I have a question on pricing. We quoted a price to a potential customer on handtowels, and it was the mark up from our wholesale price plus $1 for some small hand towels with a logo on them. The customer asked my wife what the price is if they provided the towels. Without asking me, my wife quoted just $1 for printing. I feel that just cut deeply into our profit margin. What do you say when the customer asks that question? Should we quote our profit margin from the wholesale plus the printing the same as if we provided the materials.
For instance. If the Towels cost 99cents each and we sell the towels for $3.98 each with printing should we say that it is $2 to print them?
set your price list then anyone that works for you can refer to it and so can your customers.
As for custom jobs, set a base price list. $ 1 to press a towel is about right since you need to bring in about $ 60 per hour to pay $ 15/hr. for your staff person that does the pressing and the rest is to pay for overhead and whatever is leftover is your profit. In general any profit is good profit.
I have a question on pricing. We quoted a price to a potential customer on handtowels, and it was the mark up from our wholesale price plus $1 for some small hand towels with a logo on them. The customer asked my wife what the price is if they provided the towels. Without asking me, my wife quoted just $1 for printing. I feel that just cut deeply into our profit margin. What do you say when the customer asks that question? Should we quote our profit margin from the wholesale plus the printing the same as if we provided the materials.
For instance. If the Towels cost 99cents each and we sell the towels for $3.98 each with printing should we say that it is $2 to print them?
Thanks for any input.. MED
Thats a Question only you can answer but I just had this conversation with an EMS Service... When they insist on providing the shirts, or in your case towels, somehow you have to be able to recover cleanup, artwork,misprint, film positive, emusion and other costs that you may have noramlly covered all or in part by the markup.... Chuck
Thats a Question only you can answer but I just had this conversation with an EMS Service... When they insist on providing the shirts, or in your case towels, somehow you have to be able to recover cleanup, artwork,misprint, film positive, emusion and other costs that you may have noramlly covered all or in part by the markup.... Chuck
That what I'm talking about! you have to recover your costs. We don't have anyone working for us, but if I were to give everyone a break on cost. I might as well be working somewhere for minimum wage because I wouldn't make much. I think I got that through to my wife. Sh'es glad I pointed that out.
We just don't print on client supplied items to avoid quality issues with those items.
I'm just curious as to how that goes over with clients. Like what proportion of them try to provide their items and what are their reactions when you tell them of your policy.
I'm just curious as to how that goes over with clients. Like what proportion of them try to provide their items and what are their reactions when you tell them of your policy.
It is not a problem. I just explain that the process to decorate the items requires a certain quality of product and that I can purchase them wholesale less expensive than they can retail and have a higher quality product in the end. It is a choice for our business and may not work for everyone. I just know that if I let someone supply a sub-standard blank and it looks like crap when I am done I will get a bad reputation from it.
Very few ever ask, maybe once a year, if that.
After all, I would never buy my own paint from Home Depot and ask a painting contractor to use it to paint my house or buy my own auto parts from Kragen and ask my Ford dealer put them in. They would just say no. Actually, the painting contractor told me just that and I didn't even ask. I guess it had happened to him.
or buy my own auto parts from Kragen and ask my Ford dealer put them in. They would just say no.
I've done that before and actually saved over a hundred dollars. I think it depends on the company you're working with. If they're marking up the cost of the part, or shirt to relate it back to the boards, I don't think its that unrealistic for customers to try and negotiate deals like this... An informed consumer is not necessarily the enemy.
That being said, I don't think its unreasonable for a company to refuse to print on customer supplied materials. If the company does decide to print on customer supplied materials then I also don't think its unreasonable to increase the mark-up to cover overhead costs.
I'm just curious as to how that goes over with clients. Like what proportion of them try to provide their items and what are their reactions when you tell them of your policy.
we dont have a problem working with blanks clients bring in.
We simply test the blanks and take it from there.
99% of brands provide you with their blanks.
Because the cost of shipping t-shirts across the country or the globe can be costly, when we make custom transfers, we recommend a blank item supplier and someone who can apply the transfers near the client when ever possible. If they dont have such resources.
Mind you that 95% of the time, the client has their own shirts already and applies the transfers with their own Heat Press.
1% We do turn people away, usually its because we are not the cheapest, or we feel that it will not work out in the end and make us look bad.
I think there are a number of scenarios brought up here outside of the OP. Shipping transfers is different than someone walking in with 10 shirts and wanting them printed on. I think the spirit of the post was more around doing this as a business and making a reasonable profit vs. being taken advantage of by a customer.
If someone wanted me to make transfers for them and they were going someplace else across the country to have them applied then I don't think I would have a problem. I guess the real answer lies in where your profit centers are and what prices you are willing to charge for what services.
If someone wanted me to make transfers for them and they were going someplace else across the country to have them applied then I don't think I would have a problem.
sorry, let me put it more in contex.
yes, but how would the Printer across the country that IS going to apply them for client on the Printer's OWN Blank Towels going to handle it... yes/no, what price etc. ????
most Printers (screen printers included) in the business we deal with, try NOT to turn jobs away when they have the equip. and the know how.
I think I came up with the solution. After speaking with another local shop here. If someone brings in there own material or inquires about it, you charge for the amount of your profit that you would make if you provided the material.
That way the customer is not going to realy save a lot of money. This needs to be explained to the customer. They need to know that you purchase from your wholesaler because you know what the quality is, and also you need to make a certain amount of money for a job or it is not even worth your effort and time doing the job. If you have other customers willing to pay and you are making so many $$ per hour on the average. Then you don't take the job unless you are desparate or something. They need to be told to check somewhere else local and see what it will cost. Chances are they will they will get the same answere.
Pricing? 
Re: Pricing? 
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