In a quandary

[Monkey 252]

I got offered a chance to bid on a fairly large job. Be the biggest Ive undertook yet and in a part Im less experienced in. 2 color heat press T-shirts. 150 to possibly 700 units in 2 sizes. Company logo, nothing really hard to cut or anything, pretty basic design. They want a price for just the logo on the back and 1 for both the back and a small one on chest pocket. SO basically 4 options prices

 

without pocket-Just back, or front and back

with pocket-Just back, or front and back.

 

Part of me says "you got this", part of me say "What the hell are you thinking, you havent done any orders this large before"

[mwhatch 9]

Do It. You can always get some heip from someone (not me yet) from this group if you get overwhelmed.

[MadHatterGraphix 1,258]

Other thing to remember is how long do you have to do these a week or two? a couple of days ? if you think you can do it go for it. and your going to have long nights and work when others are off and out having fun. It comes with the Business.

[Monkey 252]

Time frame would be looking at about a month for 150. I dont go out and do anything anyway lol. Work, gym, home (where I work more on getting this business off the ground). Im very dedicated to this business venture. I spend hours every day reading, researching, learning, working on my own line.

[jaybyrd 3,770]

Can always outsource some of it to me. I always need more work. J/K but if you need info on something I burn through quite a bit of Siser here on shirts, hats and visors.

Jay

[TimnAng 56]

Don't over think it... If you CAN do it, take the job.  When we were asked to make the bulk order we are doing now (150 7x7 one color decals), we had never done anything in that quantity before, and we took the job.  I've regretted it a few times during the process, but it's a good business venture and if they are happy with the product and they sell well for them, they already let me know that they'd be wanting more.  How could I say no?  Had I thought about it too much, I may not have taken it on... because to be honest, with hubby and I both working full time, and the house stuff, and kids school and after school activities- an order that large takes up a lot of time that we don't really have to give.  But, we're making it work!

[MadHatterGraphix 1,258]

Everyone has their first big order thats what tells you, am I made to do this or am I not? 150 shirts in a month shouldnt be to hard I got a couple of orders for 150 in 2 weeks not fun. However I think you can do it your focused on the business and thats good. of need any help Jaybird will do it lol.

[Monkey 252]

Thanks, I think Ill give it a shot and come up with a bid. Have to do more research on bidding t shirt jobs and some more hunting for wholesale shirts. Found a few and looking around $2-$3 a piece for color. Have to find out more specifics from client to see if they have a brand they want or if it matters to them.

[jaybyrd 3,770]

That's right around what I pay for them with sanmar

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

why not screen them?  or in the least plastisol transfers - it would be more cost effective

[Monkey 252]

At the moment I dont have the Screen Printing set up. Hoping to have it in the future.

 

Plastisol might actually be a good way but being 2 colors Id have to research more on how to do that. Ive seen 1 color but not 2.

 

Again got me thinking its out of my league lol

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

use howard sportswear for the plastisol transfers - or outsourse for the shirts - I know jfought does screening among others

[Neuromax 97]

I would do them as transfers, I have in the past but I have also found after about 20 washings they start to really wear. I started screen printing for that reason LOL.

 

Send me a pm if you are interested in outsourcing. I can price well enough that you should still be able to offer a great price and do no work

[NickiZ 5]

Do screen print transfers - way easier, takes about 2 hours to put them together once you get the transfers.  I've done several large shirt orders this way.  Check into transferfreedom.com for prices  They do a 20¢ one color transfer with a $20 setup fee.  Works out to about 33¢ per transfer for 150 transfers

[OWJones 1,981]

If you try and manually weed 700 of the same design (or 1400 if you do front and back), you're gonna go cross eyed and/or insane - and not necessarily in that order.

 

The cost per shirt price is good for small qty with cut vinyl, but once you get past ~20 or so then screen printing, plastisol transfers or sceen print transfers really start to shine.   I did 20 of the same t-shirts last week, front and back, single color with Easy Weed and it took me much longer than I expected.  From now on, any qty orders get subbed out or I'll order transfers instead of doing it the hard way.

[jaybyrd 3,770]

I regularly do 40 or 50 of the same in siser and think part of my sanity is already gone, that's the only reason I can think that I still do them in siser.

[sleeveofwizzard 104]

A month is a good amount of time, why not make the leap to buy screen printing equipment? If you get the go ahead from them and secure a deposit you might have most of the money for what you need. The screen print guys on here would know better then me but couldn't you get a basic setup to do two colors without breaking the bank? Of course you would need to order the stuff the moment you get the deposit so you will have enough time to practice and figure everything out.  

[WHIT72 36]

If you choose to screen print, I built an exposure unit a while back I could send you some pictures it works great and it was easy to build.  I dont screen print much anymore, to messy for me.

 

I like vinyl much better.

[jfought 120]

craigslist.org for screen printing equipment. or just order the shirts done from me!! lol

if you need some help let me know

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

when I need screening done again I will contact Jason (jfought) - I bought most of the equipment and was well into learning the process when I decided it wasn't for me because of the space it takes and the mess. in my case it wasn't worth the mess and space for the little savings over having someone like Jason do them.  I know he has the conveyor dryer to cure the inks properly - correct time and temp is crucial so the ink adheres properly and doesn't crack in a short time (too much heat) as can happen when smaller operations use just a flash dryer to cure the ink.

[mopar691 281]

2 color on 1 side screen printed wholesale would be less $5 each at around the 150 piece you are talking. at 700 a tinge less than $4. I would definitely look into screening.