Thanks for the welcome. You're right. It gets under my skin when someone is unhappy because when I started up, I was miserable and couldn't get straight answers from anyone...so I promised myself I'd do what I could to help others.
It seems like every so often though, someone comes along who either mis-guessed the work involved in starting a business, or just isn't capable of being made happy, so I do have to just accept sometimes that I lose a customer here and there.
For her to call our inks junk is pretty slanderous though and she might want to be a little more careful about the terminology she uses. Since some of the inks she uses now are the same as mine, I hope she rethinks unloading her investment just because she doesn't like me...that'd be pretty illogical to throw away good ink because of an attitude.
For anyone who doesn't know the history of our inks... it's called the Magic Mix inks because they were combined from different brands of inks so that the optimal results for transfers were achieved... meaning least fading/bleeding possible.
Not all colors are the same as she's using. If she complained about our black compared to the black she uses through MIS, that would have made sense. The black is totally different and when I tested those blacks, I had bleeding everywhere, thus the need to combine different lines of inks to get the best results.
I don't wish her ill-will at all though. I hope she does a great business. I just hope she rethinks bad-mouthing something in the same paragraph that she praises something else without realizing they're the same item. It's a poor reflection on her.
Something that used to be said often on our other forum still holds true today though... "If it's something that just anyone could do, why would they need us to do it for them?" I really like that quote. Yes, sometimes things are annoying and sometimes there is banding or flaking, etc.
It's up to us to learn our profession and figure out WHY these things happen so that we can be the best in our trade. That way, when the crafters of the world (I love crafters, don't get me wrong) want to sell shirts for a living and run into problem after problem... they have to decide... "Am I going to put forth the effort to LEARN what I'm doing or should I just have a professional do it for me?"
Either way, a choice needs to be made. This industry isn't for everyone. It takes hard work and continued effort like any other business. Those who blame a vendor for their failures might be better off letting the professionals do the job.
I couldn't tolerate sublimation. I just didn't have the patience for it. Now clearly, there are hundreds if not thousands who do it daily... so I can't blame the vendor or the inks for my lack of stamina to battle on until I won and was able to make great sublimation products.
My colors were always wrong, I had the ghosting, the profile problems, etc. It was always issues of wrong temp, time, pressure, ... who knows what all it was... but it wasn't the vendor or the inks... it was ME.
Becoming educated about your trade is vital. If anyone actually expects to buy stuff and not have a learning curve, I'd hate to be a fly on their wall when they face reality. Ink is messy and good ink is expensive. You have to try, try again until you find ways of making a consistently superior product.
I know I'm preaching to the choir for the most part here, but I hope that newbies will see this and understand that this is a business venture and it should be taken seriously enough to know that it's not a cake walk. It's incredibly fun and fulfilling in my opinion for those who do what it takes to learn and become successful though.
I wish I knew who some of these screen names were. I see you guys posting about our products and that you're happy with our service, etc... Since I'm not sure who you all are, I just want to throw out a blanket "Thank You!" for the very kind words. I'll do my best to make sure I don't let you down by referring me to others.
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