# Re-Printing over Mug mistakes.



## iainlondon (May 11, 2010)

I printed 5 /6 mugs as samples and need to know if it is possible to Re-Print say a dark wallpaper over them and would they cover.


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## jdoug5170 (Sep 8, 2010)

Not likely but you have nothing to lose to try. Maybe a buck for the paper and ink!

Doug


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## iainlondon (May 11, 2010)

Yeah thanks Doug your thinking along the same lines as mbut,hey I,m gonna give It a go will let you know what happens Cheers Iain.........


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## jiarby (Feb 8, 2007)

why waste your time trying to save a $2 substrate?


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## iainlondon (May 11, 2010)

jiarby said:


> why waste your time trying to save a $2 substrate?


Well your probably right but hey ho...I was told you couldn,t heat press Acrylic but managed that ok,In any case If you could salvage a $2 Substrate and then sell It on for $10 that would make a difference.....just out of Interest it didn,t work!!


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## jiarby (Feb 8, 2007)

> If you could salvage a $2 Substrate and then sell It on for $10 that would make a difference


Well, I look at it differently... I still think you are being Penny Wise but Pound Foolish. 

Your time and labor is the biggest cost component of most of the items you sell. You are wanting to sell an item for $10 that has a $2 "Cost of Goods Sold" (COGS). So, your potential gross margin, before labor costs is $8. You already KNOW you can pop in a new mug and make $8. But you want to salvage an old mug. So you are really trying to recoup just the $2 in bad inventory...

If you take the loss on the 1st mug, and then use a new one to produce the job then your COGS is $4 and your gross margin is $6. So... you are really burning all these calories for $2. Now you have to consider how much labor/time you can put into something to save $2. Not Much! 

My shop rate is $75/hr. If I sell $75/hr then I gross $225k/yr sales. Based on my overhead, cogs, labor, and taxes I then make a net profit of between $50-75k. That is not what I pay myself (I pay myself $10/hr and then take a dividend when we make a profit), that is the profit the business makes AFTER labor costs are paid. Now the business can invest in new equipment, pay for upgrades/maintenance, or even pay a dividend to shareholders (ME!). Based on trying to earn $75/hr I can only spend 2.5 minutes trying to recoup a $2 cost. Otherwise my time is better spent going out and trying to hit my sales quota. I have to spend as little time as I can on a job that only makes me an $8 gross profit. 

Because of this I do not retail individualy decorated 1-off mugs... just BULK orders. I can sell 30 mugs for $6 each and then be able to spend 2.5hrs on the job and still meet my profit goals. 

I mostly use mugs as give-aways and thank you gifts to customers that we do large orders for. It is a good ice breaker for an influential person (office secretary, school team mom, athletic director, school principal, etc...) to introduce our services to them. Last week I did a big trophy order, about $4500. That guy gets a mug with the event logo & his name on it. I also add in one for his principal, and his asst. coach. Then he gets to be Daddy Warbucks handing out the mugs to his staff. He gets the warm fuzzy feeling about working with us and we get the order next time too. 

YOU have to know what YOUR shop labor rate is. Use YOUR numbers, not MINE. 


The MOST IMPORTANT thing is that you have to account for your labor costs when calculating your prices and net profit. Then you can make better decisions on what to spend your time doing. 

In the OP's case: They printed a transfer and pressed a mug (the 1st BAD one). Then they printed another transfer and pressed it again. It failed. Now they STILL have to print another transfer and burn another mug. All this for a $10 job. They used 2 mugs and three transfers... and the labor of trimming those three and pressing them. There is no way that $10 covers all that. 

In my opinion is is best to take the $2 butt kicking and write off that expense (tax deductible!) and get the job done as fast as possible with a new mug... then get on to securing a more profitable job!



> it didn,t work!!


Sublimation ink is translucent... Whatever is under the ink will show through.


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## mn shutterbug (Mar 19, 2009)

Interesting read, Glen. However, there are people in this business doing this as a sideline and time isn't all that important, especially my time.  I have a full time income and am just attempting to make a couple thousand more per year for gas money. At the current gas prices, I'd better increase that to $3000.


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## jiarby (Feb 8, 2007)

It is true that I have the bias of a business owner. 
I guess if your time is less valuable than a $2 mug then why not try it. 

I grow a small garden in my back yard and spend lots of money and time to get some veggies that I could buy alot cheaper in the grocery store.


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