I have been thinking about starting a small scale tshirt printing business. Screen printing, heat transfer, and direct to garment methods looks appealing to me. But it would be good to compare between these three methods. For instance, which method is good for what kind of tshirt material, which method will produce a better quality and so on.
Re: Comparision between different printing methods
Depends on what you want to print. Generally speaking, you will see a faster return on investment with heat transfer. You can be pressing good, commercial quality heat transfers for less than $2000 in equipment. A DTG printer alone can cost $15,000 give or take. There are some nightmare stories on DTG printers here on the forum. Enough to make me glad I didn't go that route.
Re: Comparision between different printing methods
Hey ross, sorry I missed your IM, I stepped away from the computer.
I would have to say that digital garment printing is a great money maker, we've been doing it for over 4 years now and we average around $75,000 per year in sales. Although to be honest, you do have to shop around when looking, don't jump on the first thing you see and DON'T believe salesmen, or at least not everything they say.
I would venture to say that 70% of problems out there are due to white ink. If you are looking at a printer that is less that isn't the Kornit, don't even bother with white. It's hard to master, and even harder to make a profit. Very few people are making money with it when the production numbers are close to 10 shirts per hour.
I would stick with a light garments only printer. Yes, it is limiting, but we have found ways to sell around it. I think that 90% of the time, users tend to abandon the idea of white ink when they try it out.
That being said, transfers/sublimation is a lot cheaper to get into. It's a little more time consuming and there is a higher cost due to using special shirts, but your upfront costs will be lower.
Re: Comparision between different printing methods
We are pretty new to the industry (a little more than a year) and use various methods depending on what is best for the customer. We contract out screenprinting to a local guy who does great work, is fast, and his pricing keeps our pricing very competitive. We also own a T Jet (DTG printer) and a vinyl cutter to handle short run jobs and also dabble in heat transfers such as IronAll when appropriate (i.e. on toddler & infant garments and totes).
I would agree that the quickest way to get into the business and turn a profit is using heat transfers (including thermal vinyl). All you need is a heat press and vinyl cutter and away you go. If you are interested in expanding further, you can always contract out work to screenprinters and / or DTG printers.
Although screenprinting isn't "rocket science" it is defintely a specialized skill that needs to be mastered over time. DTG printing has a steep learning curve, especially using white ink as already noted.
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Comparision between different printing methods 
