Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
Newbie here, I have a few questions I'm hoping I can get some help with. 1st off what are the going rates for custom made shirts? What I mean by that is I design the transfer myself on my computer program, I print it on my Epson SP1400, with a CISS, and then press it with a heat press. Some shirts are light and some are black but I try to avoid black. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
My second question is again about pricing, this time with a plain white 11oz. mug again I do the designing and print it with C88+ with CISS sub. ink and then pressed with a mug press.
My last question is about hats, same deal I design I print and I press, again some lights and some dark. I am totally clueless as to what I should charge, so I could really use some help here.
There are so many factors that go in to pricing, it would be difficult to give you and exact number. Things to consider:
Cost of shirt
Cost of materials to decorate
Production time
What the market will bear
Just don't under price yourself. For example, I charge $18 - $20 for a one off vinyl or inkjet transfer -- that's for a Gildan or Port Authority t-shirt, one color design (stock image or just lettering) printed in one location.
Newbie here, I have a few questions I'm hoping I can get some help with. 1st off what are the going rates for custom made shirts?
You have to do your research. Custom shirts range from $5 - $45+. That depend on the quality and process.
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What I mean by that is I design the transfer myself on my computer program, I print it on my Epson SP1400, with a CISS, and then press it with a heat press. Some shirts are light and some are black but I try to avoid black. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
This depends on how well you shop. Some vendors sell at much better prices than others. If you look through the preferred vendor list in a link on the left, you can start to compare prices. You'll also need to decide how much you will spend on your tees. Colors cost more. So do the paper for colors. Prices on papers vary greatly.
You must do the shopping, then you can list the comparative costs.
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My second question is again about pricing, this time with a plain white 11oz. mug again I do the designing and print it with C88+ with CISS sub. ink and then pressed with a mug press.
Dye - sub costs alot more than pigment ink. If you do dye sub, you will only be able to use 100 polyester shirts for the above paragraph, and it only works on light shirts.
To do mugs, and also the dark shirts you mention, you will need two printers, ink systems, and seperate paper supplies for both.
From there, compare mugs prices and press prices.
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My last question is about hats, same deal I design I print and I press, again some lights and some dark. I am totally clueless as to what I should charge, so I could really use some help here.
Only you can derive your retail price. Once you do your research, count your costs/overhead, you will know what you need to charge in order to stay in business.
You need to do alot more homework. Best wishes to you.
Thanks for responses so far, I hope I get more! I realize what you are saying and thats actually what I'm not sure of, I mean how do you break it all down? How much do you mark up shirt prices since I get them at discount. How do I break down the cost of ink? As for what the market will bear I am going to put some calls in to other local shops and see what they charge. The problem there is a couple I have called are doing silk screen printing. So should our prices be the same or even close? I hope this is detailed enough, like I said I really don't know what to charge, even more so on the mugs, my time and materials and mug cost are not much, but I don't want to be like half the cost of some one else. Thanks again for the help.
Thanks for the input. I am using other resources to get prices. I should maybe mention that I am a small town ex-farm boy, and when I see some of the other prices and figure out what the materials cost me it just seems like they are charging more then I need to. But my biggest problem is the ink I have 2 different printers 1 for shirt transfers and 1 for sublimation transfers and both are set up with CISS.
Thanks for the input. I am using other resources to get prices. I should maybe mention that I am a small town ex-farm boy, and when I see some of the other prices and figure out what the materials cost me it just seems like they are charging more then I need to. But my biggest problem is the ink I have 2 different printers 1 for shirt transfers and 1 for sublimation transfers and both are set up with CISS.
Having both printers is a great asset. Why do you say it is a problem? You already have the CIS, many folks save up for that. You are already in a good position.
What you can charge for your shirt will depend on where you are selling them. Are you still in a small town? Sometimes folks will only pay a certain amount in a small town. I know, I live in one. I know what I can sell for $10, $12 and $14.99. Living here, it's easy to know what the folks will plunk down the money on, so even if something is worth more, they won't pay more.
Once you find your target market, and what they are generally willing to spend, you can try to get your costs in line with that, and try to produce the biggest profit while spending the least amount you need to to compete in the market you are in. Quality costs money, but if the market won't pay for your quality, you have just "overpriced your house" and you will sit on inventory.
The pricing factor is still region and market specific. The same mug may sell in Boston, MA for one price, but in Berwick, PA for a much lower price. Ya know what I am saying? Best regards and good wishes to you.
Yes I know what you mean. What I meant to say was, my problem with the ink is how to figure out how to charge for it. Again because now that I have the CISS my cost per print has actually gone down.
you will need to know how many it will print useing Ciss.
just got mine to day C88 with CISS and SUB INK all new never used and paper for shirts as will for cups get it from ebay $345 with shipping I to need to find out what the ink will cost and how many print I can get from ciss I did see where some one will print for people and charges $1.50 to $2.25 for sub ink
__________________ Never say "no I can't" when you can just takes time and patience!!!!
I've not gotten down to that nity gritty yet, and I use the expensive cartridges.
I am trying to figure the best way to account for that. At this time, I am taking the ink as a lump sum expense off the months profits. I can get a grasp on my costs by seeing if am I using a set of carts every months at $80, divide by 30, that's $2.66 a day. (Expensive, I know, researching refillable carts for me.) To me accounting for ink always feels a bit like trying to account per piece for the electric I used to make the shirt.
The other way I think I can do it is to take the $80, keep track of how much pieces I printed, and divide # into the $80.. I don't know how else to do it except to estimate until you have real numbers to work with.
You will get alot of prints from your CIS. I wonder if anyone every figured out the price per piece for ink costs. I believe Lou said he gets over 1000 prints from his (???). Worth researching estimated uses per CIS fill.
As for your shirt mark-up, a good rule of thumb is to at least double your cost and add $1.
With plastisol and vinyl, I have clear knowledge about cost. For inkjet transfers I wing my cost at $1 for the paper and $1 for the ink.
So, if I'm paying $1.50 for the shirt, $1 for the ink, $1 for the transfer paper, the my cost is $3.50.
If I doulbe the price of the shirt and add a buck, now it becomes $4 for the shirt, $1 for the ink, and $1 for the transfer making it $6.
Would I ever charge $6 for a custom shirt? NEVER! You have time involved in sourcing and purchasing the goods and supplies. You have time involved in selling the shirt. And you have even more time involved in producing the shirt (especially if your customer brings you low quality art work).
If my customer sends me good artwork, the shirt is $18. If I have to scan their art, then there's a $12 scanning charge. If I have to clean up their artwork, then there is a $12 per half hour charge.
If someone balks at paying $18 for a custom shirt, then they simply don't value the process or what they're getting.
Of course, I'm basing this price on a small quantity. I adjust at 6, 12, 18, etc.
I calculate plastisol and vinyl completely differently but, I think you're asking about transfers that you generate on your computer.
Thats exactly what I've been looking for! Does anybody else think different? I could use that as a rule with the mugs also.
Thank you very much deChez!
To find wholesale price: take your "total cost" and double it. But, that includes "everything", the shirt, paper, ink. You double the whole kit and kaboodle. Example above $3.50 x 2 = $7 wholesale price.
To find retail price, double the wholesale price. That would be $7 x 2 = $14 retail. This is a general benchmark widely used.
The thing that will affect this formula most is will folks pay what you need to charge. Like I said, whre you live and where you sell and who you are selling to will in part dictate what you can sell for. That is where operating as efficiently as possible gives your business the edge, and can keep you in the game or drive you out of it.
Hey Michelle,
I would just like to let you know this is not a comment or post directed at you. Your pricing works for you. I wrote it for BandM's benefit, so he would understand how the price formula works. He can do what he wants, but at least he has an idea as to how some others are deriving their pricing. Just passing on info here. Alrighty then, have a great day.
Best regards,
Kelly
Last edited by Girlzndollz; March 1st, 2008 at 02:14 PM.
the main thing is find out what you can sell in the area you live in call other shops around you and find out what they charge for doing this then base it on that here where I live printed shirts 100 percent cotton sells for $7 to $15 now for Bamboo I can start at $20 to $35 so it comes down to where you live what you think you can get
__________________ Never say "no I can't" when you can just takes time and patience!!!!
As for your shirt mark-up, a good rule of thumb is to at least double your cost and add $1.
With plastisol and vinyl, I have clear knowledge about cost. For inkjet transfers I wing my cost at $1 for the paper and $1 for the ink.
So, if I'm paying $1.50 for the shirt, $1 for the ink, $1 for the transfer paper, the my cost is $3.50.
If I doulbe the price of the shirt and add a buck, now it becomes $4 for the shirt, $1 for the ink, and $1 for the transfer making it $6.
Would I ever charge $6 for a custom shirt? NEVER! You have time involved in sourcing and purchasing the goods and supplies. You have time involved in selling the shirt. And you have even more time involved in producing the shirt (especially if your customer brings you low quality art work).
If my customer sends me good artwork, the shirt is $18. If I have to scan their art, then there's a $12 scanning charge. If I have to clean up their artwork, then there is a $12 per half hour charge.
If someone balks at paying $18 for a custom shirt, then they simply don't value the process or what they're getting.
Of course, I'm basing this price on a small quantity. I adjust at 6, 12, 18, etc.
I calculate plastisol and vinyl completely differently but, I think you're asking about transfers that you generate on your computer.
I agree, what I do is to double my production costs then add 1.50 to get my final cost. that seems to work out for me. The only product that I can really comment on is the shirts but I hope it helped.
__________________
Creativity is your vehicle, profit the destination.
heat press transfer prices 
