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Does your screenprinter let you bring in your own shirts

26K views 35 replies 9 participants last post by  Rodney 
I have never encountered this. The printing prices have always been the same whether I supply the shirts or not. Also, it saves LOTS of $$$$!!!!!!!

I hope whatever printer you are using, they do great work. Because I think it is a little shady to charge a customer extra on printing just because you can't make money buy selling them your shirts.
 
No, all printers that I have used have been in business at least 25 years and are still thriving. The company that I now use started in 1980. And they gladly let me supply my own shirts, and do not charge extra on the printing. They have had this policy from day one! Their name is Screen Art. You can check them out at www.goscreenart.com. Yes, they sell shirts, and I'm pretty sure they make a fair amount of money doing so, but also have no problem giving me the same great deal on printing when I supply the shirts. So, yes, I do expect them to keep doing this, since they have done it for over 25 years and still manage to stay in business!

Over the years my focus has changed, and I'm selling to a completely different market than I did when I first started getting shirts printed. This is why I have used different printers. I have used different printers because I had to find the quality that I wanted and the right "fit" for my business. It is not an indictment of those particular companies, all still in business over 25 years, as much as it is for me finding what works best for me.

Also, as a side note...my mechanic lets me supply the parts and only charges me labor. He also doesn't hike up the price on the labor!

Once others have a chance to see this thread, I think you may be surprised at how many printers don't charge extra on printing, just because you supply your own shirts.
 
No worries, I didn't take it as argumentative.;) Discussion is good. That's what the forums are for.

You're right. That's how they're staying in business. They get alot of their business from the local university and other schools. They don't care about finding shirts wholesale, then getting them printed. They just see shirts are "this" much and "this" is how much it costs to get them printed.

There are no screen charges. Art charges are $35, but I do my own camera ready art now, with the separations. So I pay no art charges. Just to give you an idea. I just got a few shirts printed that I wanted to just see how the design looked on the shirts. I got a dozen of them printed up. I supplied my own shirts. I did the artwork and color separations. The design had 4 colors on white shirts, so no need to put down a white base for a dark shirt. I paid a total of $51. $4.25/shirt for 4 colors on only 12 shirts. Excellent quality. If I had wanted it on more shirts, of course the price per shirt would have gone down dramatically.

I agree that lots of people that get items screen printed don't know much about it, or even want to. They just want what they want, printed on whatever they want, and just go on about their business. But when you are in the business of getting things printed, you need to know all about it, and how to make the most of it.

Also, I just did a random survey. I called 25 of the 60 business listed in my local (Nashville area) BellSouth yellowpages under screen printing. Of the 25 only 1 said they charge more for printing if I brought in my own shirts.;)
 
We aren't talking about steak! We are talking about screen printers allowing customers to supply their own shirts. You don't think this happens that much. Look at the different shirts people on this forum use to print on. American Apparel, ProClub, Alternative Apparel, Royal Apparel, just to name a FEW. You think screen printers carry these brands? If so, VERY few.

Now, I think you might be trying to be argumentative.:( Steaks?!!! What?!!Why don't you ask me if my print jobs go to the back, instead of assuming they do. They don't. No matter how many I order, 12 or 1,200. They have 2 week turnaround on ALL jobs. That is for every customer. Don't believe me? Call them.

I'm not doing a disservice to anyone. You haven't been here long enough to know whether I am or not. You go read just a FEW of my 300 posts and I think you will quickly see that I am here to help anybody, whenever, and however I can and I don't just throw out info, without being able to back it up.

Like I said, if you have a problem with what I'm saying, call them and ask them for a quote and see what they say. I gave the url, the phone number is listed on the website. Otherwise you need to check yourself, before you start talking about someone doing a disservice, when you don't have clue about my situation.

As I have said before on other threads, the place I found is great. Great prices, great service, great quality. Are all places like this? NO! And I never said they were. Different companies do business different ways. Do prices vary across the country and in different markets. Of course. For all types of businesses and screen printing is no exception.
 
I don't know who you spoke to or if you really called. I don't know you anymore than I know any other person on some forum on the internet. But I do know how much I paid. And I have the receipt. That's all that matters to me. Like I said before, anyone here reading anything that I have posted in the past knows that I am only here to help and be helped. And you shouldn't just throw out "a disservice to new people" without knowing where I'm coming from and what I'm about.

I never said that printers don't charge screen charges. Some do, some don't. I said that the printer I used doesn't.

Maybe they cut me a deal, because I'm a loyal customer.:) I don't know. What I do know for a fact, is that it doesn't matter whether you are a longtime loyal customer with a large order or a new customer with a run of 12 shirts, they let you bring your own shirts and there is a 2 week turnaround for EVERYBODY, and they don't charge extra ANYTHING for you supplying your shirts.

The question the original poster had (and our reason for responding) was: "do printers let you bring your own shirts?". The answer is an emphatic: YES!!! Some (like mine) even do it without charging extra! That was the point of the thread, and you got your answer straight from the horses mouth.
 
Yes, Kim is very nice. Everyone there is that way. That is one of the BIG reasons that I am a loyal customer.

jay allen said:
Believe me, all screen printers charge screen charges....in one way or another. Just because someone gives an all inclusive price doesn't mean the screens aren't being accounted for in that price. It takes a fair amount of time to wash a screen....coat a screen.....wait for it to dry.....burn the screen.....wait for it to dry....print with it......and then reclaim it. All of that labor needs to be accounted for, and charged for.
If that makes you feel better to call them screen charges, that's fine. I know they need to make a profit, and that they need to pay for the utilities they use, wages, insurance, etc. So, everything they charge could be called "wage charges", "utility charges", etc. My point is there are some companies that will break down all of the charges for you, and let you see how much EACH thing involved with printing your shirts cost. When you are able to line those things up side-byside (art charges, screen charges, color changes, print charges, number of colors, etc.) and company "A" has a price for all of those things and the company "B" doesn't have some of those things listed (screen charges, for instance) and company "B" is still cheaper BY FAR than company "A", I think it's fair to say that company "B" doesn't have any screen charges. Does company "B" still need to make a profit. Certainly. It's just that company "B" is able to make more money because they have more business. Partly because they have great customer service (Like Kim at Screen Art). And partly because they are able to offer great quality at a better price by not charging for certain things.

For instance. When I get my site up and running, I will be shipping my shirts in custom printed boxes. I will not be charging anymore for my shirts than I do now, when I sell them to people face-to-face. Will this eat into my profits? Of course. Will it give my items a higher perceived value? I hope so. Right now, I give my products to customers in custom printed bags. I didn't go up on my price. Lots of people think that if you have things like that then "the customer is paying for it somewhere", when that is not always necessarily the case. This seems to be the viewpoint you have about screen charges. Am I still making a profit from my shirts. Absolutely. But, I still want my customers to know that they are getting a product with excellent quality, and value-added-services, and still know that they are getting those things at a great price. Could I charge more for my products and pass those costs along to my customers. Yes. But I believe if I offer excellent products at excellent prices, with value-added-services with higher perceived value, that I will gain loyal customers and continually add new ones. This is obviously Screen Arts' philosophy as well. I have said a few times before on this forum. They are BY FAR the best quality around my area, the best service (including Kim), and the best price. That's why they don't have to charge screen charges and why they have been around since 1980 and still growing. Because you can come in with a run of 12 shirts and be treated like the university with 12,000.

Also, I don't know how you can say that the "MAJORITY" of printers charge differently for printing on supplies shirts when you don't know "ALL" of the printers in order to make that statement. Maybe the majority that YOU know do this. But I think it would be hard to know if the majority of ALL printers did this.

I don't think think not paying more for printing on my own shirts is insisting the printer to not make any money. I actually think that it is smart of them to be able to offer such a thing AND still be able to make money, and even thrive! That's the kind of company I LOVE doing business with.

BG Concepts, thanks for chiming in! I'm sure you could probably do better on prices than most of your customers.:) "Most" customers probably aren't like the ones on this forum that want their designs on specific shirts, such as AA. Also, they probably don't have a resale number or tax id that allows them to get shirts at wholesale pricing like you do. Lots of people here are able to get the same, if not better pricing on the shirts that most screen printers have.
 
Again, not the point...the point is the question the OP had: "Does your screenprinter let you bring in your own shirts?". That's the point. I already conceded that the could have given me that price BECAUSE I'm a loyal customer and they aren't worried about having to earn my repeat business. But the fact remains about THE point I was trying to make. There are screen printers that let you bring your own shirts and don't charge ANYTHING extra for doing so. One just posted! (BG Concepts)

For some reason, this concept is hard for you to grasp. I'm sorry.
 
Good points, Rodney.

Back when I was selling shirts at events, I could go to the local shirt wholesaler, pick up some shirts in my SUV, drive them to the screen printer and ALWAYS beat them on the shirt prices. They were getting their shirts from the same place I was and wanted twice as much for them. Since they didn't charge for me supplying the shirts, it was a no brainer!

I think there are lots of screen printers that will let customers bring in there own shirts and not charge them extra for doing so. I also think there are enough that do this that it is not considered "out of the norm". That's been my only point.
 
Okay, fine. That was my MAIN point. I did state my OPINION about charging a customer extra because you can't make money off of selling them shirts. But I wasn't trying to make a point about that, I was just stating my opinion on the matter. I don't think it shows a lack of understanding of the business. I understand it very well. I DO think it is shady to say the price of the printing for your job is $100 plus the price of the shirts. Thenm ake the price of the printing $130 (or whatever) if I bring in my own shirts. I just created LESS work for you. Why charge me more for the printing! They can't make enough money in the business they are supposedly in (printing on shirts) so they want to make some "extra" money by ALSO being in the business of selling shirts. Just because that's they some companies do business and YOU see nothing wrong with it, does not mean that I'm wrong by thinking it is a shady practice. You have your opinion on the matter. I have mine. Back to the ORIGINAL point to answering the poster's question. I answered that. THAT was my point for posting and the point I've been trying to make all along. Yes, there are printers out there that let you bring your own shirts for printing, and don't charge one red cent extra for it. I would much rather do business with these companies than ones that don't. My preference, my prerogative. And I do! You have a different view of companies that charge extra. It doesn't change the fact about THE point I've been trying to make about the ORIGINAL question.

It is the same way with companies that ship products. Lots of them make money on shipping. That's fine. But if I can go down to the local shirt wholesaler and pick up my shirts. I don't want to pay extra for those shirts because they couldn't make any money off of the shipping charges. Doesn't make much sense. I don't see how that's any different than screen printers charging extra on their services when you don't allow them to make money from selling you shirts.

As for the numbers. You aksed for what they were. You were the one going off on tangents about all sorts of things. Companies I do business with going out of business because of their practices, how much I pay for my printing, my mechanic marking up prices on parts, bringing my own steak to a restaurant. I didn't care about the numbers. I wasn't making ANY point about numbers. YOU asked. I answered. You didn't like the answer. I wasn't making a point about numbers, prices, or costs. That was you doing the asking about it. Not me offering or trying to make a point about it. I never have a problem owning up to what I post. On each post I made, I was trying to make the point about printers letting you bring your own shirts. For some reason you wanted to focus on other things. I don't know why. But all along my point has been the same. Maybe you just misunderstood my points.
 
jay allen said:
OK.....I vote to end the brawl.
I'll second that!

jay allen said:
Seriously.....if you need help with more Pool info give me a call sometime.
I will definitely be bending your ear about the Pool stuff!;)

jay allen said:
I'm actually pretty easy to get along with.....really.
I'm sure you are.:)
Believe it or not, so am I.:D
 
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