small online custom t-shirt biz. I do flock Transfer printing,with slogan designs, orignal designs with one & two colours sometimes more, with the option of personalising, based in the UK. Basically one off's & very low runs,like 10 I print anywhere on the top & usually quite a few applications on one top.
The pricing thing has driven me mad beyond belief!!
Any vinyl or flock printers out there if you have some pricing guides you don't mind sharing, you'd make a mental Londoner sane again, for a little while anyways!
So I'm wondering what the general coo is on the general pricing with:
Mark up on a printed tshirt, with one design, 2 colour designs, plus extra prints.
Text . . . Per line or per size & How much!!
Simple designs agaisn't detailed designs.
(I spend alot of time on coreldraw10 plotting points to make my graphics,lol, & no the trace facility doesn't work & when it does it's not nearly good enough!)
Discounts . . . now this really has me baffled . . How much do you give on 5, 10 , 20, 50, 100, 200 t printed t-shirts. Rough percentage?
Retail . . . how much do they expect to make on your tops.. read somewhere 50% How do you price your stuff so you can wholesale them out & still make a profit!!
I've also just had Some Spanish Company email me a few times about my tops wanting them on a "Distributor basis" . . . I wouldn't even know where to begin on that one . . .lol! Help
I don't do vinyl or flock so I don't know if that particular facet of the decorated textile industry works differently in their pricing methods from ours. We do embroidery and screen printing (work identity-wear, ie: business logos).
Your question about how to sell wholesale and still make a profit boils down to this: "Are you a garment decorator who happens to be in business, or a businessman who happens to be a garment decorator?"
You must know your costs of doing business (product, utilities, shipping, supplies, insurances, etc). This includes wages to your self. How long does it take you to design something, and then turn it into a finished product? How little money are you willing to earn in an hour? There's your bottom price.
In our business, (I'm speaking of OUR's, not the general industry), we believe there is just as much cost and labor involved in making the 1000th garment as there is in the 1st. No discounts given for lots of items. Some will agree with me, some will not.
Last edited by ftembroidery; March 2nd, 2007 at 08:09 AM.
I like your philosophy Nick. I do sometimes discount for large orders, but I still maintain the hourly shop rate needed to make the profit % I set in my business plan. Good luck ... JB
Thanks all for the useful info
Nik I agree with the one price for all as it's true, the work invoved doesn't lessen with quantity,& I started out like that, but people expect a discount when they buy in quantity.
Retailers won't want to buy at the same price as everyone else, so what happens then?!
When I stated it was necessary to count the cost of doing business with respect to being a "wholesaler" (producing your "product" and then selling to someone else whose sole intention is to resell it or retail it) your "profit" would be minimal. Thereby, you CAN sell your goods to a retailer, make your business expenses (including your wages) and a small profit which you would reinvest into the business and/or tuck away for a rainy day (sorry, no pun intended with you being in London). The difference is, when you sell your goods to an "end user", you increase the price to whatever the market will bear, thereby increasing your profit.
Your question about how to sell wholesale and still make a profit boils down to this: "Are you a garment decorator who happens to be in business, or a businessman who happens to be a garment decorator?"
Great distinction!
Who is your customer and what is your market positioning? That plays a big role in what you can charge, and what the market will be will to pay.
If you're able to effectively utilise economies of scale then you can charge less for quantity orders and still be profitable.
Most retailers expect a 100% markup, at least when the economy is good, so that's another factor when selling.
Since you're doing very small runs I'd focus on your marketing and promotion/ PR and go directly to the consumer via web or work a deal with a smaller specialty retailer. Going back to positioning, people pay a lot of money for a simple t-shirt that says Armani on it. why? what is your position on that spectrum between tesco and armani, and that will determine how much you can charge.
Sorry a lot of rambling off the top of my head.
Ah london, I miss that late night shawarma place in knightsbridge.
A-Z of pricing Help 
Re: A-Z of pricing Help 
