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Basically I am not ready to buy a press, so if I supply the vinyl cut and weeded, and also supply the shirt, what should I expect to pay on a per shirt basis (low quantity initially) to have someone press it?
Bill. You can purchase a good heat press for well under $500. You might find it advantageous to print your own if you are supplying all of the 'ingredients'.
__________________ Ed www.proworldinc.com - Heat Presses, JPSS, CLEARSOFT PAPER +1000's Transfer Designs......most popular- Christmas, Rhinestones, Peace, Burnout
Located near San Antonio, Texas. Volume will be very low, I understand this will cost more. I have only checked with one shop, I thought the price seemed high. The owner wasn't sure what to charge, I think he was caught a little off guard lol. I was told for a basic shirt with a name or number, they get $8 per shirt, so if I was to supply everything so all they had to do was press it, around $4 per shirt. That seemed high to me.
You must consider that they have labor, machine depreceation, possible mistakes, and other overhead costs. Probably $5-$6 would be reasonable. Also, they might want a minimum order.
__________________ Ed www.proworldinc.com - Heat Presses, JPSS, CLEARSOFT PAPER +1000's Transfer Designs......most popular- Christmas, Rhinestones, Peace, Burnout
I am in San Antonio. And I have a heat press. And while I won't press them for you, I will let you press them yourself for no charge for the occassional use.
Just PM me if the drive isn't too far for you.
Otherwise, if you find someone local, I would say a fair price for a one-off would be $1 or so.
I would not do this kind of press...the customer supplies ALL the material and I press...The customer gets the $$ for the shirt and I have all the liability..if the press is not exactly straight, I burn a shirt or some other defect pops up..for those reasons and more I would pass up this job...JMO
Gotta love the all the negativity. So if you burn the shirt or don't have it centered, do you think someone would pay for that if you supplied everything?
As far as the restaurant comment, isn't providing art work and sizes to a screen printer or other outsourcing then kind of like going to a restaurant and saying you don't like the menu and telling them you want something different? You will tell them what you want and then if they don't get it right, you complain? You should have just bought what was already available as opposed to wanting it done your way.
Jeez people, if you know what you are doing, I wouldn't think it is a problem. There are a lot of what if's being mentioned, and I really don't see the difference in who supplies the material, other than yes, your profit would be slightly less. But if you are just starting out, or business is slow, or you are willing to help someone (thanks to splathead!), it would still be profitable, and you don't have to worry about if the customer likes YOUR design.
Last edited by badaml; February 12th, 2009 at 10:46 AM.