Re: Need advice on pricing!

having done some contract screen printing its going to come down to what other local printers are doing in your area for screen printing. Now I know everybody is going to have different prices for different levels of screen printing. I would suggest calling a couple of screen printers in your area and say hey my boss has put me in charge of this project to get some shirts done for a company picnic and wants to know if you can provide a price sheet so we can see what amount of shirts we need to get for you to print at a price we have in mind. You might get some hesitation but you never know.

 

Re: Need advice on pricing!

Custom Screen Printing Retail Prices - Silk Screen T-Shirts

 

Re: Need advice on pricing!

Thank you! That's a great idea. I was able to find one company locally that does it but when I worked out the math it doesn't seem like this company will make much money. I've done one job for them and i didn't charge enough so I need to make a structured price list- I will definitely research local companies.

Their current quote request 2- 2colour designs - so 4 screens to make 10 tshirts.

 

Re: Need advice on pricing!

Don't forget to account for any time you spend hand holding them over the phone or in person.

We have some customers that require constant communication -- I have had to raise their pricing more than once. If they balk, I explain that the level of service they require has to be paid somehow. If they walk, good riddance -- we are too busy to lose money on a company that calls 8 times per week.

 

Re: Need advice on pricing!

In contract printing, you really need to know exactly what is cost to make a print. You are taking out the profits from selling then the tee so it's all made on your production.

Matching or being slightly lower than your local competitor may not help, since your overhead is different than his/hers. Getting all the orders and worki g day and night might only get you faster to closing your doors due to the lack of profits.

You need to see what your bottom line is per Hr, see what you need to get and see how much profit you can add on and still be competitive.

 

Re: Need advice on pricing!

Thank you! You are right...another thing I didn't consider.

 

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Coming up with a price for contract printing can be a pain.. We find out of cut throat price slashing goes on.

 

99.9% of our work is contract. Pricing contract is very easy if you have your normal pricing methodology setup right in the first place. The problem is most new shops have a pricing structure that seems to come from nowhere other than it sounds like a good price and it is close to what others are charging.

How much do you charge retail just for the printing part of a job not including the shirt? Do you even know or is your pricing based on X dollars for a 1 color print on white shirts, add X amount for dark shirts? If the later is the case then your pricing methodology structure is setup wrong.

You should have a pricing structure for the garment with markup and then a separate pricing structure for the decoration to the garment. You should never use the garment markup to supplement the amount of money you need to make on the printing part or visa-versa. They should be calculated separately and then added together for the final price per garment that you give to your customer.

I just went through this exercise with a fast growing company that had been using a all inclusive price list for a few years. They had no clue as to just how much of their all inclusive pricing was for decoration or how they even derived it in the first place. I reverse engineered their pricing sheet to extract the data and then using some tools they where able to give all inclusive pricing with any garment and always make the same profit on the printing plus the needed profit on the garment. They now find that they are consistently more profitable as a whole.

 

^^^ bingo.

When a customer gets a printed quote from us, it shows the following

Textile Price: $xxx.xx ($yy.yy/shirt)
Setup price $xxx.xx ($yy.yy/screen)
Inking Price - Front $xxx.xx ($yy.yy/shirt)
Inking Price - Back $xxx.xx ($yy.yy/shirt)
Artwork/Design Fee $xxx.xx
Shipping/Delivery Fee $xxx.xx

At the bottom we add:

"Cost per item may change if quantity is changed. Job will be ready for pickup at 5pm on XX/YY/ZZ if job is paid in full by end of the business day today. Job completion date will be requoted if payment is made at a later date. Price quoted is firm for 14 days. Job can not be canceled later than 24 hours after payment. Jobs canceled before 24 hours after payment will incur a 15% textile restocking fee."

If they submit their own textiles, I put a line on the invoice that reflects our garment unboxing and check fee.

Always break down your pricing so you know what to charge people who want to cover a portion of it themselves.

 

Thank you everyone for your input.

When I made my business plan I did work out an hourly shop rate which I use to calculate and cost out my jobs.

I've have found a couple shops in the general area that do contract work and the prices range dramatically.

I am just a one person operation with a 1 station 4 colour set up and I know that can't really compete with the pricing of larger shops because it takes me much more time for production.

I guess my pricing problem is in estimating how long it will take for the actual printing of larger quantities. My jobs have usually been quite small and I've only done a few multiple colour jobs so I don't really know the actual time per shirt it will take.

 

As someone who has been in and out of the print industry for almost 20 years, I'll let you in on a little secret: it is actually "easier" to compete in an area with a lot of competition than in one with very little. You just need to outlast others who make the attempt and fail (or get too big and fail).

One way I have been able to offset the high cost to entry is to co-op my machinery with others who are in neighboring communities but can't afford shop space nor equipment. I would give them a block of time every evening where they could rent my studio for a very good rate if they wanted to. Far cheaper than they could buy themselves, but above my overhead costs (machine maintenance + electricity).

Finding the price YOU need to be at does involve your competition's price, but is more affected by other input variables than just what your competition charges. A one man shop CAN be more flexible in certain cases and can definitely give great service where a big corporate venture may not.

Good luck on getting some contracts -- if you can get them to return on a regular basis, you can at least meet your overhead, and use your retail customers for actual profit making.