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NukleoN

Teespring or DIY Shirts?

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Hi there!

I'm at a crossroads here.

I want to make shirts for my Spacep0d brand on YouTube, but I have a design in mind that will need at least one sleeve graphic for a t-shirt.

I know Teespring is one good way to make shirts using a crowd-sourced funding type model, but they don't do sleeve graphics.

The shirts I want will have a little text and a small logo on the front, a larger picture on the back and a small graphic on the right sleeve. Black or navy blue.

How easy is it to do sleeve graphics with my own press? Also, I don't even have a press yet. Recommendations for a beginner shirt-maker for both a press and the type of transfer paper to use would be great. I have lots of experience cutting decals and have a good standard sized printer for Cobra Ink with pigment ink. My budget is really limited, so I am looking for major bang-for-the-buck here. I want to be able to do small or large shirts.

What would you do? I don't want to be just another shirt that anyone can do, even though I will be making the art myself. I really want the sleeve graphic too.

Cost/benefit:

Teespring: They handle printing and shipping. Easy. Downside? Limited with printing areas. Potential loss of profit.
DIY: Full-control, made to order, maximized profit. Downsides? Have to order wholesale shirts, labor to print/press, have to ship personally.

Any advice is appreciated. I am also open to having someone else make shirts for me, or we can arrange a trade for art or something.

Thanks!

Spacepod

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Do you ship now? How many packages a month? What will it be after you have the shirts? How would you print labels?

I will leave the shirt answers for someone else, but shipping I can help with.

Packaging- poly mailing bag/box/tube or what you plan to ship in. Figure how many you need, then double it. That is the # to buy.

Fill- peanuts/paper/foam/bubble wrap or? Buy enough for the amount of packaging needed.

Shipping labels- Pre-cut stick on no matter how you print. Match the # to packaging. Paper labels and tape will kill you in labor time. Factor in Ink needed if not using a thermal label printer.

Paper for invoices/packing slips/instructions etc.

2" Tape, you will always need it for something.

Add all your costs up and see what it comes out to per piece, then add $2-3 for postage and Paypal fees. If you ship at the PO it will be more.

We ship 4-500 packages a month. Labels are bought (dedicated thermal label printer)5000 at a time, bubble wrap is 1000 feet. We use 4 sizes of poly mailers, 1000 per size when restocked. Boxes are free from USPS for Priority.

We print everything thermal, no ink. All receipts/instructions etc. are digital unless paper is requested. Most of our orders ship same day.

Shipping can get you in over your head if your not careful, hope some of this helps.

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I do sleeves on my hat press usually but I can do the on my regular press with a pillow type setup to keep them nice and flat. Jet pro sofstretch for white shirts and 3G opaque for the rest.

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See thread below. Hotronix Dual Station Press

Love that but no way I can afford that now. I did notice the Hotronix Clam Shell Auto-Open press for $850 from U.S. Cutter and other sources, and it's got the quick-change lower-platen. Really sold on that right now. So, it's a question of DIY with this press vs. online shirt printers which limits my creative-control.

I do ship lots of stickers now so I am good with shipping and I use Stamps.com. I may start buying bulk mailers for shirts if I end up doing them myself.

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Another question, how do you all contour-cut full-color designs for use with a heat-press? Do you just contour cut on your cutters like you would anything else? Or, do you print on your transfer paper and then I am guessing anything not printed doesn't transfer?

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On non white shirt transfers you print then contour on your cutter or with scissors depending on complexity. White transfers I just try close with scissors although you can contour cut them as well

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Basically you are looking at:

 

Outsourcing = No Work/No Stock/No Time/No Postage/No Money Handling = Small Profit per piece

or

DYI = Equipment & Stock Investment/Labor/Control/Postage/Payment Acceptance  = Larger Profit per piece

 

How much larger profit is the question once you factor in your costs and do you have the TIME available.

 

How many shirts will it take to offset the cost

of new equipment/stock and time?

Both options require quantity to make a reasonable profit.

 

Teespring requires a minimum within a set time frame or the order

is canceled.  Nothing lost, nothing gained but time.

BUT you have to work within what they offer.

 

DYI you can actually make just one or two samples...

and imprint wherever you want...people do  like to SEE

and TOUCH the item if possible.

If it doesn't fly, move on to the next idea.

 

:unsure:  Just my take....

Sue2

 

 

 

 

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I might do Teespring first just to see what happens and when I can afford the Hottronix Clam Shell I'll get that. I don't want a cheap press, but I do eventually want full-control over my designs (along with sleeve printing). At least with the Teespring thing I can see how well my shirts/designs sell and then that will give me confidence to make better shirts later.

Thanks for all the great advice!

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My $0.02, in 2011 I bought a reasonable priced swing away press thinking that I would just do a few shirts here and there for my kids and if someone happened to want one I would be able to crank it out.  Fast forward to now, I have not done any kind of analysis but I would not be the least surprised if 70% of my business (small as it is) is now apparel. I should buy a new fancy heat press, probably will when I get the itch but that silly affordable press is still cranking out the business with very little investment. I think I paid $350 or so from USCutter. They don't offer the same model anymore. Nothing fancy, the heat gauge is off but it does great. My point is not to get too worried about coming up with the top of the line when you are just getting your feet wet. You already have a cutter and the skills to make decals which translates into the same ability to design and cut HTV. Add a cheap press and the sleeve decals are a snap. The transfers are basically about as easy. At least if you get going and decide it's just too much work then you have more information to make a decision if it goes big. I too have a hat press that I prefer to do sleeves with but a regular press and a prefect press pad (or probably a mouse pad) will get it done with a little care. 

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My $0.02, in 2011 I bought a reasonable priced swing away press thinking that I would just do a few shirts here and there for my kids and if someone happened to want one I would be able to crank it out.  Fast forward to now, I have not done any kind of analysis but I would not be the least surprised if 70% of my business (small as it is) is now apparel. I should buy a new fancy heat press, probably will when I get the itch but that silly affordable press is still cranking out the business with very little investment. I think I paid $350 or so from USCutter. They don't offer the same model anymore. Nothing fancy, the heat gauge is off but it does great. My point is not to get too worried about coming up with the top of the line when you are just getting your feet wet. You already have a cutter and the skills to make decals which translates into the same ability to design and cut HTV. Add a cheap press and the sleeve decals are a snap. The transfers are basically about as easy. At least if you get going and decide it's just too much work then you have more information to make a decision if it goes big. I too have a hat press that I prefer to do sleeves with but a regular press and a prefect press pad (or probably a mouse pad) will get it done with a little care. 

Same thing happened with me and stickers. One sticker was so overpriced when I bought it online that I decided to get a cutter and start cutting. I joined this site around that time. Fast forward to now and I cut decals constantly. One of my wheel caps even showed up on Jay Leno's Garage (on a FIAT Abarth). Done a few celebrity decals at this point and a bunch of others.

For years I've wanted to get in to shirts. I've just not been in the right situation to get a good press, but I am keen to do so. Basically, the decal biz offers me the freedom to work on my own projects instead of keeping a corporate job, but then there's the feast and famine of freelance.

But, I think I can generate some income with the shirt press. I really do want a good one, even as my first press. I'm weird like that. My Chinese cutter LP24 is actually quite good though, and it does everything I need it to do (even if contour cutting isn't always perfect). I think a Graphtec would be better with contour cutting and small text but I can't justify the expense. With a good heat press, I really want that quick-change platen and the microwound heating element, and Hotronix's reputation and build-quality. Plus, the caddy looks so rugged and awesome along with those tray tables you can add-on.

Maybe I'll try to finance it so I can ease the entry cost just a bit and then start taking-on shirt orders. Since I'm an artist full-time, I love the idea of making one-off shirts that I just can't easily do with a service like Teespring. I also would like to keep all of the profits instead of Teespring taking a cut (even if they offer a great service). Made-to-order shirts would be great too, with no wasted product, so the heat press would be good there too.

What is this pillow method I keep hearing about for sleeves? How would this work? Do I not need a hat or sleeve platen?

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I do sleeves om my 16 X 20 platen. I slide a mouse pad in the sleeve where I plan to press so the seam below doesn't interfere.

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Like Jaybird said. I have a "Perfect Press Pad" I bought from Stahl's that looks to be a chunk of some lower platen rubber/silicone. They have different sizes, mine is 5"x 6" I think. I slide it in between the sleeve to alleviate the issues with the seam and to hold that part of the shirt up so it reduces the amount of wrinkles that happen everywhere around it. The press pad is about as thick as two mouse pads. I know you can press mouse pads without harming them so that's a good option, I had already bought my pad by the time I heard about using the mouse pad.  I also have a couple pressing pillows that are foam filled teflon bags that are handy when there are fabric seams near your design. IT down't take much to hold part of the upper platen up and cause pressure issues and pillows compensate for that. 

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Like Jaybird said. I have a "Perfect Press Pad" I bought from Stahl's that looks to be a chunk of some lower platen rubber/silicone. They have different sizes, mine is 5"x 6" I think. I slide it in between the sleeve to alleviate the issues with the seam and to hold that part of the shirt up so it reduces the amount of wrinkles that happen everywhere around it. The press pad is about as thick as two mouse pads. I know you can press mouse pads without harming them so that's a good option, I had already bought my pad by the time I heard about using the mouse pad.  I also have a couple pressing pillows that are foam filled teflon bags that are handy when there are fabric seams near your design. IT down't take much to hold part of the upper platen up and cause pressure issues and pillows compensate for that. 

Thanks to you and Jaybird for explaining this so well! :) I am dead-set on the Hottronix....just a matter of time now. Still paying back a few debts but after that I'll definitely order one.

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I LOVE my Hotronix and it's an older model (I think 1999). Works better than any new chinese press I ever used.

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Why not use a local printer, save $$$ and promote local businesses?  Maybe they'll come to you when they need something done!

Definitely considering this option as well. Definitely want it to be local if possible, or someone from this board if I go with a full-color option. If I found someone willing to do the job with the press I want to get, it would be a great way to see the quality that is possible with the press brand I am interested-in.

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