# Sublimated Shirts - How much should I charge?



## mythal13

My situation is a bit backward. I acquired a large format dye sub printer and heat press to manufacture one specific product unique to my company. Within a few months, I began to realize that there are a whole bunch of products we can make with our equipment. I would like to explore dye subbing shirts and have done a bit of research on cost of blanks ($4-$7 seems like the range). I know my ink and paper costs. My question is how much should I be charging an end user if my 'all in' costs are say $8.00/shirt? Specifically, if my cost is $8 what would a cheap, middle of the road and expensive price point be? Thanks in advance for helping a rookie!


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## atigerwanabee

You and I do the same thing. I outsource to a friend who has a 44 inch printer. He also has 3040 Heat Press. He has everything. I only buy the shirts and paper. I only pay him 5.00. I turn around and sell them for $15.00. There is a guy on line who sells them for $40.00 and My designs are 1000% better than his stuff. I use only the Hanes Cool Dry. I'm not a fan of the Vapors. To me they are over priced. 

So, if you have High Impact graphics and you are doing sublimation then, I would only charge $15.00. I'm sure you could get more but, your Graphics has to warrant you to charge more. Now, with that said, I'm sure you could get what the market will bear. But, $15.00 is not to bad. If you have awesome graphics and you are only charging $15.00 you could carve out a niche for you. I will post my pic soon so you can get an Idea of what I can do. Good Luck


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## royster13

How much time does it to make 1 shirt and do the business end of the transaction?....I charge 35.00 for a 1 off cad cut vinyl shirt and it is hardly worth it.....15.00 for a 1 off seems insane.....Just because you can do something does not always mean it will be profitable.....


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## atigerwanabee

Now! what you just said makes a lot of sense. If I had invested that much money in what my friend has of course I would charge a lot more. But, that is what he charges me. Now, with that said, would I pay what you charge for a Sublimation shirt? It would have to be one that I couldn't live without. I've never paid $35.00 for anything let alone a shirt but, you never know.


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## atigerwanabee

Like I state there is a site that charges $40.00. It is Custom so, I guess that is what he is charging and I guess folks are paying that.


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## GordonM

I think it would depend on whether you're selling to wholesale or retail. The usual formula for calculating retail cost is to multiply the cost of raw manufacture buy 4X to 6X. This isn't a calculation of what the market will bear, just a formula for keeping everyone in the chain happy.

For retail customers, I think most would expect to pay at least $25 for a performance tee, though most of them don't know what that is. Most consumers are only familiar with cotton tees, where $25 is on the high end, and would even consider a 100% poly tee as inferior.

If I were lucky enough to have the luxury of your printer and press, I think I'd be going after the upscale market, those stores and consumers who are already willing to pay more for performance apparel. Then start pricing at $30 to $40. It can be a hassle to sell all-poly tees to the general public.


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## mythal13

One of the shirt suppliers recommended taking my cost and multiplying it by 2-3 to come up with an end user cost. If I'm at $8 cost, my end user cost should be somewhere between $16-$24 if I follow that model. I was just wondering if most of you out there would agree with this. I should also mention that they will be "all over" printed both sides and that they are being done on a 40 x 60 press (I'm not expecting to have to deal with foam padding).


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## mythal13

Thanks GordonM - That's sorta what I was thinking too. The end users are part of a pretty unique niche and i think I could command a retail price of around $25 with a wholesale of around $15


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## royster13

mythal13 said:


> Thanks GordonM - That's sorta what I was thinking too. The end users are part of a pretty unique niche and i think I could command a retail price of around $25 with a wholesale of around $15


Can you make enough per hour for your effort to make it worth while?.....Every time I have done the math on small scale production like this, it looked like I would be making just a little over minimum wage.....


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## GordonM

I'd think that allover sub shirts at $16 to $24 is below market, and you'd be leaving money on the table. Those could be your wholesale prices, though.

Just my opinion. I also think that, with a 40x60 press, you'd be making more profit doing commercial work. Table runners, banners, etc. can be high profit centers if pitched correctly to local business.


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## atigerwanabee

Why not corner the Market with All-Over printing both sides and charge less. I would rather sell a shirt for $15.00 then one for $35.00 and only sell one ever so often than sell more than one at a lower price. I guess you never ever heard of "Cornering The Market." I tell you what, If I had what my friend has I would certainly corner the market. 

My designs would be top notch. What does it really entail really. A Printer/Plotter that prints with a special ink. Paper/ Heat Press/shirts? Print the design, put the design in between 2 pieces of paper then you put in the Heat Press. Hit the botton. Wait remove the shirt and the paper and you have a shirt. I saw what my friend did with my design and t-shirt. I can't believe it is that easy.

Now, you have to factor in a lot of variables I know that. But, I think $40.00 dollars is to much to pay. Now If you Have folks beating down your door to pay you that kind of money. Hey! charge it! But, me I wouldn't charge that much money.


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## awthentik

I don't think you guys understand you can't just "throw" an allover shirt in the press and crush it. 
You must have an insert to prevent gassing through the backside, you must protect the collar and most importantly you will need new protective paper every shirt. 

It's not like logo hits with allover sublimation. I've learned already. You can "corner the market" at that price.. But your not accounting for the time and other media you need to make an allover shirt. Shirt+paper+ink+butcher paper+insert+setup one side+setup second side.

No less then 40-49$ for a single shirt. And thats not including artwork! Any less and your wasting your time. Now bulk orders can be priced accordingly.. 


be awthentik.


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## GordonM

atigerwanabee said:


> I would rather sell a shirt for $15.00 then one for $35.00 and only sell one ever so often than sell more than one at a lower price.


If you're comfortable with the $15 retail price point and you know you're accounting for all the costs, there's nothing wrong with undercutting but you may find you have the same number of sales at (say) $20 or $25. If the average price for an all-over poly shirt is in the $35 to $40 range, customers who know the going price will see the bargain at $25. You won't lose sales, and you'll make more per sale.

For prints this large, front and back, even Chinese sub inks purchased by the liter are going to be a cost factor. So is paper, the electric bill to heat a 40x60 press, the bad prints, the crooked shirts. All of these are "hidden" costs that quickly eat into that $15. That would be my minimum wholesale price, and for only a significant MOQ.


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## mythal13

Thanks all for your thoughts. I am just getting into exploring the clothing possibilities and appreciate all of your comments. Learning a bunch!


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## Riderz Ready

You have to decide what you are selling. If you are selling a "shirt" than sell it for $15 - 20. If you are selling a design (art) that happens to be on a shirt you should never ever sell it under $20.00. If you have designs (art) that is only worth $15 on a shirt than something is really wrong.

When you sell at the bottom of the market you typically are getting the price shoppers and your reorder rates are low. When you sell at the top of the market and offer designs and art that is professional and unique to you the reorders are significantly higher. 

It took me a while to get it into my head years back but as soon as you get over the hurdle of selling art not shirts you will be on your way to success. 

Check out jakprints and what they sell all over shirts for.


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## cowboylife

WOW what a lot of good points.... I like what Riderz had to say about "selling art not shirts". There are many factors to look at when selling and for what price to sell for. If you can design your own art, great! If you have to pay someone then that is out of your pocket on top of:
shirt wholesale cost (I buy from Vapor and they are costly), shipping cost, paper, ink, electricity for the press, your time, and packaging to ship to the customer.... Now I am using all of this as an example because I have been designing and having designs made for me for over 3 years and I still have no idea what's a good price to charge, as I will be selling wholesale. So after you factor in all of the above costs it is a difficult decission. I was thinking of $15.00 wholesale and I would be profiting very little. Just some thoughts and hope it helps...


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## Riderz Ready

cowboylife said:


> WOW what a lot of good points.... I like what Riderz had to say about "selling art not shirts". There are many factors to look at when selling and for what price to sell for. If you can design your own art, great! If you have to pay someone then that is out of your pocket on top of:
> shirt wholesale cost (I buy from Vapor and they are costly), shipping cost, paper, ink, electricity for the press, your time, and packaging to ship to the customer.... Now I am using all of this as an example because I have been designing and having designs made for me for over 3 years and I still have no idea what's a good price to charge, as I will be selling wholesale. So after you factor in all of the above costs it is a difficult decission. I was thinking of $15.00 wholesale and I would be profiting very little. Just some thoughts and hope it helps...


What you find is that in sublimation there are items you can wholesale and others you cannot successfully wholesale.

Unless you find a unique niche it is hard to wholesale t-shirts just because of the cost you mentioned. Things like cell phone cases, beanies, etc are very easy to wholesale as the cost to make is really low and they still have a good retail price point.


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## Dgberg

royster13 said:


> Can you make enough per hour for your effort to make it worth while?.....Every time I have done the math on small scale production like this, it looked like I would be making just a little over minimum wage.....


I have a 44" dye sub printer and Knight 32x42 press and when we fire that thing up we need to make $75 an hour minimum. When doing 24x36" and larger metals we easily do $100 an hour. We don't do any shirts because I have run the numbers and you just cannot make enough per hour. Too many processes. You make $10 to $15 a shirt and with larger metal prints you make between $75 and $150 per metal for the same amount of work.


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