T-Shirt Forums banner

Any reviews on FM expressions 15 cent transfers?

41K views 50 replies 22 participants last post by  rctshirt 
#1 ·
As title says, Also how well do they hold In wash?
 
#4 ·
I tried to use their service this week and this .15 deal is not great unless you have 1 - 9x12.75 or less image. I tried to order 3 t-shirt designs each with a pocket logo and 8" image. They shot it down saying it was ganged. Don't make since to print (or pay for printing) a single 4" image on a 9x12 page. Their prices to print these as they are, are more expensive than where I have been getting them done. I guess I am going back to Versatranz where 13x19 anything that fits, ships!
 
#6 ·
F&M doesn't allow ganged images, but Semo does, and the pricing for small quantities is similar. Sizing is a little smaller, though, at 7x12. You could do a bunch of 4" pocket logos on a sheet, mix-and-match for all your shirts. Obviously they all need to be same color.
 
#14 ·
If you're just buying 1 or 2 then really all you can compare is who will do that few for an order. Versatranz said it starts at 2, did you have to get 2 sheets or did they let you get one? F&M is awesome for 20+ because of the $20 flat fee you have to absorb.

As far as washability. I've got over 25 washes on my test shirts (undershirts that I wear every day under my uniform) and the only one that I have that's cracked up is one that I tried to layer 2 different 1 color transfers with and it's obviously over cured. We have a printer here that does all our church's work (big church) and they always over cure their screen printing and it starts cracking after about 5-10 washes. After seeing my experiment go bad with the 2 layers, I've gone to just pressing once 325 for 8 seconds and peel. No repress. I haven't had any complaints after doing that and my tests are fine.
 
#15 ·
I use the F and M transfers as an affordable, on demand one color option. They seem to hold up well to washing (turn em inside out) and are easy to apply. I stock the customers transfers for them.

Although the 15 cent product is a good deal for a full page design, we buy more of the maximum sized product and gang them. If you do the math, you make out on the gang run as soon as you get 3 or more designs on the largest page option. Perfect for a text type shirt. I buy 100 at a time.

The funny thing is, F and M gangs them. If I don't use the full sheet on the 15 centers, my transfer papers come in undersize! Too funny.

all the best,

dANNY8bALL
www.SanJoseScreenPrinting.com
 
#17 ·
I've ordered once from F and M.
200 of the .15 prints, $20 setup, and shipping... about $60
I could not be happier.
No screen, no ink, on mess, no drying... 7 second per shirt and done.

Weather from F and M or another vendor I will also consider this option.

Think about it, 2.00 shirt + about .30 transfer total cost + ~10-15 seconds of labor per shirt. Huge profits are possible.

Now for the CON, although the opacity covered well on several solid colors of shirts.. black, royal, ect. It did not cover very sell on Tie-dye shirts I did. I still gave them to the customer and they loved them, but I could see either shadows for the different colors in the shirt or there might have been some dye migration. Heck, maybe the pressure was incorrect but just my .02

Jason

I am consider using them for 2 color gang sheet for about 250 images for baseball park uniforms, any advice?
 
#18 ·
I have been using the $.15 transfers for a few months now and I have been very impressed and pleased with the quality and speed of production. If I had one complaint, it would be the cost of shipping. I have an additional ebay business and I do a lot of shipping using USPS, UPS and FedEx. Shippings seems to be inflated by about $10 per package over the cost we pay for shipping MUCH heavier boxes. I can ship a 45 lbs. box via FedEx from AL to NJ for less than $8.00. I wouldn't think a 2 lbs. envelope wouldn't cost $16 to ship out to anywhere in the states. I guess we all have to make money somewhere. I would rather the cost be in the transfers themselves than look like the shipping was inflated to compensate.
 
#20 ·
I recently found out that you can call customer service and tell them you want to use your own shipping account and once they update your account in their system, it automatically updates your future shipping carts. That makes a HUGE difference in pricing nor for me. I typically only pay $5 or less for ground shipping now. Of course rates will vary based on the shipping account level you get with UPS or FedEx.
 
#22 ·
We just used them and had 4 orders all combined on one shipment. The performance is as good as any other. We have used HTW, Ace, Versatranz and Transfer Express. The prints are all about the same.

Versatranz has the best turn times and website for proofs although you can't get a price until you get mostly into the order.

HTW is the highest priced.

Ace is pretty reasonable but has longer lead times than most.
 
#25 ·
Sorry, I was just answering the question about combining items to ship together. I'm happy to answer your question. Shipping charges are calculated and published during check out. Most ground shipments are usually $10 - $16, depending on the size of the order and the destination. As mentioned earlier in this thread, if you would like to be billed directly from UPS, you can contact customer service and provide to have your freight account number.
 
#26 ·
Hey Nathan,

Why isn't US postal priority mail a shipping option for F & M? On most small orders, this would be the cheapest way to go, and save us customers a good amount, would also be consistent as the flat rate box is a fixed price.

thanks for addressing this,

Dan

Most ground shipments are usually $10 - $16, depending on the size of the order and the destination. \
 
#27 ·
Hey Nathan,

Why isn't US postal priority mail a shipping option for F & M? On most small orders, this would be the cheapest way to go, and save us customers a good amount, would also be consistent as the flat rate box is a fixed price.
We've really tried to work with USPS to get a consistent pickup afternoon pickup. Unfortunately, they will not pickup consistently or in the afternoon. Since everything (maybe not everything, but close) in this business is time sensitive, we can't justify losing a day in turn around to ship with USPS.
 
#31 ·
I thought I was the only person who had trouble with the post office consistently picking up packages. If I put in an online request the, post master tells me not to because they will get calls from corporate if they are not picked up and logged in by a certain time, but they won't come get the consistently if I don't.
 
#32 ·
I haven't made that much off an order, but ever since I got my own shipping account, I have no complaints about F&M Expressions service! As a matter of fact, I don't even shop prices anymore. I have ordered single color, multi-color and full color transfers all with little to no problems. At the current prices, I always order extra because there are usually a few in the batch with issues and not worth the effort to print and take a chance the customer says something. I would imagine this is general practice for most people anyway? I am only a year in and still learning quite a bit!
 
#33 ·
i ordered 200 transfers from F&M, within one month I had a complaint of cracking from my customer. I called F&M and they told me to email pictures, I did just that and have had NO reply. I now have 99 shirts in my shop to be redone- and these were not 2.00 gildans. F&M .15 transfers will cost me 400.00+ to redo and make this right for my customer.
 
#41 ·
Honestly, these are great transfers, but It sees like certain color don't last. I have been printing with the transfers for over a year and have only has a couple of issues. One being that a set of transfers would not release properly from the paper when heat printing. The other being the cracking issue. I had one set of shirts crack within a couple of weeks of printing. The color ink I ordered them in was a gray. They were for a new restaurant that opened in town and they were so bad when I went back in to eat, that I never went back to the place. They looked like they and been sand blasted or something.

For the most part though, I have had good experiences with FMExpressions. Especially with full color and RUSH jobs! They have alway been on the ball!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top