# Looking for fulfillment



## Chunder Tunt (Jul 29, 2013)

Hello everyone reading this,
I'm currently looking to take my company to the next level by opening a web store. I have hit a road block though and could use some advice from people that may have been in my shoes prior. You see I'm still a small company, so i cant really afford nor see it profitable to buy all my equipment so ive been out sourcing my printing needs to local companies. This is posing a problem when it comes time to open an eCommerce though, because unless i have a company run my orders as they come in, ill have to stock pile allot of merchandise. Which i cant afford. My question is what should i look for when trying to find a company to do my fulfillment, what questions should i ask that are the most important. Whats the industry standards? is there another way that I'm not seeing? Any help is greatly appreciated.


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## sid (Oct 6, 2007)

Check us out


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## jumpman21 (May 17, 2008)

You could get some good equipment on craigslist. Just make sure you get a good heat press! At least 16x20. Get a good printer! To start. Around $600 for both on craigslist. This will get you through your 1st few t-shirt orders. Buy a pack of transfer paper for whites ( around $50 ) and you are on your way to starting out. Try not to outsource. It cuts into your profits! You have "zero" control of the order! And.... It can cost you both a reputation and money if your orders are wrong!


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Chunder, what state are you in? This sounds interesting.

I do this type of work for some of my customers. They give me their designs, and I have the screens off to the side until I need them. We don't dispose of them so you don't incur more cost.


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## Chunder Tunt (Jul 29, 2013)

jumpman21 said:


> You could get some good equipment on craigslist. Just make sure you get a good heat press! At least 16x20. Get a good printer! To start. Around $600 for both on craigslist.


 This would be fine if I were doing heat press, I could see doing heat press with apparel but for shirts Id prefer a more durable method. Also the shirt stock pile would have to be rather big unless i just went with one specific shirt for multiple designs, and without color choices. Cause when you break it down if you get 100 black shirts at 5 different sizes Ie: xs-xl that's 20 shirts in each size now say you want to put the same design on a red shirt that's 10 shirts per size. the point of the matter is i just cant see it profitable for both the consumer and the company to ignore this fact. People like options and it looks better on the company to provide those option. Outsourcing does cost more, but at what cost?


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Putting your design on different colors only matters if the ink needs to be changed. I.E. Design with black ink on a black t-shirt. 

The sizes don't matter either. Most companies charge the same price for small to XL. 

What I'd do is get a heat press, and buy Custom Plastisol Transfers.


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## Chunder Tunt (Jul 29, 2013)

Yea I meant with the garments themselves if you want to offer the same design using multiple colors of shirts and still carry all sizes you need an alot of shirts. But any way, I guess Ill give heat press a shot, any recommendations sites, brands, how to tips? Thanks I appreciate the help.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Yes, but I can't say or I'd be promoting myself, and the forum doesn't allow that. 

Many t-shirt companies have a percentage of t-shirts they buy by size. Since I don't sell retail, I don't know what that is. Most of them buy more Large, XL and 2XL's though.


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## tankueray (Apr 16, 2010)

Depending where you are, there should be a distributor that's a 1-2 day ship to you. SanMar is a 1 day ship for me, and if I'm willing to pay for that shipping, I can order just one shirt if I want to. You could probably manage with ordering 1 or 2 of each size and color you want to offer and press them with plastisol transfers as the orders come in, then replenish your stock weekly or monthly, at least until you're getting enough sales to keep more stock on hand. I keep 5 black and white shirts in all sizes on hand, and a few of the local school colors. Other than that I order as needed. Most of the distributors offer free freight over a certain amount (SanMar is $200). My turn around time is 3-5 days, so usually it's not a problem to get $200 worth of blank orders together, I order on Sunday and Wed./Thurs. normally.


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Tank, I think he's talking about ordering t-shirts screen printed. With a heat press to cure he could either use a DTG, Transfers, Sub, or Laser and make one offs. Not the case if he's ordering from someone else. 

Also as Jump said, you can go to Craigslist or this forums Classifieds and look for used equipment. Sometimes you get really good deals on almost new equipment.


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## Chunder Tunt (Jul 29, 2013)

I was talking about printed shirts at first, but he was answering the question about needing bulk shirts on hand if I'm not mistaking. Which is another question I was curious about. So thank you, I live in MI and my closest whole sale is Broder Bros in liviona but they keep there stock low. So I usually have to wait a few days for big orders to ship in from other satellites. They use a tier based method for handling clients I am currently tier 1 which is noob and my cost is fairly high I guess Ill have to look into buy surplus from other screen printers. and do what tank said about buying single shirts if need be. Thanks for all the help guys I think ill pick up a heat press this weekend, seems to be more work than outting but it will have its advantages.


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## StarDesigns (Aug 4, 2013)

Chunder Tunt said:


> I was talking about printed shirts at first, but he was answering the question about needing bulk shirts on hand if I'm not mistaking. Which is another question I was curious about. So thank you, I live in MI and my closest whole sale is Broder Bros in liviona but they keep there stock low. So I usually have to wait a few days for big orders to ship in from other satellites. They use a tier based method for handling clients I am currently tier 1 which is noob and my cost is fairly high I guess Ill have to look into buy surplus from other screen printers. and do what tank said about buying single shirts if need be. Thanks for all the help guys I think ill pick up a heat press this weekend, seems to be more work than outting but it will have its advantages.


You might want to look at Shirtspace.com for ordering your blanks. Their prices are a little higher than Staton, Broder, etc. however, they offer $9.95 flat rate shipping and free for orders over $200. I've found that once you figure in shipping they are cheaper when ordering in small amounts. They also offer one day shipping to MI. 


Sent from my iPad using TShirtForums app


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## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Brodek & Rhodes ships for free if you order $150 or more. SanMar ships for free if you buy $200 or more. 

SanMar's a One day ship, or 15 minutes if I drive over and pick them up. Lol.


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