I recently started designing t-shirts after finding Zazzle, but haven't yet tried other online services. I was surprised to learn that quality t-shirts are under $2 ... yet Z charges $16 or so for a simple design. Quite a markup! Okay, if the quality was great that might be justified, but my shirts are fading after 2 washings! Is this typical? Are other services better? And why does Z charge an extra $7 for a dark shirt, over $20 for a shirt they get for under $2 ????? By comparison, I have t-shirts that are 10 years old that still look decent. So, is there better quality out there in printing for better prices? Thanks for any advice.
Newbie Questions re Quality & Pricing
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
Joined
·
6,595 Posts
Pricing...
The hefty prices you are paying is based on the print-on-demand service. They are probably also hosting your online store, fulfilling your orders and drop shipping to your customers. If you want to start paying wholesale costs, then contact a local screen print shop and build inventory by the dozens or hundreds. You will also need to set up your own online store and handle orders yourself.
Quality...
They are probably using a direct-to-garment print method. While that technology has improved by leaps and bounds over the years, it still doesn't match the quality and durability of screen printing.
So look into local screen print shops and get price quotes and some samples of their work to compare the quality. The biggest factors in pricing with screen printing is the number of colors in the artwork and the quantity being printed of each design. If you are doing decent volume of simple artwork, you should see some good numbers.
Hope this helps.
The hefty prices you are paying is based on the print-on-demand service. They are probably also hosting your online store, fulfilling your orders and drop shipping to your customers. If you want to start paying wholesale costs, then contact a local screen print shop and build inventory by the dozens or hundreds. You will also need to set up your own online store and handle orders yourself.
Quality...
They are probably using a direct-to-garment print method. While that technology has improved by leaps and bounds over the years, it still doesn't match the quality and durability of screen printing.
So look into local screen print shops and get price quotes and some samples of their work to compare the quality. The biggest factors in pricing with screen printing is the number of colors in the artwork and the quantity being printed of each design. If you are doing decent volume of simple artwork, you should see some good numbers.
Hope this helps.
Thanks for the info Tim. So you're saying that screen printing is better quality than D-T-G. So my next question is to find out if there is a Zazzle style online design-it-yourself operation that produces high quality screen printed products at reasonable prices. The answer is surely here on this website, if I knew where to look!
Joined
·
6,595 Posts
You can search the forums for "on demand screen printing." I think you may find the prices to be similar or higher than Zazzle. Screen printing is at its most affordable when done in higher volume.
1 - 4 of 4 Posts
