Does anyone know if there is any ink other than the epson brand that can posssibly be used with this machine
Sent from my SGH-T889 using T-Shirt Forums
Sent from my SGH-T889 using T-Shirt Forums
I think you are exactly right. We are a fairly large screen-printer and it supports our DTG costs right now. We can now do jobs that we used to turn down due to low quantity or ability to print. For us, its a good add-on ( though we need to print more with it ), but if we had to survive on it alone, we'd be hurting.I print all day every week day and sometimes weekends, (90% dark garments), and go through 2 x 600ml white carts every 2-3weeks depending on the designs I'm printing.
Average cost of the ink works out to around 15% per job, but that's not factoring in 330ml from each white cart getting wasted every month, plus and another 400ml per month wasted from those ridiculous unnecessary auto cleans.
If I was to factor that ink wastage in, the ink cost per job would be double and around 30% which is really high imo. Then when you factor in the cost of the garments, pretreat, time, and all your other overheads there really isn't much meat left on the bone as profit.
I don't think the F2000 suits high volume production because the more you use this printer, the more ink it unnecessarily wastes. Which makes using the printer for high volume production unfeasible. When I say high volume I mean multiple jobs of 20 - 50 units and not many one-ofs.
Now I wouldn't refer to my retail prices as 'cheap' and many will say, (even I've said it), that you need to factor the wastage costs into the end price, but because the F2000 wastes sooo much ink, and given how expensive the ink is, you would cost yourself out of the market if you were to do so.
Bear in mind I'm also using a RIP which saves a lot of white ink, I'd hate to see these figures using Garment Creator. In my opinion, after a year of ownership, the F2000 suits a business that offers DTG but it isn't their core profit maker e.g. screen printers, embroiderers, signage etc. It's something that sits in a corner and you turn it on and print a few shirts when you need to which covers the cost of the monthly flush. I don't think the F2000 suits a DTG only business who plans on using it as their sole printer/s.
Epson have built a printer that really only 'feathers their own nest' in terms of ink sales. They never designed this printer to make the owners bundles of profit, only themselves. The F2000 will put food on the table and pay your mortgage, but until the ink price comes down, and owners have the ability to turn off that stupid auto clean function, it won't make you tonnes of $$$. And I'm not holding my breath waiting for Epson to lower ink prices, or give owners the ability to stop it wasting so much ink.