[m4nti]

Why do some companies charge for: Screen+cost/shirt only and some companies charge for Screen+cost/shirt+film?

Is there something hidden here? Maybe those that charge for film do a better job? I don't quiet understand the mechanics of Screen Printing. So I'm thinking ... if they can print without charging me for film, could they be doing an inferior job? The printing company I was thinking to go with seem professional... but there's no charge for "film". So what's wrong here?

 

[T-BOT]

So what's wrong here?

nothing is wrong. All screen printers need films screens etc to do the job. Some include it in the grand total, others break it down etc... no difference really.

 

[Rodney]

Lucy's right. All screen printers need films and screens to print jobs.

Some add their costs as line items in customer quotes, some include the costs in their printing cost quotes to customers, some "eat" the costs on larger orders or for some customers if the profits balance out.

 

[SpotMatrix]

There's a local printer here in Toronto that only has a price per shirt with one or two side printing charges including the shirt (no choice on brand just colour). All the screen and film charges are included. As a customer I think its less complicated. I don't need to figure out anything other than $7 a shirt x 24 shirts equals $168. If you break down your charges you may scare off a customer but on the filpside though the customer may think "hey Bob down the road is charging less (but has other costs like screen and film charges in fine print). What matters is you charge what is necessary to sell at a reasonable price. How you price it doesn't matter as long as the customer knows they are getting what they pay for. As a new printer myself, I've investigated pricing in great lengths and every price list I've seen is different. Some charge more for shirts but less on print and some are the other way around. Some include films others don't but needless to say the customer is paying for everything the printer needs to do to complete the end product whether he spells it out in detail or not.

 

[JeridHill]

There's a local printer here in Toronto that only has a price per shirt with one or two side printing charges including the shirt (no choice on brand just colour). All the screen and film charges are included. As a customer I think its less complicated. I don't need to figure out anything other than $7 a shirt x 24 shirts equals $168. If you break down your charges you may scare off a customer but on the filpside though the customer may think "hey Bob down the road is charging less (but has other costs like screen and film charges in fine print). What matters is you charge what is necessary to sell at a reasonable price. How you price it doesn't matter as long as the customer knows they are getting what they pay for. As a new printer myself, I've investigated pricing in great lengths and every price list I've seen is different. Some charge more for shirts but less on print and some are the other way around. Some include films others don't but needless to say the customer is paying for everything the printer needs to do to complete the end product whether he spells it out in detail or not.

As the salesperson, it's your job to "sell" your product and services.

Let's say it's $10 a shirt at 25 shirts plus $50 in screen charges. That's $300 or $12 a shirt. If they ask about screen charges, which most people don't, then I tell them if they decided to buy 30 shirts, instead of charging $12 a shirt, I keep it at $10, which saves them money. I just saved them $10 overall since $12 x 30 is $360 and $10 x 30 + $50 is $350. No it's not a lot of savings, but it is the value of caring that sells them.

 

[SpotMatrix]

As the salesperson, it's your job to "sell" your product and services.

Let's say it's $10 a shirt at 25 shirts plus $50 in screen charges. That's $300 or $12 a shirt. If they ask about screen charges, which most people don't, then I tell them if they decided to buy 30 shirts, instead of charging $12 a shirt, I keep it at $10, which saves them money. I just saved them $10 overall since $12 x 30 is $360 and $10 x 30 + $50 is $350. No it's not a lot of savings, but it is the value of caring that sells them.

Nice point Jerid, I'll keep that in mind.

 

[tpitman]

Most customers don't care and don't understand "screen charges" or "film charges". One thing you've gotta watch when you itemize every little detail is the customer who demands the "screen" he was charged for. THEN you've gotta explain how it's really just a charge for the USE of the screen. The same with film, unless you want to give the film to the customer at the end of the job. I find it best to not confuse them with the facts if possible. Mostly they'll want to know why they can't get 10 shirts for the same price each as 36. At that point I tell them simply that it's the same amount of time and material to set up everything to make 1 shirt as 1000 shirts, and that that cost is spread out over the number of shirts they order. That ends the discussion. Another thing I've run into is quoting against an online vendor like CustomInk. They'll ask me to beat a price they got there for 14 screenprinted tees, 3-colors, 2-sides, and give me the link. When I go to the link the art on one side has 6-colors, but they haven't selected the six colors to match the art they picked, and when I do, I get a message that for a 6-color design, there's a minimum of 48 shirts. The same goes for internet specials of $2.00 ea. There's always some fine print that indicates a minimum order of 100 shirts, and sometimes screen charges on top of that.

 

[SpotMatrix]

Most customers don't care and don't understand "screen charges" or "film charges". One thing you've gotta watch when you itemize every little detail is the customer who demands the "screen" he was charged for. THEN you've gotta explain how it's really just a charge for the USE of the screen. The same with film, unless you want to give the film to the customer at the end of the job. I find it best to not confuse them with the facts if possible. Mostly they'll want to know why they can't get 10 shirts for the same price each as 36. At that point I tell them simply that it's the same amount of time and material to set up everything to make 1 shirt as 1000 shirts, and that that cost is spread out over the number of shirts they order. That ends the discussion.

So maybe it would be better to quote screen charges more specifically as "Screen Setup charges" at x $ per screen. This would tell the customer they are paying a service charge rather than paying for an actually screen. It's best to be clear up front to avoid arguments down the road. I hate arguing

Just out of curiosity why is there a separate charge for film output? Wouldn't it simplify everything to lump setup fees for film and screens all together as setup fees?

 

[SpotMatrix]

Most customers don't care and don't understand "screen charges" or "film charges".

In the car industry (As quoted by my wife in the industry for 19 yrs) most customers don't care about the price of the car they are interested in. They ask "What's my monthly payment?". Most buyers are payment buyers. "Can I fit it in to my budget?" they think to themselves. I'm guessing the same is somewhat true for shirt buyers. Maybe all they really want to know is "What's my cost per shirt if I buy this many?" because when they are shopping for shirts they most likely have a price per shirt cost they are willing to pay. If we make it that simple for them doesn't it make it less complicated in the longrun for everyone? Only the printer really needs to know the details of the cost. No? You will always have a number of customers want to know the fine details of their purchase and you can at that point explain it in terms of setup charges and cost per print etc etc.

 

[tpitman]

Maybe all they really want to know is "What's my cost per shirt if I buy this many?" because when they are shopping for shirts they most likely have a price per shirt cost they are willing to pay. If we make it that simple for them doesn't it make it less complicated in the longrun for everyone? Only the printer really needs to know the details of the cost. No? You will always have a number of customers want to know the fine details of their purchase and you can at that point explain it in terms of setup charges and cost per print etc etc.

That's exactly what I do. If they insist on the details of all the makeready, I'll explain it to them. Otherwise, I tell them the price of each shirt, and you're right, that's usually all they really want to know.