[bryan]

I started my own clothing label about a year ago and am now to the point I need to start getting into retail shops instead of trying to sell everything myself.

Selling to retail shops kills my profit and I need to get the shirts for less, how much should I be paying for 30 colored gildan ultra cotton (or equivalent) with a 1 color print in 1 location? I would think that to order the shirts as direct as I can then have them printed would be cheaper, but with only 30 at a time the 2 extra shipping costs kill it.

Also, I realize 30 is a ridiculously low number, but that's what I need to do for now. I would like to use my own labels, but can't with such a small number, Is there an easy way to remove the existing tags? I'd like to use my own iron on labels.

Thanks guys!

 

[Rodney]

The pricing for that quantity would vary a bit from printer to printer. I would say for a quantity of 30, you'd probably be looking at $7-$9 per shirt (that's the garment and the printing).

I don't think you'd get much better pricing buying the t-shirts yourself and taking them to the printer, but the best way to find out would be to contact a few printers and get some estimates both ways.

Some printers will remove the tags and relabel for you for a small fee. Just ask them.

There are also a few past threads about removing tags that you might be able to find using the forum search.

 

[monkeylantern]

There isn't an easy way to remove tages unless you like a jagged tag remnant (a la threadless) or re-sew the hole. Replacing tags with a new tag is actually easier than removing just the old tag neatly.

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

You need to be heatpressing thermoflex plus on a .98 cent garment for a single colored design. Forget that $7-9 sillyness. Look at what you do as far as production cost and conform to the process that is most beneficial to you.

 

[monkeylantern]

You need to be heatpressing thermoflex plus on a .98 cent garment for a single colored design. Forget that $7-9 sillyness. Look at what you do as far as production cost and conform to the process that is most beneficial to you.

If you divide the price of a heatpress, printer, and ink over 30 shirts I suspect that'd you'd be paying nearer $30 a shirt....

98 cent garment? Even the thought of it makes me shudder with images of badly fitted paper-thin cotton sacks made by 8 years olds being whipped....

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

He specified a brand or an identicle product and a one color design with his own label in business for a year. Please dont assume he is stupid.....economically for blk and wht one color designs in a short run, heatpress thermoflex is ideal. Do you disagree?

 

[jdr8271]

I just bought anvil t-shirts for .99 last week. Anvil is my favorite...excellent quality. Im looking at the prices of the screen printer I have used here.

For 30 shirts it would be about 3.00 a shirt. Then the blank is about 1.50 - 2.00 on average.

7.00-9.00 is too expensive I think, although prices may be more expensive in california than in Philly.

 

[monkeylantern]

He specified a brand or an identicle product and a one color design with his own label in business for a year. Please dont assume he is stupid.....economically for blk and wht one color designs in a short run, heatpress thermoflex is ideal. Do you disagree?

I certainly wasn't suggesting he's stupid, and I'm not sure how you came to such a conclusion.

I presume Rodney's advice is for a screenprinted garment, done externally. For runs of 30, on Gildan, his price seems pretty on the mark.

It also seems to be what bryan was asking about.

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

I pay less than a buck for wht shirts every time. Heatpress vinyl in Blk or wht runs about $7 a yard. I can cut anything in one color you can dream of...I see no comparison with lettering and screenprinting. I love the freedom but see the limitations as well. I know my market and its limitations. I love the black and white....thats my customer!!!!!

 

[monkeylantern]

I pay less than a buck for wht shirts every time. Heatpress vinyl in Blk or wht runs about $7 a yard. I can cut anything in one color you can dream of...I see no comparison with lettering and screenprinting. I love the freedom but see the limitations as well. I know my market and its limitations. I love the black and white....thats my customer!!!!!

Bryan is:

1) Screenprinting
2) Using quality coloured shirts
3) Making a fashion item
4) Probably printing in colour
5) Making a premium product to sell at retail, in shops.

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

You are correct and I was wrong...he mentioned screen printing and his numbers were around $5 a shirt. I apologize fore my sillyness!!!

He didnt say:

:
using quality shirts...he named his shirt.
Making a fashion item??? what the f is it you are looking for????
He said he was printing in one color...did ya see that????
The premion product must have just skated by me...think I was lost in the re tagging nitemare!!!!!

 

[monkeylantern]

You are correct and I was wrong...he mentioned screen printing and his numbers were around $5 a shirt. I apologize fore my sillyness!!!

No problem, we love silliness

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

Where is the screen cost...and set up or does your screener throw that in for for free on a 30 shirt order?

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

its all numbers for sure and I love screenprint...I am heading that way for my more constant units.....but the short custom run is always gonna be heatpress...esspecially on a blk shirt!!!!

 

[printchic]

Hi Bryan,

Do you have a heat press? If so here's some suggestions that may save you tremendously,

1.) Get your Designs created as Screenprinted Heat Transfers

2.) Buy a box of shirts in various sizes and "press the designs on the shirts" as you get orders for it.

This means if you have say 4 different designs you could buy a quantity of the designs as heat transfers. As you get orders from the retail establishments you "press on those designs" and ship/deliver them.

Here's why I suggest it...

When i started out doing t-shirts I pressed up all types of various designs to take to my setup at the mall during mom's day, father's day and xmas. I kept lugging the unsold one's back and forth home. To date I still have "some of those designs on t-shirts that didn't sell". It's been since 1997 so my money went to waste on the "shirts & designs" i didn't sell.

So I decided to "press" the designs "as they were ordered". This "saved me" because "i bought a box of shirts in various sizes" and as people ordered I "heat pressed" the design "onto the garment". So when i left the mall i was lugging home "blanks" that could be used when I got other orders instead of "printed shirts that may or may not sell".

If a design didn't sell I was only out of the cost of the "heat transfer" not the shirt/design combined.

SUGGESTION 2:

1.) Look and find out if you have "a shirt company" near you. That way you can "pick up your shirts" or "save on shipping".

For me I order all my items from suppliers "close to me". When i need shirts for a "large order" instead of paying shipping I drive about "45 minutes" to get them because it's cheaper than paying to have them shipped. For my other supplies I order from the closest company to me although sometimes their cost may be a few cents more because "the saving" i incur on shipping makes it more economical and I can "get my items" faster than say if I ordered way across the map.

 

[monkeylantern]

You are correct and I was wrong...he mentioned screen printing and his numbers were around $5 a shirt. I apologize fore my sillyness!!!

He didnt say:

:
using quality shirts...he named his shirt.
Making a fashion item??? what the f is it you are looking for????
He said he was printing in one color...did ya see that????
The premion product must have just skated by me...think I was lost in the re tagging nitemare!!!!!

Gildan is a mainstream quality shirt.

Fashion item as opposed to corporate function mass-orders.

A retagged, screenprinted, Gildan, coloured shirt for retail suggests premium product.

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

Bryan is:

1) Screenprinting
2) Using quality coloured shirts
3) Making a fashion item
4) Probably printing in colour
5) Making a premium product to sell at retail, in shops.

You are assuming way to much I think. He stated a Gilden shirt or something close...one color design with an iron on logo or tag. Premiumn product...he is trying to supply an order for a profit. He isnt selling for retail because the costs are killing him? I may be way off track but I still think if he is trying iron on logos he has a press. What do you think?

 

[Rodney]

I may be way off track but I still think if he is trying iron on logos he has a press. What do you think?

I think since this thread is in the "screen printing" section of the forum, it's pretty safe to assume that the original poster is talking about screen printing.

The tag he is talking about is the neckline tag inside the garment that usually tells the manufacturer name "hanes/anvil/gildan". He wants to remove this manufacturer tag and replace it with a custom printed tag that says his brand name.

 

[MotoskinGraphix]

How do you replace a shirt tag with a custom tag on the fly? He mentioned iron on tags. This is what he wanted....

 

[Rodney]

How do you replace a shirt tag with a custom tag on the fly? He mentioned iron on tags. This is what he wanted....

Various places sell iron on labels that go in the neckline for people that don't want to sew them in. Like this place: namemaker.com/nametapes.asp

He's not talking about the actual design on the t-shirt being ironed on, just the label in the neckline.