People make custom tees and launch custom t-shirt businessesin a variety of ways, including direct-to-garment printing (which is just oneof those ways), and these hidden costs are associated with all of them.
The majority of people, when considering getting into thecustom t-shirt, embroidery, bling, or heat transfer business, estimate theamount of money they could make by doing it as follows:
The cost of the t-shirt itself was $4.50, and the cost ofdirect-to-garment printing ink was $5.00. The final sale price of the item was$25.00. Profit of $19 from $1.50 in sales
Naturally, they take into account the costs associated withthe apparel decorating process that they have chosen in place ofdirect-to-garment ink. It is also possible that the substance in question isthe ink for screen printing or rhinestone transfer material.
They are still a long way from understanding what factorsgenuinely contribute to the price of a finished and delivered garment, eventhough this is a solid starting point for determining whether or not there isthe possibility to make a profit from the business. However, only YOU canestablish what your actual costs will be. While many equipment providers, likeColDesi, produce easy ROI figures based on specific equipment and the costs ofgenerating various designs, only YOU can determine what those costs will be.
In this example, we'll be using Direct to Garment Printing,often known as DTG printing; but, you should apply these same concepts towhichever kind of custom t-shirt business you end up launching.
Direct-to-Garment has a few advantages over the othertechnologies, which we will mention here so that you will know to calculatethem differently if you're pursuing a screen printing business for exampleGarment has a lower minimum order quantity than other technologies.
- There are noinitial setup fees because a DTG printer is a computer peripheral the sameway that an inkjet printer is. That implies that if a customer provides youwith artwork, all you need to do to print it into a t-shirt is open the file inyour RIP software and print it. Producing the screens itself is an additionalstep required for screen printing, which adds a major financial burden to theprocess. Because you'll need to spend the time converting a picture into theproper kind of file, you'll need to charge a digitization price for eachproject that involves rhinestones or embroidery. In the same vein, you'll needto charge a digitizing fee for any task that involves rhinestones orembroidery.
- There are no orderminimums; when using direct-to-garment printers, it is the same process toproduce one shirt as it is to produce fifty shirts. Minimum orders could be acomponent of your business plan, but they are not required.
When you screen print a personalized t-shirt, the number ofcolors you produce affects the number of screens you need to make. Contrary topopular belief, color does not matter. Because of this, full color issignificantly more expensive. Although there is a price difference depending onthe quantity of DTG ink that is utilized, this variable does not significantlyaffect the overall cost of your project. A comparable consideration must bemade when working with rhinestones, though, because certain hues might cost ALOT more than others. For example, a rose-colored pattern may have an associatedcost that is twice as high as a cost linked with a blue design.
Now that we've gotten that disclaimer out of the way, let'stake a look at some of the "Hidden" Costs that don't typically makeit into the calculations of the business owner who sells customized t-shirts.
Because these patterns do not peel or fade, you can printhigh-definition images that will remain on the garment for the duration of itsuseful life. If the printing shop you go with only has one DTG printer, thecompletion of your project may take several days. A procedure known aspretreatment will be carried out by the printing company before the modifiedtype of inkjet printer that will be used to print the design on your clothing.Therefore, direct-to-garment printing (DTG), which does not require any setupexpenditures, obtains a faster return on investment when charged retail, andtakes less time to print, is more cost-effective a screen printing for theproduction of small orders.
You have a lot of discretion when it comes to choosing theretail pricing for your printed t-shirt, but you need to acquire a firm graspof what your consumer base is prepared to pay for your items. This will helpyou determine how much your customers are willing to pay for your products.When a not-very well-known firm based in Bradenton, Florida called DIS launcheda printing machine called Revolution to the market, that was the first timethat anyone had ever heard of DTG printing. Screen printing on garments can bemore expensive than direct-to-garment printing or sublimation printing sincescreen-printed clothes are priced per color and print position rather than perpiece, as is the case with DTG printing or sublimation printing. Having saidthat, you might find that the direct-to-garment (DTG) printing method suitsyour needs better than alternative approaches to garment printing for severalreasons.
It is considerably more realistic for a screen printer toreceive five large orders to reach its ROI than it is to receive one hundredlittle orders. This is because a robust SOP and good print management softwareare both required for this. It is crucial to be aware of the distinctionsbetween these two printing procedures before deciding which type of printingmethod to use to print your artistic designs on your garments. This will allowyou to achieve the best possible results while keeping your expenses to aminimum. Screen printing was the most common and widely used printing method inuse before digital direct-to-garment printing arrived on the scene. Becausethere are a lot of different options for printing on garments (much more thanwe've been able to describe here), doing study before beginning is the singlemost critical thing you can do to ensure your printing project is successful.
You need to make sure that you run frequent cleaning cycles,clean the printheads every day, check to see that the capping station is dampat night, and clean the squeegee, among other things. As an illustration, let'suse the G4 direct-to-garment printing machine with Kokak Kodacholor inks. Thepretreatment ought to be adjusted by pressing heat for forty-five seconds.Screen printing shops need to be ready to make a variety of choices regularly,such as whether to use plastisol ink or water-based ink, automated or manualprinting methods, direct-to-garment printing versus screen printing, and so on.