Ok, so i think i have a good idea but i thought i would ask to see what people thought. So i wanted to start my own t shirt label but i was trying to figure out the best way to go about it. So i decided to look into buying a heating press. I thought this was a good idea because i can flexibly make t shirts for boys and girls with no problems and see how my designs look. However, if i did find a certain design that people take a real liking to i would get it mass produced by by screen printing from so t shirt printing shop. *I think this would be a good idea because i don't have any customers yet and to screen print all my designs with the hope people will buy them is to much of a risk.* *Well tell me what u think* (sorry i wrote so much lol)
Ok, so i think i have a good idea but i thought i would ask to see what people thought. So i wanted to start my own t shirt label but i was trying to figure out the best way to go about it. So i decided to look into buying a heating press. I thought this was a good idea because i can flexibly make t shirts for boys and girls with no problems and see how my designs look. However, if i did find a certain design that people take a real liking to i would get it mass produced by by screen printing from so t shirt printing shop. *I think this would be a good idea because i don't have any customers yet and to screen print all my designs with the hope people will buy them is to much of a risk.* *Well tell me what u think* (sorry i wrote so much lol)
Well, producing a product and hoping people will buy them is the basic concept of business (there are some exceptions). If you feel it is too much of a risk, you might want to rethink your business plan as it sounds you aren't too confident in your product. If people got rich by already knowing that their product would sell off the shelves, everyone would be rich.
Using inket transfers? It's not the best way to showcase how your designs will look silkscreened. What type of printer do you have? Whay type of ink? Will you be printing on dark garments?
Depending on the number of samples you plan on doing, have someone with a direct-to-garment printer do them for you. The output will be better than an inkjet transfer and should only cost you $10-15 per shirt.
i was planing on using a ink jet printer. also I'm pretty confident in my product but i'm trying to figure the best way to go about getting them printed. especially in a costly fashion. So is getting the heating press a bad idea? is there any options i could look into maybe?
Well, it's not inherently a bad idea, but as splathead eluded to there are other considerations. He was trying to get more information on your personal goals, intentions, and products because recommendations will vary depending on these (and surely other) factors.
If you're planning on doing mostly darker shirts (e.g. not white/ash/natural), or are marketing towards a more fashion-conscious crowd, you'd probably do best to avoid heat transfer papers. However, depending on your designs (number of colors is an important factor here), there are heat transfer methods which could still be viable, such as plastisol or vinyl, depending on your needs.
Basically, we need more information to really accurately answer you here. How many colors in the designs? Larger, all-over designs or smaller, normal-sized designs? What shirt colors? Can they be printed up front or do you need to make them as people order them? Etc.
I definitely want to sell to a fashionable crowd and i also plan to use lighter colors. I was planing on using the heat press as a means of getting my foot in the door. Basically i would use it to adjust my style of designs and figure out what looks best. I thought this would help slowly build an inventory of designs people can look at and choose from. However if i find a certain designs people want to have i would mass produce it by a t shirt printing shop. (In different colors aka darker) The way i see it when i get enough people interested i can then screen print majority of my designs but i feel to do so now when I'm only in the beginning stages would be hard.
*Also if anybody knows the type of printer, ink, and transfer paper to use can u give me a shout* I want my t shirts to look as official as possible. ( through the heating press)
I definitely want to sell to a fashionable crowd and i also plan to use lighter colors. I was planing on using the heat press as a means of getting my foot in the door. Basically i would use it to adjust my style of designs and figure out what looks best. I thought this would help slowly build an inventory of designs people can look at and choose from. However if i find a certain designs people want to have i would mass produce it by a t shirt printing shop. (In different colors aka darker) The way i see it when i get enough people interested i can then screen print majority of my designs but i feel to do so now when I'm only in the beginning stages would be hard.
*Also if anybody knows the type of printer, ink, and transfer paper to use can u give me a shout* I want my t shirts to look as official as possible. ( through the heating press)
A heat press does give you some options. I use Epson inkjet printer with Dura Brite inks and Jet Pro Sofstretch transfer paper. Designs look good on white and some designs with darker colors will look OK on light pinks and yellows. This is great for whipping out a few prototype shirts.
Another option with a heat press is plastisol heat transfers from companies like ACE, Versatranz or F&M. The cost is higher for small quantities but will decrease a lot once you find a design or two that you want to run with. You can but several plastisol transfers of the design and press/print as needed.
Plastisol transfer are made using screen print ink so this would be a more realistic prototype than inkjet transfer.
Good or BAd money saving idea 
