Yes, Kim is very nice. Everyone there is that way. That is one of the BIG reasons that I am a loyal customer.
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.