Mark_S

Starting to get a set of designs that I am going to try to sell online.

I need to outsource the printing - just wondering if people had recommendations ?

Local vs non local?
Small shop or large?

Supply your own T's or Not?

I talked to a few shops and they seemed like the printed company logos and were very busy - which is good but seemed like the attention to my order may not be there when I need it.

Just interested peoples experiences.

 

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wormil

You want dependable quality, you want your job done when they say it will be done (not necessarily when you say you want it), you want responsive service (that doesn't mean hand holding), most of all you want them to be responsible when they inevitably make a mistake. That means they do what it takes to either fix your order or reprint it, making it their top priority. If they are busy, it's a good sign but not definitive. Sometimes the only way to find out is to try them. Small or large doesn't make a difference but if a small shop find out about the owner, you don't want somebody with little experience who will cut out on you because they can't afford to fix their mistakes.

A word about mistakes, everyone makes them, everyone. What is important is how they handle their mistake and that mistakes are the exception, not the rule.

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cheadlines

Quote: Originally Posted by Mark_S Starting to get a set of designs that I am going to try to sell online. I need to outsource the printing - just wondering if people had recommendations ? Local vs non local? Small shop or large? Supply your own T's or Not? I talked to a few shops and they seemed like the printed company logos and were very busy - which is good but seemed like the attention to my order may not be there when I need it. Just interested peoples experiences.

Hey Mark-

We outsource 100% of our printing and have had good (and bad) experiences with local shops vs. non-local shops and big shops vs. little shops. We use about 4-5 different shops around the country. There are lots of variables that determine who does the work for each project (how busy they are, our customer, etc.). We've had to do lots of homework and learn from our experiences and mistakes.

For us, we've found that we get the best deal if we supply the shirts. But, on some smaller projects we don't supply them.

Good luck,
Ron

 

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camscam

cheadlines, would it be considered bad form if you talked more about some of your good or bad experiences and named names?

 

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teeshirtgnome

yes, supplying your own shirts is usually the cheapest way to go unless you find a printer who can get case pricing for you on every order, regardless of quantity.

 

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cheadlines

Hey there-

I'm happy to talk about the good and bad experiences. I don't want to name names though. There were a lot of factors that contributed to our "bad experiences" so I don't want to give someone a bad rap for something that may have been beyond their control.

Our stuff is very detailed so the separation is really key. Bad experience=taking someone's word for it that he can handle our separations (I should have dug deeper).

Also, our stuff is all hot market (and mostly for Wal-Mart). Bad experience=working with printers that don't take this seriously. Our stuff is printed after the event (not before like a lot of championship stuff). Good experience=the printers who understand this and will come in a little early/stay a little later if necessary for a big project.

Of all the different printers we've used I don't think it's ever been an issue of the quality of their printing-it's the other stuff that has made the difference.

I think my biggest word of advice to someone looking for a printer is to do your homework. Talk to them, look at their capabilities, imagine some worse-case scenarios and find out how they'd handle the situation, etc.

Hope this helps.

Ron

Quote: Originally Posted by camscam cheadlines, would it be considered bad form if you talked more about some of your good or bad experiences and named names?

 

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