Customer Demands! Quoting the price-suggestions

[jibr 0]

Hi, we would appreciate input on a customer we have. Currently we offer Gildan shirts, heavy 100% cotton preshrunk/prewashed, etc. He is requesting American Apparel which is sustancially different in price. He insists on this shirt, said it is best. Ok, no problem. The work he wants on the shirts are :

1 on the inside of the shirt near the neckline about 1x1 or 2x2 in size, 2 an approx 8x8 graphic that goes from nipple to nipple and down 3 a small graphic about 3x3 on the rh or lh bottom of the shirt.

He is from Canada and said he KNOWS he can get Gildan T-shirts complete with all this work for about $5-$7 each. Hmmmmm Then I said OK we're talking a difference between the brands, a whole $2-$3 difference and basically he is saying he thinmks he can or has gotten quotes for under $10. Hmmm again!

We want an opinion......He is looking to order between 200 and 1000 shirts and then some from us. What do we do? How do we handle a demanding customer. Consider, everything is bought in US, paid for in US dollars although the difference between the monies is about a nickle, however wit big orders like this we do not charge their PST and GST taxes of 13% on the sale and if at all MI 6% sales tax.

He could be a loyal customer and offer us references for others to be our customers so I do not want to be overly cocky......but I would like to make some money too....

Thanks

Brenda

[john! 1]

Well here is my suggestion for you.

When i get a demanding customer i am very leery off the bat because if he is demanding he has little respect for you or your company from the get go.

I mean, if you think about going to a coffee shop for a $1.50 cup of coffee and they make 2 gallons of coffee for $10 their cost but can get 30-40 cups out of that, you don't complain to them about pricing so customers need to do the same with our industry.

With him wanting pricing between 200-1000 shirts, that's a huge variety so....i would ask him "honestly, what is the budget you are looking to spend and a more realistic number of shirts"

Be sure your not falling into the trap of price matching because if he can get them for $5-7 each, then why is he getting a bid from you? Also if i were you, i'd ask for a invoice from

whomever he can get them that cheap for so you can match apples to apples and make sure he's not lying since believe it or not, alot do.

You need to understand that what your shop may need to charge will be different than what 5 other shops in your area charge for the exact same product so you win some and lose others.

Best of luck with the job and any other questions feel free to post up.  

[Spyder Graphix 0]

TO be honest I think that you could meet his quote pretty easy if you sub it to a screen printer. I could quote the job to you if you can tell me the number of shirts,number of colors,and if the print will be on one side or both sides of the shirt.

[Booper 2]

Im in Toronto Canada and I ordered screen printed tshirts from a local place about a year ago, one small 2x3 logo on the front and a 16x8 logo on the back, Gildan Ultra Cotton tee's single color white ink on black tshirts and black ink on white tshirts, and the average price per tshirt for an order of about 50 tshirts and 30 hoodies was about 13 bucks Canadian per tshirt and 26 bucks Canadian per hoodie taxes, screens and setup fees included.

Hope that helps

Ben

[jibr 0]

Thanks everyone I appreciate your replies..... This is helpful and I will pass this on to my partner.

Brenda

[Guest manwayvan]

Wow 200-1000 thats a huge difference in quantity..To be honest I would seriously doubt this until I seen the cash..Maybe just trying to use you for pricing..I would also make sure I got some cash upfront

[midwaste 4]

Check out the Gildan 64000, it's very comparable to AA shirts.  Otherwise, you can set up an account fairly easily with AA and get wholesale pricing, which is still pretty high, obviously.