# DTG hidden costs



## SpektralMonkey (Aug 15, 2019)

Hi all,

I’m looking into starting a DTG business and currently I’m at the research stage, so far I have been gathering lots of useful information throughout this forum, so I want to start by thanking you all for sharing.

On this occasion, I would appreciate if you can share based on your experience all the monthly hidden costs that a DTG business involves, like how much can you end up spending on cleaning cycles, how many T-shirts/orders going wrong, etc.

Any info would be much appreciated.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Time to run on dark shirts is much longer than lights, White ink is expensive, Maintenance, having spare parts available, misprints.


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## DTG Merch (Apr 21, 2019)

Hello there,

I'd like to suggest these:
- Printheads cost and durability
- Daily, weekly and monthly maintenance (everytime you do a purge, you waste ink)
- Other consumables costs; cleaners, towels.
- Pretreatment costs. 
- Inks and fluids maintenance. You MUST shake the white ink barrels and the pretreatment too. 
- Post sales service; availability and conditions. (i.e. price per hour of the technician)
- Operational costs.
- Training costs.

Hope that helps!


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## SpektralMonkey (Aug 15, 2019)

Thank you @binki and @DTG Merch for your replies. Can you please tell me how can I translate that to $$$, how can I get an estimate of all those hidden/extra monthly costs? 

Cheers


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## seacookie (Apr 29, 2015)

This video may be interesting for you
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLAEJ3r5JkM


This is one of comments under the video:
Some good valid points but bad advise. I started with 1 dtg printer and now have 15+ with our most expensive units costing over 300k. First mistake most small prints shops make new to the business is assume dtg is a competitor of screen printing. These are 2 seperate decoration methods that meet different needs. My fulfillment center also does screen printing where some orders get done there, some in dtg and some get mix decoration which is screen print front and dtg back. We do alot of dtg printing for smaller shops that have 1 dtg printer and need high volume help to fulfill an order or there printer is down. Seems to me you might have purchased the wrong printer. When I first added screen printing as a rookie I purchased the wrong equipment and suffered which lead me to hate screen printing. I learned from mistake and later added the right equipment. Since then I have added more decoration methods and the main thing I learned from purchasing equipment is that I would never let a bad equipment decision affect how I feel about that printing method because someone is going to take that business. I also never add equipment or production lines until we need them. I would suggest outsourcing to wholesale print shops until the volume is there to bring in-house.


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## SpektralMonkey (Aug 15, 2019)

Thank you @seacookie I did see that video before, it scared me at the beginning, but I agree with some of the comments, especially with the one you shared.

I am working on my business plan right now and trying to find a way to estimate the monthly maintenance cost and include it in my monthly expenses. I guess it's hard to tell before knowing my production quantity, maybe if I can get an insight on how much percentage does it represent for you all in your monthly or yearly expenses it would be of great help.
Thanks again


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## seacookie (Apr 29, 2015)

SpektralMonkey said:


> Thank you @seacookie I did see that video before, it scared me at the beginning, but I agree with some of the comments, especially with the one you shared.
> 
> I am working on my business plan right now and trying to find a way to estimate the monthly maintenance cost and include it in my monthly expenses. I guess it's hard to tell before knowing my production quantity, maybe if I can get an insight on how much percentage does it represent for you all in your monthly or yearly expenses it would be of great help.
> Thanks again


 Sry man I'm not dtg guy. I am in a learning process about dtg. 


But guys here know a lot and I trust them with their knowledge. I shot my white color with a gun. I do airbrush, so when I get clog I don't get big expense for print head 


I also don't get wasted white ink 



I also can go on a vacation, cause my airbrushes can wait 


But like you already noticed, I don't mind to google a little for my forum friends and if I find something interesting I share with you guys.


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## SpektralMonkey (Aug 15, 2019)

No problem, thanks for your will to help .

Maybe I should look into switching to airbrush hahaha sounds like freedom to me  JK


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## into the T (Aug 22, 2015)

good points in that comment seacookie

it really is about scaling up
if you start with massive overhead/equipment costs and don't have the orders,
you will be in for some pain


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## into the T (Aug 22, 2015)

email stahls and let them know you are interested in one of their dtg's and have a few questions

bear in mind they are in the sales business, so use it as a starting point not as gospel


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## SpektralMonkey (Aug 15, 2019)

into the T said:


> use it as a starting point not as gospel


Lol 

I have been wanting to do that, but I want to gather first as much information as I can on my own before contacting any vendor, and ask precise questions. Maybe I'm wrong and I shouldn't overthink it that much and just call.


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## into the T (Aug 22, 2015)

or hit-up the manufacturers,
and let them know you are in the comparison phase and trying to suss out consumables and other operating costs


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## justteesing (Oct 10, 2019)

One misconception is that you just put the shirt on the printer platen and print as soon as you get the printer. There are many variables to deal with before you print your first order. Different brands of shirts and colors willl require different amounts of pretreat and ink. You will have to do some testing and note taking in the beginning to find out what works with your machine and location.


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

1. Expect minimum $4,000/year maintenance costs, even if you only print 1 shirt.
2. Keep in mind that your printer will be worth half of its new price after 12 months... and that's only if it is in perfect working order.


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## Neighborhood PS (Sep 28, 2011)

seacookie said:


> This video may be interesting for you
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLAEJ3r5JkM
> 
> 
> ...


OP of that youtube video here. The maintenance is going to be more in line with the $4,000 estimate these days. 2010-2013 was the wild west in terms of QOL issues for DTG's. The ink cost, production cost, and time per piece makes DTG really targeted towards the lower volume/higher complexity market that screen printers can't service. My primary reason for staying out of that market in recent years is that I haven't found many customers willing to pay for good creative while only ordering low quantity. And in my market, not too many people walk in with a dozen full color, print ready designs, looking for a few of each to get rolling. Rather than POD we typically inventory and fulfill. Yes this leaves a large number of unproven startup brands looking elsewhere, but it also has allowed us to work with brands with traction who can invest a few thousand to soak up the extra margin on each sale over the next few months. We also get to bill three times, production, storage, and shipment. The last two are paid by the end customer while providing a convenience to our client.


Over the years I've tried a lot of processes, some stuck, some didn't. We have/had a CAMS machine (sold), DTG (sold), multiple manuals and eventually an auto, several heads of Embroidery, vinyl plotter, and a converted 4800 for sublimation. Even so, screen printing generates 80%+ of the revenue in our model, while having the lowest production cost and highest revenue per hour of all imprint methods. Some DTG centric businesses do well, as the commenter seacookie referenced expressed. I would say with absolute confidence that his business is in the small minority of DTG operations. Most simply don't scale into multiple machines and find their hook. Of those that do, they're offering something special. Take a peek at John Santos' POD tour of the DTG one stop shop. 

Also, most screen printing shops don't scale to auto, and most businesses fail. So I get that it's a low lying argument to make. I'm saying from a risk/reward standpoint, there tends to be more capital investment and risk for a DTG startup compared to a screen printing startup. Given perfectly equal failure and success rates, the DTG startup dropouts will be burned harder than their screen printing counterparts. And of those that want to put their production on ice for a few years and come back to it. The Screen Printers will be coming back to wet plastisol long after the dead DTG print head has ossified to the tune of thousands in repair.

I couldn't imagine financing $20,000 in screen printing gear with no customer base, it's simply not necessary. But the same can't be said of DTG, if you want to own/operate, there's a real pay to play aspect to get into the minor leagues.

Hope it helps, shocked to see my video on the forums!


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## seacookie (Apr 29, 2015)

Neighborhood PS said:


> Hope it helps, shocked to see my video on the forums!


 We like to share cool videos. 


who told you about the video? I see we have a traitor on our forum


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## Neighborhood PS (Sep 28, 2011)

seacookie said:


> We like to share cool videos.
> 
> 
> who told you about the video? I see we have a traitor on our forum


Lol to be fair I'm a nerd for numbers, so I was deep diving into the analytics page for the video. That's when I noticed t-shirtforums pop up as an external referrer out of nowhere. I was curious to see in what context it came up, so I google searched the video share link and t-shirtforums.com... and here we are! At least that's what my inside man told me to say. Heh heh.


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## seacookie (Apr 29, 2015)

Neighborhood PS said:


> Heh heh.


 The whole truth is that I stumbled on your video about Ken closing his DTG. I watched the video, liked it and I was surprised that you don't have many subscribers. Video was really good and your energy is all over the video. Sooooooo,
watching 1k+some left overs I sad to my self: this guy need some push. So I subscribed. Then I got that video about dtg cost under you tube recommendation.


Sooooooooooo, now you need to be nice to me, cause you don't have many subscribers, yet. Heh heh.


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## Neighborhood PS (Sep 28, 2011)

seacookie said:


> The whole truth is that I stumbled on your video about Ken closing his DTG. I watched the video, liked it and I was surprised that you don't have many subscribers. Video was really good and your energy is all over the video. Sooooooo,
> watching 1k+some left overs I sad to my self: this guy need some push. So I subscribed. Then I got that video about dtg cost under you tube recommendation.
> 
> 
> Sooooooooooo, now you need to be nice to me, cause you don't have many subscribers, yet. Heh heh.


That's actually really nice of you to do that, wow. Having been in business for what 10 years now, I'd doubt that 95%+ of my Facebook friends would even bother to like a post, much less go out of their way to give me a plug. You have my deepest appreciation seacookie. I'm glad you told me the back story, I'd have never know the story behind some text on an analytics screen, what a rabbit hole! To find out it was a real life act of good will just makes my weekend!


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## into the T (Aug 22, 2015)

Neighborhood PS said:


> That's actually really nice of you to do that, wow. Having been in business for what 10 years now, I'd doubt that 95%+ of my Facebook friends would even bother to like a post, much less go out of their way to give me a plug. You have my deepest appreciation seacookie. I'm glad you told me the back story, I'd have never know the story behind some text on an analytics screen, what a rabbit hole! To find out it was a real life act of good will just makes my weekend!



seacookie is a good egg


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## sublial (Mar 24, 2011)

Why would anyone pay $15,000 to $20,000 for a Ink Jet printer that you can buy for $150.00.

you can buy a $150.00 and sublimation cartridges to print hundreds of substrates including shirts.

It doesn,t make any financial logic.


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## webtrekker (Jan 28, 2018)

sublial said:


> Why would anyone pay $15,000 to $20,000 for a Ink Jet printer that you can buy for $150.00.
> 
> you can buy a $150.00 and sublimation cartridges to print hundreds of substrates including shirts.
> 
> It doesn,t make any financial logic.


You can't print cotton shirts with sublimation inks.


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## SpektralMonkey (Aug 15, 2019)

Neighborhood PS said:


> OP of that youtube video here. The maintenance is going to be more in line with the $4,000 estimate these days. 2010-2013 was the wild west in terms of QOL issues for DTG's. The ink cost, production cost, and time per piece makes DTG really targeted towards the lower volume/higher complexity market that screen printers can't service. My primary reason for staying out of that market in recent years is that I haven't found many customers willing to pay for good creative while only ordering low quantity. And in my market, not too many people walk in with a dozen full color, print ready designs, looking for a few of each to get rolling. Rather than POD we typically inventory and fulfill. Yes this leaves a large number of unproven startup brands looking elsewhere, but it also has allowed us to work with brands with traction who can invest a few thousand to soak up the extra margin on each sale over the next few months. We also get to bill three times, production, storage, and shipment. The last two are paid by the end customer while providing a convenience to our client.
> 
> 
> Over the years I've tried a lot of processes, some stuck, some didn't. We have/had a CAMS machine (sold), DTG (sold), multiple manuals and eventually an auto, several heads of Embroidery, vinyl plotter, and a converted 4800 for sublimation. Even so, screen printing generates 80%+ of the revenue in our model, while having the lowest production cost and highest revenue per hour of all imprint methods. Some DTG centric businesses do well, as the commenter seacookie referenced expressed. I would say with absolute confidence that his business is in the small minority of DTG operations. Most simply don't scale into multiple machines and find their hook. Of those that do, they're offering something special. Take a peek at John Santos' POD tour of the DTG one stop shop.
> ...


Hi Richard,

Thank you so much for your response, I saw your video even before posting this thread (I did like and subscribe to your channel). The internet is flooded with DTG success stories and it’s hard to find an objective and informative video like yours, it was certainly an eye opener for me so I want to thank you for that.

I am a Graphic Designer and I want to start a business of my own, that’s why I thought a DTG/POD business could be a nice fit for me, but after doing lots of research I realize that it is not as profitable as I thought and it isn't worth the risk. I’m sure if someone already has an established screen printing business, it will make sense adding DTG to complement it, but starting from scratch (without previous experience) just a DTG business must be tough. I estimated that I will have to sell around 1000 T-shirts a month just to get a decent profit, and that’s only working on my own, I couldn’t see myself selling an average of 40 T-shirts per day, not even after a year in business (If I got that lucky).

Don’t get me wrong, I think DTG is a wonderful technology, and I’m sure there are some people making a good profit from it. I haven’t quit the idea entirely, I just know that I have to approach it differently. My idea now is to open an online shop on RedBubble or a similar website where I can upload my designs, build brand awareness on social media and see how it goes, the only thing I can lose is time and maybe some money on ads and SEO, but it is not going to be even close to the $40,000 investment I was considering for my business. If that works out well maybe I’ll consider opening a business of my own or even partnering with an already established POD business and offer them to run a DTG department, will see.

Thanks again for taking your time to answer.

Cheers!


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