Simple Question...Not so simple Answer...How should I price this?

611 Views 21 Replies 7 Participants Last post by cookiesa, Jun 3, 2012

Jewwell

Discussion Starter · May 29, 2012

What is the simple calculation for pricing heat transfers on blank tees. I am doing a community event, this is my first time getting my name out there. This church event is only an annual event, so I am not trying to kill anyone on prices, but definitely to recoup the expenses and a profit.
I am selling Gildan 100% pre-shrunk and Anvil 100% pre-shrunk.
Sizes- Youth M, L, XL
Adult men- L, XL, 2XL
Women - S, M, L, XL, 2X

For this event I was wondering if I should do an across the board price on tees, or is the youth tees always lower?

To get the shirts moving I didn't know if I should do $10 across the board, or what?

There will be 1 other tshirt vendor, but his designs will be focused more on school issues, bullying, etc.
Mine are religious messages, purchased from ProWorld.

Please advise... Thanks.

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missswissinc

· #2 · May 29, 2012

well not doing heat transfers I really can't tell you what to charge people. however, I can give you an idea as to what charge. You mentioned about recovering your costs. good that is a start. also mentioned a profit good. here is a formula another poster mentioned and I have used it and I'm happy since alot of the money we keep except for buying the shirt.

formula
material cost x (production time + mark up).

so lets say it costs oh and this is a guess say material costs $5. your labor to do the shirts if your pre printing them takes oh an hr and you want to make oh a 65% mark up.

so plugging the #'s in you get 5 x 1.65 = $8.25 you basically recouped your cost plus made about more then half of your money back from the expense.

Now I usually charge an upcharge for anything over XL. reason is that usually s-xl is always on sale so your going to get a deal there. however, anything above that usually is a set price. we look at what the s-xl and the difference is so lets say its a oh $2. well then say 2-XL add $2 to costs. alot of business do it that way. anything over xl they say add this to the original cost of a s-xl.

as for youth shirts they usually run close to the adult sizes that there is no real margin so I usually tell clients that they are about maybe less then $.50 in costs so go figure.

I hope this works for you and I hope you can get some outside business from this.

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superD70

· #3 · May 29, 2012

you need numbers of shirts and prices of transfers to determine a price, 2X & up shirts usually cost a few bucks extra also

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royster13

· #4 · May 29, 2012

So you are pressing and selling stock designs?...

You should at least double your money so I am thinking 10.00 each minimum is a good start....Depending on the type of folks attending, you might be able to get more.....

Have you done an event specific design?...You can get 100 transfers from F&M Expressions for about 50.00....You only have to see a dozen or so and you can cover your costs even if you do not sell all of them...If you are not much of an artist, there is also Easy Prints from Transfers Express.....

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Jewwell

Discussion Starter · #5 · May 29, 2012

Yes, I am purchasing the transfer designs and hot pressing them onto blank tees myself. I was also considering 10.00 for youth and adults and the shirts that are 2x and larger add $2.00 to it. Hoping this won't scare folks away!

I mean 100% cotton pre-shrunk, they can atleast feel that the shirt isn't a cheap quality. What if they purchase 2 shirts, should I say 1 for 10.00 and 2 for ????? Whew, I hate this part of business!!!

But I don't want to sell myself short either.

Preston

· #6 · May 29, 2012

Jewwell said:
For this event I was wondering if I should do an across the board price on tees, or is the youth tees always lower?

To get the shirts moving I didn't know if I should do $10 across the board, or what?

There will be 1 other tshirt vendor, but his designs will be focused more on school issues, bullying, etc.
Mine are religious messages, purchased from ProWorld.

Please advise... Thanks.

Pricing at an event is totally different then pricing for production. At an event you may sell 10 shirts or you may sell 300 shirts so you cannot use labor/time in a formula to determine price.

Youth shirts normally cost you more than adult shirts because they are never on sale. For this reason alone youth shirts should not be priced lower than adult shirts.

We do events all the time except we screen print instead of heat press. We wholesale the shirts to the event for $10.00 (Youth thru Adult XL) so I would never sell a shirt at an event for less than 10 bucks.

There will be another t-shirt vendor at the event as you stated. People will usually not buy a shirt from both of you even if the subject mater is different. So every shirt he sells is one less you you may sell. Just keep that in mind.

I would go to the event start setting up and if the other guy is selling for 10 then you sell for 10. If he is selling for 15 then you sell for 15 or less. If he is selling for 15 you could always do 15 for one or 2 for 20, it works.

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Jewwell

Discussion Starter · #7 · May 29, 2012

Whew...okay. And I would find out what the other vendor is selling his tees for how? Do these people get a bit defensive when you inquire about their price or are they usually looking for the same info from me? I'm sure to have nightmares the night before! lol

missswissinc

· #8 · May 29, 2012 (Edited by Moderator)

don't know where your getting your shirts but just went to b&r and adult 50/50 color on sale (less than that) s-xl. youth s-xl black also and yeah they are not on sale but usually they mark the youth down also since they do it for the adults.

Preston

· #9 · May 29, 2012

Jewwell said:
Whew...okay. And I would find out what the other vendor is selling his tees for how? Do these people get a bit defensive when you inquire about their price or are they usually looking for the same info from me? I'm sure to have nightmares the night before! lol

So you are planning on not having any pricing posted? I guess the other guy just hopes customers walk up and ask "How much are your shirts" also.

If he does not have his price posted then you post yours anyway. The people will see your pricing, not see his, and will come to you for shirts instead of him.

missswissinc said:
don't know where your getting your shirts but just went to b&r and adult 50/50 color $2.34 on sale s-xl. youth s-xl black also $2.10 and yeah they are not on sale but usually they mark the youth down also since they do it for the adults.

I never buy from B&R and I never pay that much for adult shirts.

Jewwell

Discussion Starter · #10 · May 29, 2012 (Edited by Moderator)

missswissinc said:
don't know where your getting your shirts but just went to b&r and adult 50/50 color on sale s-xl. youth s-xl black also and yeah they are not on sale but usually they mark the youth down also since they do it for the adults.

You stated adult 50/50, that is 50 polyester and 50 cotton correct? Do the customers prefer 100% cotton pre-shrunk? I always thought that's what people preferred...

Jewwell

Discussion Starter · #11 · May 29, 2012

Preston said:
So you are planning on not having any pricing posted? I guess the other guy just hopes customers walk up and ask "How much are your shirts" also.

If he does not have his price posted then you post yours anyway. The people will see your pricing, not see his, and will come to you for shirts instead of him.

I never buy from B&R and I never pay that much for adult shirts.

Since this is my first event, is it okay to use a small display that the paper slides into to post the price? Something like "S-XL t-shirts $10.00" "2X and up $12.00"....

royster13

· #12 · May 29, 2012

My sales are mostly 100% cotton....

Reactions: 1

DivineBling

· #13 · May 30, 2012

Jewwell said:
Since this is my first event, is it okay to use a small display that the paper slides into to post the price? Something like "S-XL t-shirts $10.00" "2X and up $12.00"....

It would be okay if it was your 100th event. Those acrylic things are great!

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Jewwell

Discussion Starter · #14 · May 30, 2012

DivineBling said:
It would be okay if it was your 100th event. Those acrylic things are great!

LOL, Thanks for your reply Stephanie! I thought you would be taking it easy, since I wasn't flooding you with questions "today"! Tomorrow is another day!

Thanks again to you and Joseph for being such a great help and support system for me!

Kudos to the Synergy17 Team!

cookiesa

· #15 · May 30, 2012

Pricing based on what the other "guy" does is not generally a good idea. As stated what is the difference in quality of the garments? Are you designs going to be the hotter item or theirs?

I'm a big believer in marking your price. People are less trusting of a store/stall with no prices, a remark I think is so true in relation to mRketting and pricing is "don't hide your price, if your too ashamed to yell it to your customers you probably know your aiming too high"

At the end of the day is this a hobby or a business? If a hobby you might be willing to do it for cost, if it is a business then you need to run it like one, that involves working out your costs and a markup.

Don't forget your margin will also generally be towards marketting, buying your acrylic pricing system, signs, power, equipment replacement and upgrades as well as your wage. Otherwise all your doing is buying yourself a job!

Working out your costs will inlcude a labour cost, this needs to be based on how many T's you can realistically can produce per hour. Divide your "labour" rate by the number of units. Your labour cost is very important, down the track as you grow and use other processes it will allow you to quote on jobs. Don't confuse a labour rate with an hourly wage figure, that's only part of it.

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Preston

· #16 · May 30, 2012

cookiesa said:
Pricing based on what the other "guy" does is not generally a good idea. As stated what is the difference in quality of the garments? Are you designs going to be the hotter item or theirs?

The reason I suggested it in this case is because he has never done an event and he will be competing against another vendor at the event. If he is pricing 10 and the other guy is pricing 5 then he may as well just pack up and leave. He needs to be competitively priced for the market and the market that day will be the event.

Unless you bring an enormous amount of extra quality or service to the table that makes customers willing to pay a higher price for your product over the other guy, they will not buy from you. The customer could also care less about your overhead and if you are making a profit or not. They do not care. If you have to price higher for the same type of product because of your overhead then you either need to figure out how to reduce your overhead or pack it up and find something else to do.

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Jewwell

Discussion Starter · #17 · May 30, 2012

Preston said:
The reason I suggested it in this case is because he has never done an event and he will be competing against another vendor at the event. If he is pricing 10 and the other guy is pricing 5 then he may as well just pack up and leave. He needs to be competitively priced for the market and the market that day will be the event.

Unless you bring an enormous amount of extra quality or service to the table that makes customers willing to pay a higher price for your product over the other guy, they will not buy from you. The customer could also care less about your overhead and if you are making a profit or not. They do not care. If you have to price higher for the same type of product because of your overhead then you either need to figure out how to reduce your overhead or pack it up and find something else to do.

I was able to do a bit of research and I found out his prices will be around 18.00 for kids tees, and adults around 24.00. I know my transfers cannot compete that is why they are fixed at a 10 and 12.00 price. However my stoned tees, are also going to priced about 20 or 22. is that safe?

DivineBling

· #18 · May 30, 2012

I understand what you're both saying and I agree with both of you. I'm a big believer in pricing my own stuff based on what I want to make and the time and labor involved. For example, I have a friend/customer who recently asked me to make her a 1st Grade Rocks shirt for her son's teacher. She has purchased from another mutual friend who has a different design style from me and also has a 1st Grade Rocks design that uses more and bigger rhinestones than mine. We use the same quality of stones but I import mine and sell them and she buys retail so I know that my material costs are considerably lower than hers. That said, I still priced my shirt higher than hers. I have no desire to compete with her and I won't get into a price war with her. She has a full time job and does this on the side. This is my job. I love her designs and I respect her and I will never try to pull customers from her. I'm not bitter if my customers go buy from her. We have different styles. My prices are my prices. If I was hurting for business, I would probably revisit my pricing formula. But word of mouth travels fast and most of my customers are repeat.

Anyway, that's one side.

The other side is that this is Jewell's first time ever exhibiting or selling anything like this. Of course she will want to have her prices displayed clearly. This is a learning experience for her as well as a chance for her to get the word out about her new business venture. So posting a "Show Special" price of $10/shirt and $12 for XXL is a great idea. She could even post a sign that shows that her regular prices on the shirts is $15 or $18 each but that there is this show special of $10 each. People LOVE to think that they're getting a fabulous deal at a show like this. Advertising such a cut in price will also deter some customers from trying to haggle even lower. (I did say SOME customers. LOL)

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DivineBling

· #19 · May 30, 2012

Jewwell said:
I was able to do a bit of research and I found out his prices will be around 18.00 for kids tees, and adults around 24.00. I know my transfers cannot compete that is why they are fixed at a 10 and 12.00 price. However my stoned tees, are also going to priced about 20 or 22. is that safe?

If you can make it work, I would price your single color rhinestone shirts closer to $18. Put something that says your regular price is $25 and that you have a show special for $18 or whatever you can do to make it work for you. That should still give you a nice profit.

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Jewwell

Discussion Starter · #20 · May 31, 2012

Do I even need to say.........THANK YOU!!!!

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