[Create a Wear]

!! Taking John's, Joe's and Tom's advice, I have cut the questions down to 4. If you cannot answer them all ANY info will be helpful, and if you have other info that may help please post it. !!

Thanks Tom, John and Joe

We are starting a new DTG retail store and our econ. dev. guru has asked me to collect info from others that are in the business.
Please copy and paste the questions and answer them to the best of your knowledge. Thanks!!

1. What are you charging per shirt on 1 or more shirts printed on your dtg?





2. Estimated average sales per month in a retail environment.





3. Where is your shop (Mall, Kiosk, Basement, store front, industrial park etc.)




4. What machine are you currently running?




If you would like to add anything that may help us out, feel free. We appreciate any help we receive from you.


Thanks again

Jay and Liz

 

[Uncle John]

Wow, you need a market research company. Try asking one at a time.
Best of luck, John

 

[SBEMedia]

That's a tall order and you'll find as many answers as you have questions. What you should ask yourself, what type of brand or product do I want to deliver to the market? Once you nailed that down, then you can begin to research the market if that is what's needed or not needed. Starting off by asking such broad questions will cause you to run around in circles, trust me I've spent many an hour chasing my own tail.(LOL)

It's great to concern yourself with the interworkings of your business, i.e. costs, discounts, but you must first choose what segment you want to go after. Unlike Nike, which has a HUGE company, they state their marketing strategy targets anyone who buys shoes. In my own case, I'm not sure about yours, I don't have millions to throw at different marketing strategies. I must look at each opportunity cost and weigh it against what I'll have to give up, i.e. money I can't spend elsewhere, to determine if it's an appropriate course of action.

Sorry if I'm too wordy, but my final thought, is the DTG the best product for what you are trying to achieve; meaning, does the equipment match the market? Or better put, do you have to spend an exorbitant amount up-front, when if you chose another printing medium you might get the same benefits but still allow money in the budget for other costs...

That's just my ten cents...

 

[oroboy]

I myself am quite interested in any answers people have to offer as I too am getting into the business; but I'll agree with the previous posts that there's too many questions, some of which I don't think most people will be able to answer.

Questions 1,2,5,7, and 10 are questions that probably could be answered by people in the biz, while the others aren't going to really be relevant for a small - medium scale operation. Also, I think that the answers to questions 1 and 2 are largely depended upon different variables that have to be factored in; which are (but not limited to): size of shirt, art charges, color of shirt, how many different areas of the shirt are to be printed on, and any other misc. costs that come with making a custom one-off shirt.

Question #5 can be answered (ball park figure), but there are so many variables that factor into it as well... like December might be a very good month for a lot of printers because people want custom shirts to give as Christmas presents, while another month without any holidays or special events might not fare as well.

 

[Jasonda]

Jay, you're unlikely to get information about pricing and sales figures from the people here. Technically, many of them are your competitors. Also keep in mind that this is a public forum and they might not want their customers or local competition to know these things.

As for equipment, you could find more information about that by reading the threads here in the forum, or by calling up some of the supply companies in your area that deal with this kind of equipment and ask them what their big sellers are.

 

[Uncle John]

Here's may bank account number and my Mom's maiden name. The people here are helpful but some information is personal, hope you understand.

 

[Jasonda]

Wow, I used to think people in this forum were helpful. It says right in the post if you don't want to answer a question you don't have to. Your customers already know 1 and 3!

The people here ARE helpful .. please don't get me wrong. I actually think this is the most helpful forum I have ever been a part of. People here will bend over backwards to help you with your problems and answer your questions, even if they have been answered 10 times already in 10 other threads. If you spend some more time here, you will see that.

BUT, you have to be aware - financial information is very sensitive. Your customers might know your pricing but they don't know your sales figures. Nobody should know those but you, unless you have a publicly traded company.

If you are looking for this information to help you with your business plan you should look into contacting some market research firms. Most likely you will have to pay for that info but the information you will receive will be accurate and reliable. People in an internet forum can tell you they make any amount of money and you have no way of knowing if it is true.

 

[Create a Wear]

Disregard this post please

 

[Uncle John]

Jay, I'm sorry that we wouldn't answer your questions, but you ask questions that are not for public consumption. This site can be viewed by anyone. If we give prices, sales etc. we compromise our business, Please don't take offense, Most questions will be answered related to how to, vendors.
Don't give up on the forum. John

 

[oroboy]

Jay, I'm sorry that we wouldn't answer your questions, but you ask questions that are not for public consumption. This site can be viewed by anyone. If we give prices, sales etc. we compromise our business, Please don't take offense, Most questions will be answered related to how to, vendors.
Don't give up on the forum. John

I guess I should apologize myself... I didn't take the time to realize that information of this nature is confidential when you really think about it. Chalk it up to another newb mistake on my part. Apologies guys.

 

[Uncle John]

Just join in and learn and share your knowledge, that's what we try to do. Some of what you asked can be answered by looking at on the left side of the page under resources, others like DTG contract printers, just Google it. At the top of the page is a search, put in a key word and it will pull volumes of knowledge. I know its frustrating getting started, but we have all been there.
Enjoy the journey, John