Heat Transfer Cost of Sale

2956 Views 11 Replies 8 Participants Last post by badalou, Oct 4, 2006

Maxxer

Discussion Starter · Oct 2, 2006

I'm new to this, but trying to get an idea (very general) of what it will cost me to print one T-shirt. What I'm thinking about is a good quality T-shirt, Plastisol Transfer, and Pigmented ink using heat transfer. Can anyone give me a ballpark cost for printing one (include other costs if I missed any, but not cost of HT machine)?
Thanks!!

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Jasonda

· #2 · Oct 2, 2006

Maxxer said:
I'm new to this, but trying to get an idea (very general) of what it will cost me to print one T-shirt. What I'm thinking about is a good quality T-shirt, Plastisol Transfer, and Pigmented ink using heat transfer. Can anyone give me a ballpark cost for printing one (include other costs if I missed any, but not cost of HT machine)?
Thanks!!

Which shirt are you going to use? ("high quality" means different things to different people, and they are all different prices).

Plastisol transfers are cheaper the more you buy. So it depends on how many shirts you are planning on printing.

If you can give more details, I am sure someone will be able to help you with a general estimate.

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Maxxer

Discussion Starter · #3 · Oct 2, 2006

Thanks Jasona. I'm gusessing we'll do 200-300 shirts a month. Printed on something like the Hanes Beefy-T or a 50/50 blend if that works. For Heat Transfer, is Plastisol the way to go?

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T-BOT

· #4 · Oct 2, 2006

Maxxer said:
Thanks Jasona. I'm gusessing we'll do 200-300 shirts a month. Printed on something like the Hanes Beefy-T or a 50/50 blend if that works. For Heat Transfer, is Plastisol the way to go?

it depends on your designs/styles/colors/qty... etc.

a good place to start is with 100 sheets 12x18 size with 4-6 designs (supa-stretch since you are using 50/50 shirts they stretch a little). This would be a cost effective way to do it.

for the economy transfers like 9x12 sheet size that print on light shirts only (no-stretch resistance) would be the cheapest to do. Form there up quality, more money.....

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Jasonda

· #5 · Oct 2, 2006

Maxxer said:
For Heat Transfer, is Plastisol the way to go?

It depends on your designs. Plastisol transfers are made using the screen printing process, so the more colors you have in your design, the more expensive it will be.

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Twinge

· #6 · Oct 2, 2006

To clarify, plastisol transfers are NOT done with pigmented ink -- the pigmented inks are for doing regular heat transfers, printed from a printer (usually inkjet).

Anyway, a very rough breakdown:
$1.25 - $4.00 per blank t-shirt, depending on type (everyone defines "quality" differently, si it really could be anywhere in that range).
If using plastisol, anywhere from about $0.10 - $3.00 per design, depending on size of design (and thus how many you can put on the same sheet), number ordered at a time (quantity discounts), and colors used (more colors = more cost).
If using regular heat transfers, A good transfer paper will usually run $0.50 to $1.00 a sheet, and then ink costs will range from about $0.10 to $0.75 a print (depending on size of the design and wheter or not you have a bulk system).

Those are the main costs, though of course there are other hidden costs (such as electricty for the press and computer, etc.) They all range quite a bit depending on what you're doing and how you're doing it.

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neversatisfied

· #7 · Oct 3, 2006

what type of stuff (for lack of a better word) are you putting on your tees? Custom per customer, phrases, logos 4 companies, etc... Just curious...and your type of print will effect your cost ofcourse!

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badalou

· #8 · Oct 3, 2006

I just did 80 youth size white Gildan tee shiorts for a school. Tees cost $1.35. I had 48 plastisol transfers done one color. I was able to place 2 designs on one sheet. Cost per sheet $1.09 devided by 2. The gave me 55 sheets. First edition always gives extra. I charged $5.75 per sheet. Transfers arrived at 3 pm started work at 5 pm and finished at 7:30 PM. all 80. if they need more shirts with the design then I have 30 transfers left. Not a bad days work. If I had used Iron All or any other transfer besides plastisol I would have spent time cutting and trimming and printing. Probably 2 days.. Thank you plastisol gods..

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badalou

· #9 · Oct 3, 2006

I Meant $5.75 per shirt.. not per sheet..

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lgiglio1

· #10 · Oct 4, 2006

You seem to be pretty knowledgable in the business. How long have you been doing t-shirts? Do you use mainly heat press? I am looking into starting a business and mainly doing customized shirts at sporting events, tournaments, etc. But also I have a local youth basketball league that orders screenprinted shirts every year with a two color logo on the front and a team name and number on the back. Is this something that I could do using heat transfers? They usually order about 260 shirts (about 26 teams of 10). Would it be worth putting in a bid for them? Any help you can give a newbie would be appreciated. Also, what exact equipment do you recommend I buy?

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Rodney

· #11 · Oct 4, 2006

lgiglio1 said:
Any help you can give a newbie would be appreciated. Also, what exact equipment do you recommend I buy?

You can find lots of help and tips by browsing some of the past threads in the Heat Press forum. You can also search this specific forum for keywords like equipment or paper to find past topics that have your questions already answered

Here's a couple that should help you out (with some posts from badalou):

Start up equipment:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/showthread.php?t=5475&highlight=size

Which Heat Press brand, where to buy:
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/showthread.php?t=5872

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badalou

· #12 · Oct 4, 2006

I would use plastisol transfers and I would look into www.transferexpress.com as I think they could really give you what you want.. As for as knowledge that comes from just doing things..retail business wise 35 years.. Tee shirt biz 10 months.. and still learning. This forum has been like tshirt 1010, 102, 103. I wonder if I will graduate.. Lou

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