# Plastisol Custom Transfer Pricing?? $15 a sheet sounds high?



## HotRodAce (Aug 13, 2007)

Hello:

I am new to this forum and have learned a lot about Plastisol Transfers..I have now decided to use Plastitsol rather than Digital Laser Transfers for my designs..I have looked at most of the pricing on the websites found in this forum such as Transfer Express etc..I have custom designs that are 3-4 colors and can't seem to believe that $15.00 per sheet is cost effective..If someone is paying that much per sheet how much are they selling shirts for to make a profit??

Sincerely,
Bill M.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

*Re: Plastisol Custom Transfer Pricing??*



HotRodAce said:


> Hello:
> 
> I am new to this forum and have learned a lot about Plastisol Transfers..I have now decided to use Plastitsol rather than Digital Laser Transfers for my designs..I have looked at most of the pricing on the websites found in this forum such as Transfer Express etc..I have custom designs that are 3-4 colors and can't seem to believe that $15.00 per sheet is cost effective..If someone is paying that much per sheet how much are they selling shirts for to make a profit??
> 
> ...



What quantities are you ordering? $15 per sheet doesn't sound right unless you're ordering 2 sheets or something.

The pricing is based both on the number of colors in the design AND the quantity. The more you buy, the less you pay.

Also, depending on the design size, you may be able to fit several of the same design on one sheet (called ganging) which would save some money.


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## JustinB (Jul 28, 2007)

I know one company i found has them at about $7 for 6 sheets for a one color design, so $15 does sound high. You just have to look around for the different companies and compare their prices.


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## maddog9022 (Sep 5, 2006)

you can get as many colors as you want for 11 bucks a sheet w/ a 8 sheet min at f and m. plus it goes down alot on how many you order.


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## leisure (Mar 3, 2007)

maddog9022 said:


> you can get as many colors as you want for 11 bucks a sheet w/ a 8 sheet min at f and m. plus it goes down alot on how many you order.


The problem I'm having is being able to buy 1 for a sample to show the customer, if you have to but 8 at 11.oo each thats 88.00 dollars plus shipping charge for a sample, that the customer may not like. Seems like they would be willing to sell a sample which probably would result in a big order, but I haven't found anyone yet.


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## AustinJeff (May 12, 2007)

leisure said:


> The problem I'm having is being able to buy 1 for a sample to show the customer, if you have to but 8 at 11.oo each thats 88.00 dollars plus shipping charge for a sample, that the customer may not like. Seems like they would be willing to sell a sample which probably would result in a big order, but I haven't found anyone yet.


Seems like you are expecting the printer to take a risk that you are not willing to take. It takes time and money to burn screens and print a single sample. This is reflected in the price for samples.

Two options would be to ask the customer to pay for the sample and then apply the charge to the cost of the order if they follow through (I suspect this is what most people do), or if you really think there's a good chance it will produce a large order, bite the bullet and pay for the sample yourself.

Depending on the size of the order you are looking at, you might want to consider a contract DTG printer. You should be able to get a sample from them MUCH more cheaply, and if it's a fairly small job, the overall price might be competitive. I know some people use DTG to produce a sample for a product that will be screenprinted. I wouldn't do this, but if you do, make sure your customer understands that the finished product will be somewhat different.


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## leisure (Mar 3, 2007)

AustinJeff said:


> Seems like you are expecting the printer to take a risk that you are not willing to take. It takes time and money to burn screens and print a single sample. This is reflected in the price for samples.
> 
> Two options would be to ask the customer to pay for the sample and then apply the charge to the cost of the order if they follow through (I suspect this is what most people do), or if you really think there's a good chance it will produce a large order, bite the bullet and pay for the sample yourself.
> 
> Depending on the size of the order you are looking at, you might want to consider a contract DTG printer. You should be able to get a sample from them MUCH more cheaply, and if it's a fairly small job, the overall price might be competitive. I know some people use DTG to produce a sample for a product that will be screenprinted. I wouldn't do this, but if you do, make sure your customer understands that the finished product will be somewhat different.


What kind of risk, it's there chose of work and I'm willing to pay for the 1 sample. I'm not asking for it to be given to me.I always sew out an embroidery sample for all my customers big or small because thats my chose of business and I don't think it cost them 90.00 to 100.00 to do one Plastisol.Most people don't care about the small guy anymore and thats sad but to each his own.
I just printed it and press it myself some I win some I lose it's all in a days work.


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## agerundajr (May 30, 2007)

Ask the printer to send you some samples of the exact type of transfer that you would use for your potential customer. Print them on shirts and show them to your customer so he/she can get a true sense of the feel and quality transfer you'll be providing.

In addition, make a prototype shirt with the customer's actual design using a laser/ink jet type transfer so he can see how it will actually look on a shirt. 

Less monetary risk for you and more tangible elements in your presentation for your customer.

Artie


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> I don't think it cost them 90.00 to 100.00 to do one Plastisol.Most people don't care about the small guy anymore and thats sad but to each his own


I don't think the pricing for one custom plastisol transfer means that people don't care about the small guy.

Plastisol transfers are screen printed. Just as a screen printer has setup costs, film costs, screen costs, etc, a plastisol transfer maker has those similar costs.

Some screen printers will sell you a proof t-shirt for around $150 to cover their time/labor/setup/screens/ink/teardown/films/etc. That doesn't mean they don't care about the little guy, that just means that they have to cover their costs and make a profit to stay in business. 

It's not like an inkjet transfer where you just put the paper in the printer and click print. 

It's not like embroidery either where you digitize the image and start the embroidery machine. Screen printing one t-shirt or one plastisol transfer is much more labor/materials/time intensive.

Out of curiosity, how much do you think you should have to pay for 1 custom printed plastisol transfer?


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## leisure (Mar 3, 2007)

agerundajr said:


> Ask the printer to send you some samples of the exact type of transfer that you would use for your potential customer. Print them on shirts and show them to your customer so he/she can get a true sense of the feel and quality transfer you'll be providing.
> 
> In addition, make a prototype shirt with the customer's actual design using a laser/ink jet type transfer so he can see how it will actually look on a shirt.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the reply I've been doing the inkjet and it seems to work good.I know I can't win them all but I sure give it a try


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## leisure (Mar 3, 2007)

Rodney said:


> I don't think the pricing for one custom plastisol transfer means that people don't care about the small guy.
> 
> Plastisol transfers are screen printed. Just as a screen printer has setup costs, film costs, screen costs, etc, a plastisol transfer maker has those similar costs.
> 
> ...


You must not have ever digitized a design but again it's my chose to do that for my customer free of charge for the business.And just to give you a small break down.
1-digitizing software $1000--3500
2-embroidery machine $17,000 up(just for 1) 
3-backing 
4-thread
5-bobbin thread
6-hours of digitizing design oh yeah don't forget the computer to digitize on
7-shirt for sample
8-hooping
9-tracing
10-start sewing (Hope no thread breaks)
11-Unhoop
12-trim all threads
13-cut backing
14-Hope it doesn't need tweaking (usually it does) 
15-starch, iron and fold
So it's not quite as cut and dry as you made it sound.
As far as price I'm not sure, no one will quote for one ,but I would think if they can give away samples then why not make one of those a design that your trying to sell a customer and again I haven't ask for anything for free just a sample of which I would gladly pay for.
Since you seem to know alot about the Plastisol who pays for the samples they send out.
Just curious.
Thanks for all the help.


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## COEDS (Oct 4, 2006)

Brenda, I suggest you call a plastisol transfer co. and get a few samples. Press them on garments to use for samples.You can then use a printer to show them their design and use your samples to show them the quality of your end product. Good luck.... JB


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## AustinJeff (May 12, 2007)

If ALL custom screen printing customers demanded to see a printed sample of THEIR design for little or no cost, then, yeah, I guess screen printers would have no choice but to provide it. (Which, of course, would drive final product costs way up.)

But the fact is that the vast majority of customers don't demand this. They are usually satisfied with seeing a mock up, and perhaps a sample of the printers previous work. If they really need to see a printed sample of their design, most customers understand that it will be costly, particular if the printer explains the reasons why.

And you have also discovered another trade secret. Transfer printers are generally not in business to help out the little guy, or anyone else for that matter. They are in business to make money. In the time spent setting up to do one sample, they could have printed perhaps 100 shirts or more. 

Some people think that no business likes to lose a customer. This is not true. Some customers end up costing you more than you make from them, and most businesses are happy to see them go.

It's capitalism. The invisible hand is harsh, but it works wonders.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> You must not have ever digitized a design but again it's my chose to do that for my customer free of charge for the business


You are correct, I have never digitized a design myself, but I have had several designs digitized, I've seen the process and I am pretty familiar with the machine costs.

But do you do a free sample for every *potential* customer that might get with their custom logo or do you have limits?

What if their logo is 50,000 stitches? What if it goes on a jacket and is 12" across? What if they don't want to give you any money and haven't committed to doing the job through you or not? What if you had 100 customers per day that wanted the same thing?

Obviously there has to be limits somewhere.



> I would think if they can give away samples then why not make one of those a design that your trying to sell a customer


Because the samples they have are _already printed_. They don't print the samples on demand when someone requests a sample.

They have overruns of previous jobs that they can save and send out to help show prospective clients the overall quality of their work.

That's generally the type of samples that printers give out. The type that shows the potential customer the quality of their work. Nobody should give away their work for free. Of course they can if they want to, but it shouldn't be expected of them.



> Since you seem to know alot about the Plastisol who pays for the samples they send out.


I've received samples from about 8 different companies (shown here) and each time I was prepared to pay for the samples and the shipping, and each time the plastisol transfer company did not ask for any payment. Since they have the samples already printed, the only thing they have to pay for is the shipping cost. They justify the small shipping cost per qualified lead as part of their marketing/advertising costs to help land customers. When you add the setup time to print a custom image, burn screens, etc, the cost to land that customer doesn't bring in a positive Return on Investment anymore. 

It sounds like your customers are looking for samples of their specific job for some reason. I think if you address that issue, you could still gain those customers.

They may be asking for samples of their specific job because they know that you give away samples for embroidery so they may think that screen printing should be the same thing.

The fact is that the printing process for embroidery samples and screen printed samples are completely different. Embroidery samples ARE much easier to give than screen printed samples. That's why many embroidery shops can do just ONE t-shirt for a customer. That's why you can see embroidery done on demand in a mall setting. Because it's easier to setup one design and print it.

You'll never seen screen printing on demand in a mall setting. Because the setup is much too costly and time consuming.

That doesn't mean that screen printers don't care about the little guy.

That just means that you may have to educate your customers about the differences between screen printing and embroidery.

It's nothing bad or evil with the process, it's just different than what you (and they) are used to.

Once you explain it to them and keep a policy about it, it will go much smoother.

If you think about all the screen printing businesses out there that go through this every day, you'll see that it is possible to still sell screen printed t-shirts without having to show the customer a printed sample t-shirt. 

I've sold screen printing services for about 7 years now. Lots of customers that I've never seen before. Sure, we've had requests for a "printed t-shirt sample", but usually once we explain the costs involved, how we work, how we quality check, how we do digital proofs, the customer is fine with the outcome 99.9% of the time. Some customers decide that they wont' do the job without a printed proof and that's OK. You can't win every customer.

Are their exceptions to that rule? Sure. One order was for 8000 pieces to be shipped out of country. Once the order was secured, we worked it out with the customer to do one printed proof for them to approve. In that case, it made financial sense to print the shirt since we had a guaranteed order (not a *possible* order) and since it benefited both parties to make sure that it was done exactly right. The cost of printing the one shirt was easily justified by the potential cost of misprinting 8000 shirts.

I think you can still sell plastisol transfers...you just have to think about it a different way than you do with your current embroidery setup.

Once you figure out what your exact customer concerns are, you can figure out how to address them and still get the order.



> As far as price I'm not sure, no one will quote for one ...which I would gladly pay for


I think the reason nobody would quote you is because they may think you (like many customers who may have asked for custom samples), may not be willing to pay the price that would cover their time and costs.

So far we know that $90 is too high. But there must be some amount that you would think is an "OK" amount for a custom printed transfer (how many colors)? Depending on the design and the number of colors, it may be actually cheaper to get the company's mimimum order.

There are other print options for customers that really must have a sample though. Direct to Garment printing doesn't have the same setup fees/time/costs as screen printing and you can usually order just one t-shirt from a DTG printer. I've sold DTG printed samples for $25.


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## leisure (Mar 3, 2007)

Rodney said:


> You are correct, I have never digitized a design myself, but I have had several designs digitized, I've seen the process and I am pretty familiar with the machine costs.
> 
> But do you do a free sample for every *potential* customer that might get with their custom logo or do you have limits?
> 
> ...


Thanks everyone for the input. I really understand all the points and everyone does do business differently.No i'm not a multi-millon dollar business but I have put 2 kids through college and another getting ready to start.
I don't think it is to much to ask for a sample to show a customer when your willing to pay a fair price for that sample.
I personally do a FREE digitized sample on all my customers logos, sew it out, it is then sent to the customer for sign off and deposit on order.Simple enough and everyones knows what there getting up front.Just works for me.
Thanks again.


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## T-BOT (Jul 24, 2006)

It's sort of standard to pay about $ 100 and up for a custom plastisol transfer sample. For the vast amount of reasons mentioned already.

Now if the art is not screen ready... and the client is not up to par with spec sheets etc., this will be more time consuming for the transfer maker, be prepared to pay more.

It also depends how busy they are too.


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## leisure (Mar 3, 2007)

T-BOT said:


> It's sort of standard to pay about $ 100 and up for a custom plastisol transfer sample. For the vast amount of reasons mentioned already.
> 
> Now if the art is not screen ready... and the client is not up to par with spec sheets etc., this will be more time consuming for the transfer maker, be prepared to pay more.
> 
> It also depends how busy they are too.


_ My artwork is always ready thanks to my son and his very talented friends (whom will be leaving for college very soon) and I know it's a rat race world but what you did and what a lot of people do here on this forum is what my point in this whole thing was.Remembering who help put you where you are and showing a bit of THANK YOU for that._
_So I would like to say thank you for making an effort to help someone out even if they forget._


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## selzler (Apr 4, 2007)

I do embroidery and I have never setup and sewen out a logo for free I charge $45 for left chest and $75 for full back. Yes I do sew it out an cloth and not on a shirt or anything else. I sew it out so I know there are no mistakes and it looks good. But never for free I want to keep my doors to my store open and not lock them up for good.


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## leisure (Mar 3, 2007)

selzler said:


> I do embroidery and I have never setup and sewen out a logo for free I charge $45 for left chest and $75 for full back. Yes I do sew it out an cloth and not on a shirt or anything else. I sew it out so I know there are no mistakes and it looks good. But never for free I want to keep my doors to my store open and not lock them up for good.


If your already sewing it out what would it hurt to use it as a sample it's not costing you anymore you already have it sewn.My doors have been open for over 15 years so I guess I must be doing a little bit right.Again it is to each his own.I just started out doing business like that and it works for me.I have the same fire department-school-doctors- plaza-marina-paintball ect. that i've had from the beginning come to think of it the only customer I have lost was from plastisol transfer which was a custom bike shop and they wanted to see an actual shirt which leads me back to way this topic began can't find anyone that will sell 1 sample.
Thank you for you input I hope you too will remain open for many years it's really a fun job I love digitizing.


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

Wow, I am late to the game and it is only 1 day old!

If you are a big shop doing a lot of work you can choose your customers. You can take every profitable order and let the other guys have the rest. 

If you can make money giving free or low cost samples (we do) then you have an advantage or niche over the big guys. After all, that is what the free market is all about! 

If you are operating at capacity, then you do only the highest profit orders and let the rest fall off until you get more capacity. 

Soooo...... These screen print xfer shops have high overhead, high volume, high prices for small orders. It is hard enough to screen print on shirts but then to screen print on paper that is to be xfered to shirts on disparate equipment by all kinds of people with who-knows-what experience? 

It seem to me there is a niche here to open a custom screen print xfer biz that prints a single copy for $4 as a sample. Hmmmm........maybe not


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## MONSTERTEES (Jan 9, 2007)

hi there,
try calling transfer express, they also have a web page.
i just ordered my first two orders with them. the more you order the less you pay. they have one of the best customer service people in the business.
with the goof proof plastisol transfers you cant go wrong!
200 tees left logo cost approx. .60 cents each. no ink mess no dryers 



joe


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## selzler (Apr 4, 2007)

I don't sew out a wearable sample for free because alot of my customers want high end garment like Arnold Palmer and others. The cost of the garment would have to be added to what I do charge. By the way I opened my shop in 1984 and still going and not working out of my house. I have 17 people working and I need to pay them. That's why I charge for my work. Think about it if you spend 1 hour setting up the art and doing the sew out for free If you would charge for that. How much would you make if you do 20 a month say at $35.


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## leisure (Mar 3, 2007)

selzler said:


> I don't sew out a wearable sample for free because alot of my customers want high end garment like Arnold Palmer and others. The cost of the garment would have to be added to what I do charge. By the way I opened my shop in 1984 and still going and not working out of my house. I have 17 people working and I need to pay them. That's why I charge for my work. Think about it if you spend 1 hour setting up the art and doing the sew out for free If you would charge for that. How much would you make if you do 20 a month say at $35.


It's not about the extra money. I'm sewing the sample out anyway, it's not on a shirt, it's on a sample swatch. So i give that to my customer that way they see it sewn out and they sign off on the approval and give me the deposit .Instead of running 300 shirts and then your customer saying well I don't like the way it looks now you eat the charge.
I'll take a 1 piece order just has happy as a 300 and it doesn't matter if it Ashworth or gildan all my customers are treated the same.
This is not a who's right who's wrong it's just 1 opinion (mine) of how I do business.
If it helps someone elsa GREAT if not maybe someone elsa's opinion will.Thats what it is all about.


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## T-BOT (Jul 24, 2006)

leisure said:


> _ I know it's a rat race world but what you did and what a lot of people do here on this forum is what my point in this whole thing was. Remembering who help put you where you are and showing a bit of THANK YOU for that._
> _So I would like to say thank you for making an effort to help someone out even if they forget._


...you're welcome, thanks.  

but yeah!

beacuse we enjoy our job and are not in the 25 cent profit margin hustle, we are lucky to have sponsors that help out new artist etc...

for example: when a national newspaper mag came to us for a shirt idea, we made them a few samples free of charge for them to choose. 

they chose this one: 











from that we got orders from other wine people to make their shirts. We were not expecting much more then an order but it turned out to be a great thing and lots of fun too.

I can understand charging for one-off samples policy, but i think that providing information and the potential of what the sample may bring is wise to inform the transfer maker...in a professional manner. Not from a free-loading type of approach.  

...i hope this makes sense.

:


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

> It's not about the extra money. I'm sewing the sample out anyway, it's not on a shirt, it's on a sample swatch. So i give that to my customer that way they see it sewn out and they sign off on the approval and give me the deposit


Do you only do sew out proofs for paid customers or do you also do it for "potential" customers that are shopping around?


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## T-BOT (Jul 24, 2006)

Rodney said:


> Do you only do sew out proofs for paid customers or do you also do it for "potential" customers that are shopping around?


Rodney, i know your question is not for me since i don't do sew/embroidery etc.

But i think the "shopping around" type customer fall under a different " potential " then the "potential customer" with potential. 

now i'm confused.


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## leisure (Mar 3, 2007)

Rodney said:


> Do you only do sew out proofs for paid customers or do you also do it for "potential" customers that are shopping around?


Hi Rodney,
If someone takes the time to come in and seat down and discuss what there looking to do and has a clear crisp picture, I will do a sew out and as far as them shopping around I assume everyone is doing that, but I feel (my opinion) if the job is done right the first time and they like what they see 9 out of 10 are your customer, not just once but many times over, plus they recommend others.
If for some reason they don't use my company then I have another sample of my work to show and it goes on my wall of art (as we call it)
I guess because i'm doing all my own digitizing that cuts down on cost and I've just always done it.


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