Gamedeals

Hello all. First off, this forum is just full of great info and has helped me narrow down my options... but I still have a few specific questions that I couldn't find answers to after 3 days of searching & reading.

Let me give you some details to work with.

I own a video game store and recently expanded into buttons (that I make myself) and have been VERY happy with the results. Now I'm looking to get into T-shirts that will be sold primarily in my store and possibly online. Unlike the button business, T-shirts have a much higher cost per unit and I'm looking for a system that gives me some freedom as well as keeps my costs minimal.

I'm very much leaning toward heat transfer since I saw some recently that looked impressive and intend to buy a heat transfer machine myself to manage inventory and leave me the freedom to do smaller runs as needed. Most of the designs I plan to offer are 2 color to be transferred to Black T-shirts. I can create the design myself and should be able to make it "print ready" without too much hassle, but don't necessarily want to do the printing myself. I'd be looking to do orders of 20 or so at a time (at least to start), but would also like the freedom to order 5 to try out something new. So here are my questions...

1. Can anyone recommend a good heat transfer machine that does the job, is easy to use, and in the low price range ($500 area)?

2. What would be the best option as far as ordering custom transfers from another company goes, when it comes to the different inks/processes? (Taking into consideration 2-color on Black)

3. Most companies have minimum orders on the custom transfers, are there any that can do a 1-5 at a reasonable price?

Thanks,
Brian

 

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Rodney

Quote: 1. Can anyone recommend a good heat transfer machine that does the job, is easy to use, and in the low price range ($500 area)?

You could probably find a brand name heat press new or used for around that area: 5 Tips: How to select which heat press to buy?

Probably a 15 x 15 (or around that size) would work for what you need.

Quote: 2. What would be the best option as far as ordering custom transfers from another company goes, when it comes to the different inks/processes? (Taking into consideration 2-color on Black)

Just call up a few of the companies that do "plastisol transfers" and ask them for quotes and maybe some samples.
Where do you buy YOUR custom plastisol transfers? - a list of vendors!

a review of 8 different custom plastisol transfer screen printers - samples followup

Quote: 3. Most companies have minimum orders on the custom transfers, are there any that can do a 1-5 at a reasonable price?

You said that you were looking to do orders of 20 or so at a time. That's a good size order to start with.

It's all about quantity. So you won't get 1 anywhere for a "reasonable price" because of the setup time it takes. But you might be able to get a minimum of 8 from a company like F&M Expressions or a minimum of 15 from a company like First Edition. The more you buy, the better your pricing will be. You can also "gang" different designs on one sheet. So you could theoretically put 5 designs (depending on size) on one jumbo sheet at F&M and then get a quantity of 8 sheets and have 8 per design ready to go.

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Rodney Blackwell - T-Shirt Links Directory - T-Shirt Countdown

 

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