I'm an established contract embroiderer in Los Angeles, CA and am looking to add a DTG printer to the business. I'm looking for a DTG printer that is below 10,000 in price. 9,000-7000 would be ideal. White-ink capability would be great but not required.
I'm having a very hard time looking for the resources of WHERE to buy these items (even in these forums). I'm registered for the Long Beach Print Wear show on Aug. 9th-11th.
There was someone on the SWF Yahoo Forum who is selling their's due to "their" lack of marketing skills aka just not paying for itself. Maybe there are some good used machines out there for that price.
I would suggest attending the PrintWear tradeshow in Long Beach next month to talk to some of the machine vendors directly. A lot of great deals can be had at the tradeshows and you can see the machines in action to make sure you know what you're getting.
There's also the ISS Show in Long Beach in January of next year that may have even more opportunities for you to test out and make deals with the vendors.
Agreed, but if you go to the show and you are a serious buyer, you can come pretty close. Throw another 1-2K and you're getting into DTG range. I think Fred got a good "show" deal on his DTG Kiosk.
7-9K is definitely not realistic for a new DTG printer, but after seeing them in action and seeing the final results of what it can do (in person, at a show), I would think that a person/business would be at a point where they realize they could find a couple extra thousand to get a machine that does all that the printer can do, or they will find that they want to spend 7-9K on some other technology because DTG is not what they want.
don't want to throw anyone in a tizzy but there is going to be the magic 10K printer in the very near future.
dtg will have a modified version of their older 2200 based unit coming out soon that will be around that figure as well as the mystery machine that is hovering out there.
Go to the show or not, just tell them (SWF Mesa) that you went to the show and get the show price. The rack price is never paid, it is all negotiated. We paid 10,995 for the kiosk with a bunch of extras. If you want it for less, ask to have the extras taken off.
Amy over at SWF in Anaheim is ok to deal with. I don't know how much she can negotiate but she is paid on commission.
Let's say you pay 11K. If you sell just white shirts for an average net of $8 then you pay for the printer in about 1400 prints. If you sell for retail then then you will make $12-$15 each or more and pay for it in 600-700 prints or less.
You are looking at 50-100 hours of machine time at these figures, not too bad a return.
White ink prints will cost you more, around $5 a shirt or so for ink, plus pretreatment, plus more time.
The results of a good DTG print are stunning. They are nothing like any other printing method and can command a higher price.
Take a search for Justin Walker and Printchic. They have done some good things with dtg printing.
Also, printing on t-shirts is profitable, but there are other things you can print on to make money and profit from. Consider canvas, tile, wood, and other types of high value items that cannot be had anywhere else with making a single print. Would you sell a canvas print that cost $25 in materials for $200? I sure as hell would.
Anyway, take a look around, there is always new stuff at the shows. Take your artwork in and print out those. Take them home and evaluate your options. Good luck.
I am really new to the industry. Is there such a tradeshow in Canada? Particularly Western Canada? I live in Calgary, Alberta and am in the market for a DTG printer myself (new one).
Be careful with the beef jerky, sasquatches get temperamental around that stuff.
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