Discuss the various t-shirt fulfillment services in this general fulfillment forum. Newer companies like RedBubble, etc can be discussed in this main forum.
Companies that have been around 2+ years (CafePress.com, Zazzle.com, Spreadshirt.com, PrintMojo.com, PrintFection, etc), may have their own separate subforums below (as demand permits).
Hello everyone! I'm seeking good advice on whether or not to go with a local printer or an online fulfillment service for my online t-shirt business.
Please chime in and let me know if I"m getting a good deal, ok deal or if I would be better off going with an online fulfillment service! I may throw in a free t-shirt for the most helpful post!
My requirements:
Real baked-in screen printing (no cheap iron-on stuff)
Large shirts sizes (at least 4-5XL)
Shirts that run a little bigger/taller than average (not tight fitting)
100% cotton preferred
2-3 week production/delivery-to-door time
I do my own shipping using USPS priority mail, so no need for a dropshipper
Low "minimum order" amounts (12 shirts or less)
What my local printer quoted me:
Real baked-in screen printing (white ink on black shirt)
Hanes Heavyweight Beefy T #5180
2 week production time (to order shirt, make screen and print)
NO minimum order (but prefers I run at least a 'few' shirts per order)
Total COST per finished shirt: $8.00
Extra fees:
One time fee of $15 for the screen
Additional $1.00 to 'flash' a shirt (required to print white ink on black shirt)
Additional $1.50 for each size increase past 1XL
Additional $1.50 for each additional ink color
When I began my t-shirt endevour, I wanted to produce shirts that cost me $5 and sold for $15. However, if my cost is $8 per shirt, I will have to sell them for $18.00 to stay at my lowest acceptable profit margin of $10 per shirt.
Not to mention, if I start running more than one color (which I plan on) my cost is going to go through the roof ($1.50 per color). How can anyone make a profit off a 5 color screen printed shirt??
Thanks and I look foward to hearing your responses!
The only way you are going to get your per-unit cost down to $5 is to print them yourself, I'm afraid. All of my research has pointed towards 20. Whether you are in the US, Mexico, UK, Canada, Germany, Australia etc..., 20 of their currency seems to be the average cost of a t-shirt there.
To answer your other question about making a profit on 5-color prints: print thousands, your price drops. This is why you see so many one-color designs on the market. Reversing this theory is also why I won't pay $20 for a white-on-black t-shirt anymore!
I don't have a reference for what prices are like in your region, but I know my company would charge about that for a thick, 100% cotton substrate and one color.
We have a minimum order too; if you found a guy without one, jump at it.
When I began my t-shirt endevour, I wanted to produce shirts that cost me $5 and sold for $15. However, if my cost is $8 per shirt, I will have to sell them for $18.00 to stay at my lowest acceptable profit margin of $10 per shirt.
Your problems are your minimum quantities. With just 12 pieces being printed you aren't going to get decent pricing anywhere. Screen printing gives you discounts for ordering larger quantities.
Since you're going to be doing all the shipping yourself, you don't really need a fulfillment company, but it wouldn't hurt to shop around to different printers and ask them the pricing for the same job specs to see if you're getting good pricing. That's just good business to get multiple bids on the same job.
Quote:
Not to mention, if I start running more than one color (which I plan on) my cost is going to go through the roof ($1.50 per color). How can anyone make a profit off a 5 color screen printed shirt??
By either ordering more quantity of the shirts from the screen printer or using a different printing method like screen printed heat transfers.
Please chime in and let me know if I"m getting a good deal, ok deal or if I would be better off going with an online fulfillment service!
For no minimums it's a pretty great deal. That said, if you were printing in any kind of normal quantity it's not a great price. Given that your printer sounds pretty accomodating I'd find out what his quantity prices are like and consider using the same printer, but with a larger volume.
Whether you are in the US, Mexico, UK, Canada, Germany, Australia etc..., 20 of their currency seems to be the average cost of a t-shirt there.
Not at all true of Australia.
The average cost of a t-shirt here is $45-65 AUD, which is about $35-50 USD. There are places selling for $30 AUD (~$23.50 USD), but $20 is basically bargain rack stuff.
The average cost of a t-shirt here is $45-65 AUD, which is about $35-50 USD. There are places selling for $30 AUD (~$23.50 USD), but $20 is basically bargain rack stuff.
Well, it's not untrue then: $20 AUD would be perfectly acceptible for a shirt. Mind you, HOLY CRAP. Is that seriously what you have to pay there? Give me an idea what you get for that much money. Seriously, this is invaluable information.
I thought we were bad here, in Canada. We're about 15-20% more than the U.S. market.
Well, it's not untrue then: $20 AUD would be perfectly acceptible for a shirt.
Not really: it would indicate poor quality or mass production. The price would be suspiciously low.
This isn't significantly different to the UK market - 20 quid is about USD $40.
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Originally Posted by cycocyco
Give me an idea what you get for that much money.
The quality is all over the place, and probably doesn't have as much correlation to price as you might expect. Plenty of local sweatshop free stuff as well. It just depends.
Depending on where you're shopping, a lot of the time a shirt sewn and screenprinted in south east Asia, with the varying quality you'd expect (from terrible through great).
In design terms, independent designers in a wide range of styles. We have some successful street companies that are doing okay internationally (think The Hundreds basically), but our market really isn't any one thing. The market is just a bit different here. The big difference is that we don't have a thriving bottom end of the market. Instead that demographic wears surf brands like Billabong, Quicksilver, etc.
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Originally Posted by cycocyco
Wait, if $65 can be the average cost of a t-shirt, does that mean you find them in the $85+ range? That's insane.
Pretty easily, yeah. But then that's no different in the US - there are plenty of shirts selling for USD $90+ if you know where to look. Granted it would be considered more normal here.
$45-65 is the normal "range" - anything in those prices is not unusual. Outside of it is less normal, but I do know of a site that charges $80 AUD for Gildan shirts for example. I also know of some (particularly lowgrade) that charge around $22.
I don't see this trend lasting though. For example there's a retail space here that charges a flat rate for all their stock: $45 for one, $60 for two. Their quality is abysmal, but it will start trickling down. More and more competition is starting to open up, prices will likely be driven down over the next few years.
First off, I'd like to say this is a great forum! I never imagined I would see so many responses in one days time. Thank you all for your input!
By increasing 'quantity' do you mean, stocking up on shirts or stocking shirts AND having them printed? Do most shirt printers give a bigger discount if you include printing in with the blanks order?
I do see one potential issue with stocking my shirts. What sizes do I stock?
I don't have a lot of money to stock up on shirt sizes that may never sale. Is there a trade secret percentage breakdown for stocking sizes? 50% 1XL, 20% Large, 20% Medium, 10% Small? I would imagine that stocking 'oversized' shirts (that cost extra) is probably not a wise idea?
Rodney, I scanned through all the different heat transfer methods and from what I saw, the plastisol seems to be the closest quality to actual screen printing. On average, how much money would I be saving to use this method over screen printing?
By increasing 'quantity' do you mean, stocking up on shirts or stocking shirts AND having them printed? Do most shirt printers give a bigger discount if you include printing in with the blanks order?
I was referring to stocking up on printed shirts, as in instead of printing 15 shirts per design, print 50. You should get a much cheaper price from your printer.
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Originally Posted by BlobSquatch
I do see one potential issue with stocking my shirts. What sizes do I stock?
I don't have a lot of money to stock up on shirt sizes that may never sale. Is there a trade secret percentage breakdown for stocking sizes? 50% 1XL, 20% Large, 20% Medium, 10% Small? I would imagine that stocking 'oversized' shirts (that cost extra) is probably not a wise idea?
It depends on who you are selling to, but these threads should be helpful:
The average cost of a t-shirt here is $45-65 AUD, which is about $35-50 USD. There are places selling for $30 AUD (~$23.50 USD), but $20 is basically bargain rack stuff.
And in the UK, you can buy a shirt from GBP10-GBP60.
So that would be from AUS$24 to $150. And that top end wouldn't be surprising at all.
But then, the pound is stronger than the US$ or Aus$, and we earn more....so it sort of evens out.
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Do most shirt printers give a bigger discount if you include printing in with the blanks order?
Kind of. Quite a lot of printers charge you more for printing if you don't buy blanks from them. So unless you get a particularly good price on your blanks it might just be cheaper to get them through them. But it's more of a surcharge if you don't rather than a discount if you do.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BlobSquatch
I would imagine that stocking 'oversized' shirts (that cost extra) is probably not a wise idea?
Maybe not at first (if on a tight budget and looking at small runs), but don't completely overlook it, as it will make up a reasonable percentage of your sales (still a minority though, so at first you'll need to concentrate where the most money is).
local or online printing service? 
