[bocron]

So I'm trying to come up with a way to offer a variety of shirt styles with the same design. I have an artist currently finishing up a design for front and back of a shirt. These are for a business promo type shirt. The back will be a large design, fairly colorful and vivid. The front will just be the name of the company in the same type and style as in the large image on the back. My hope is to get plastisol transfers made so that I can have these put on a variety of shirts and colors. I don't want to do 100 of the same color since my clients have expressed interest in long sleeve, short sleeve, pigment dyed, that type of thing. I'd like to go on outlet shirts.com and just order 10 or 20 shirts at a time and then apply the transfers as needed. For example I love District Threads but they are kind of pricey for a huge batch, but I can order 8 or 10 online and not break the bank. I can even order specific colors as requested by clients.
Is this a stupid idea? Is there something I'm overlooking in the big picture?
Here is an example of the image I'm going for on the back, the front would just be the wording centered and smaller.

 

[proworlded]

Transfers would be an excellent option. You could apply them to a variety of products as you mentioned.

 

[bocron]

Thank you for the reply! So a plastisol transfer is kind of an improved version of the transfers we used to get at the beach as a kid? It is a solid image printed on any color you choose? I can do this on a white or natural shirt as well as a navy or red or grey or even tye dyed?

 

[proworlded]

Yes to all.

 

[drdoct]

Want some rain on your plan? You're going to have to get that image down to maximum 4 colors. Doing a 4 color transfer is going to cost you a lot of money. Even at the cheap places most won't do less than 100-250 for more than 4+ colors. Now, maybe I'm off because honestly when I started looking for stuff like this I got discouraged pretty quick. The other option would be the cad-printz off stahls, but they're heavy for a big design like this and I don't see a lot of places you could trim out the vinyl on it. I don't know who outlet shirts.com is or how much their shirts cost so I can't comment on that. What I can comment on is going ahead and getting a business license and tax number. Then you could get real reseller prices.

 

[proworlded]

Doc, I think you will find that there are many places that will do less quantity for 4+ colors. Obviously, the cost will be higher but the feasibility of the price is dependent on the judgement of the buyer.

 

[drdoct]

IMO, paying $10 a transfer isn't feasible though. That's why I was discouraged from it. I realize PW does it but you guys are pretty high on the custom side and I don't consider using that service as feasible to MY business. I do use your stock transfers though and consider that side very feasible.

I'm just trying to help this person see all the expenses and hassle of going through trying to get a print like that accomplished. There's also the option of printing it yourself on a laser or inkjet but I'm not sure of the durability.

 

[wormil]

Even at the cheap places most won't do less than 100-250 for more than 4+ colors. Now, maybe I'm off ...

You're way off... Semo, Howard, Versatrans, ProWorld, Transfer Express, Dowling; just to name a few.

 

[royster13]

You can get 100 x 6 colours for about 3.00 to 3.50 each is you look around....

 

[bocron]

3.50 each isn't a deal breaker for me. If I can use the transfers on hoodies or canvas bags and the like then I will probably go through 100 pretty easily.

It's probably still cheaper than printing a minimum order of tshirts and having to guess the sizes, of which I'll get wrong and have 30+ shirts lying around collecting dust.
I guess I could be way wrong on that, I'm not in the business obviously, just trying to learn.

 

[royster13]

The real challenge with transfers is figuring out how many to order.....

Where there is potential for ongoing sales, schools, pizza places, churches, etc. I will order 2 or 3 x as many as the order on hand....For date specific events, the amount of extras will usually be quite small....

Sometimes I will sell all the extras and other times I will only sell a few....Sometimes I have to re-order the same design because they sell real well....But it usually works out well....And early in the New Year I count up all my extras and have a sale....Throughout the year I watch for sales and stock up.....The extra transfer and sale stock can create cash flow early in the year when sales are not exactly booming....