1 dollar white tee?

They don't care about the quality of the tee

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Even though *they* say they don't, as the business owner who is delivering the product that people will associate with your business...you should.

The people they give them too might care and if they are delighted with your product, it's more likely that they'll ask where they were done and want to share.

What are the implications of doing jobs this cheap for future business. Could my work look cheap because of the shirts? Will this bring in more of the wrong kind of business?

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Yes, yes and yes

The say the competitors price is $4.20. They don't care about the quality of the tee. Can I find a shirt for a $1 so I can make a $3 markup?

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Even if you found a blank t-shirt for $1 (which may be near impossible to find with cotton prices), with shipping, it would probably be closer to $1.50. Make sure you are not only *covering* your printing and overhead costs, but also figuring in a profit for the job.

I got a quote on 1400 pieces today. The price was just over $2 per shirt, and that was for color. If you find white for $1 please let me know.

You might want to look for a Close Out Broker. They pick up shirts from people closing them out for some reason. Hopefully they're not seconds.

There's a guy in the Classified section of this forum thats selling color t-shirts for $1.30, but don't know where he's at, nor are they white.

Also check Craigslist for shops trying to sell their inventory.

if you are going to bottom-feed you had better have a high production capacity. nothing wrong with it but unless you are printing on auto's and have a lot of work i would pass on that type of work.

we have a local guy that will do 1000 white shirts for $3/ea with unlimited colors. can't beat that.

I'd love that job! Even at $1.50-1.70 per shirt you are making $2.50 600 times = $1500. Give me those jobs all day long. Granted I am printing on an auto and could knock the whole thing out from unbox to box in 2 hours. Even manually printed and working at a snails pace this could be done in a day or even dragged out 2 days. You could even job this out to someone who does contract work and make money - I'd print this for like $.75 each contract price.

Troll .75 each per color?

selanac said:

Troll .75 each per color?

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This is a 1 color print - so I would do the printing for my contract customers for .75 per print, they supply the shirt. I usually post from home at night and don't have access to my estimate pricing, but on a quantity of 600 pieces 1 color would be .75 and (I believe) .20 for each additional color..

Troll, a fellow SP bids on Government contracts and needs 1500 one color 1 location. Would that be .75 with you, and where are you?

There was a guy in PA that charged .65 but he burnt out. Can get a hold of him.

selanac said:

Troll, a fellow SP bids on Government contracts and needs 1500 one color 1 location. Would that be .75 with you, and where are you?

There was a guy in PA that charged .65 but he burnt out. Can get a hold of him.

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I can go $.65 on that quantity.. I am, however, on the other side - California.. I'll send you a PM

Got it Troll, replied to your PM.

Sent an email to my friend. He's in Trenton NJ.

Puma, haven't heard back from you.

What about joining with another screen printer to buy your t-shirts. If you bought 600 and they bought the same or more you could probably get a real good price.

Thanks for the responses guys.
The end result was that I just told them I couldn't do it for that price. They showed me the invoice from a few years back. I gave them a small economics lesson explaining that there is petroleum in the ink. They understand rising gas prices so they understand rising ink prices. I told them Tee shirts have gone up as well. Before I could throw a number out they told me they were totally fine paying $5 a shirt. They just informed today they are dropping the order however to 275 shirts so I have to renegotiate. With them. I'll keep you posted on how things work out.

I could sell that job at 4.20 and make 40% to 50% margin without touching a thing.....You need to shop around for printers....500 x 1 colour on white should be about 0.40 to 0.50....White shirts can be had for 1.50 to 1.70....Add 0.25 to 0.30 for shipping.....Lots of money in that job at 4.20....

We are aimed at providing excellent service. This service is something they must pay for as well. I have been in and out of their establishment at any request. I have ordered samples for them free of charge so they can try before they buy. I don't include screen fees. I often fix their artwork for free and even design their artwork for them free of charge at times. We have a very good relationship so just because the job can be done cheaper I believe they will stick with me. I make their lives as easy as possible through the whole process. Saving them time saves them money. I understand what your saying about contracting this work out royster. I am in the process of moving shops so I may do just that.