# Help Finding the "Right" Fulfillment Company



## DHDELO (Nov 5, 2010)

I have recently started a design of a line of t-shirts that I plan to sell both on my website and at select retail stores. I've been doing the "math" to determine the pros & cons of printing the shirts myself (using a DTG printer) or outsourcing them to either a printer or fulfillment company. My problem is that the quotes I've received from a few fulfillment companies are so high that I won't be able to turn even the smallest profit on the shirts I sell retail. As an example - a fulfillment company will charge me $9-$11 for a printed shirt that will retail for $20 (so the store will only pay $10 wholesale from me). Their services sound great but I don't see how folks can get the math to work into a profitable business plan. It does seem like I can get the shirt/printing costs down below $9 if I print the shirts myself but I don't want to spread myself to thin. I'd rather spend my time/energy at this stage of the business trying to get the shirts marketing correctly and into the right retail venues. Does anyone have any positive experience with other print vendors (not necessarily fulfillment companies) that could do dark shirts DTG for less than $9/shirt ? Your input is very much appreciated.


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## The Youngin (Nov 26, 2007)

For dtg fulfillment below 9 is LOW. I think you should go with that and if you turn into a stronger line you can always get into production later. 
JAson


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## FatKat Printz (Dec 26, 2008)

Think about it this way... Will you be responsible for the printer when it goes down? will you be responsible for the inventory of the tshirts? will you have to wait for your order to come UPS/FedEx or any delivery method? Are you gonna have to worry if a product is out of stock and have to pay more to get the same product somewhere else if you normal vendor is out? Are you gonna have to pay taxes on the building, employees or permits business to run? Are you gonna have to worry about a heat press causing problems to your order and have to rush to fix it? Are you gonna have to pay for the gas to get the shipments on time to the post office? Are you gonna have to pay for the insurance of the building, the vehicle to ship the items, employees? Are you going to have to find back up vendors in case a customer wants something different that you normally carry? Are you be in charge of taking our employee to the hospital if he injuries himself? Are you gonna pay the overnight charges for a part that is broken and you need to meet a deadline? Are you going to pay for the computer that crashes with all your artwork and software? Are you going to be able to finish the job when your employee calls in sick? Are you gonna pay for the utilities, cell phone bills, electricity, internet etc etc? Are you going to pay for ink when it runs out and pretreat?? 

Sure the print, tshirt and bag/tag and postage is included but do your really think that's all there is when you say _"Their services sound great but I don't see how folks can get the math to work into a profitable business plan"_

One black 2 sided tshirt > pretreat front > heat press (60 secs) > print white layer> print color layer >press again (cure ink 2 mins 30 secs) >pretreat back> press again(60 secs)> print white layer>print color layer>press (again 2 mins 30 sec)

1 shirts + 2 sprays of pretreat+ 2 layers of white ink + 2 layers of ink + 15 mins of time +i 6 mins of heat-press time..is that 9$ worth to you??????


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## muneca (Sep 30, 2008)

good luck to you w/this. i had the same problem when i first started. everybody was so HIGH!! once i started bringing in my own shirts, i was able to see a profit. i noticed that they had been tacking on a fee for the shirts as well. you should be very careful w/that. make sure you do business w/someone who will allow you to bring yours in.


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## FatKat Printz (Dec 26, 2008)

muneca said:


> good luck to you w/this. i had the same problem when i first started. everybody was so HIGH!! once i started bringing in my own shirts, i was able to see a profit. i noticed that they had been tacking on a fee for the shirts as well. you should be very careful w/that. make sure you do business w/someone who will allow you to bring yours in.



good luck with that because prices are set to increase again.. just got an email Bodek and Rhodes, TSC are raising pricing again..

might as well bring your lunch to McDonalds.. sounds about the same thing..


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## 760rdl (Jan 14, 2010)

honestly bro if your getting orders at whole sale prices then you might as well get them screen printed in bulk no point in using on demand if your getting orders that are big ... on demand is only nesacerry when your selling onesies....


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## FatKat Printz (Dec 26, 2008)

760rdl said:


> honestly bro if your getting orders at whole sale prices then you might as well get them screen printed in bulk no point in using on demand if your getting orders that are big ... on demand is only necessary when your selling onesies....



Nothing against SP, but honestly many people don't have the start-up to do this and Fulfillment is a better choice for those people..

I discourage people who think this is the best idea because who are they gonna blame when they have 300 shirts sitting in a back room that haven't sold yet..you they are gonna blame you cause your designs aren't selling.

I am a fulfillment company and we get newbies they they think oh I want 300 shirts of this and that.. then I ask how many have you sold..they say none.

Guess what with a fulfillment company you don't have to worry about inventory or products not selling cause you don't have them sitting in your room waiting to sell or spoil.

If a company has the following and can sell them great go for SP but don't offer something and the customer fails. 

options!!!


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## 760rdl (Jan 14, 2010)

I hear ya but DHDELO said he already has orders from stores or at least from what i understood .... i think if your gonna do it do it big and if the retailer has 300 shirts lying in the back thats the gamble they took also no retailer buys in huge from a newcomer especially if they think thats gonna happen... i say if ur selling online one at a time then go for it do the fullfilment route but if your getting bulk orders theres no need for a middle man..


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## FatKat Printz (Dec 26, 2008)

760rdl said:


> I hear ya but DHDELO said he already has orders from stores or at least from what i understood .... i think if your gonna do it do it big and if the retailer has 300 shirts lying in the back thats the gamble they took also no retailer buys in huge from a newcomer especially if they think thats gonna happen... i say if ur selling online one at a time then go for it do the fullfilment route but if your getting bulk orders theres no need for a middle man..


exactly, but from what I read on the forums here is a big gamble to sell bulk to retailers who don't sell ..they want the merchandise removed and they don't pay. So its something he will have to establish in a contract.


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## Invent Clothing (Jan 8, 2009)

FatKat Printz said:


> Think about it this way... Will you be responsible for the printer when it goes down? will you be responsible for the inventory of the tshirts? will you have to wait for your order to come UPS/FedEx or any delivery method? Are you gonna have to worry if a product is out of stock and have to pay more to get the same product somewhere else if you normal vendor is out? Are you gonna have to pay taxes on the building, employees or permits business to run? Are you gonna have to worry about a heat press causing problems to your order and have to rush to fix it? Are you gonna have to pay for the gas to get the shipments on time to the post office? Are you gonna have to pay for the insurance of the building, the vehicle to ship the items, employees? Are you going to have to find back up vendors in case a customer wants something different that you normally carry? Are you be in charge of taking our employee to the hospital if he injuries himself? Are you gonna pay the overnight charges for a part that is broken and you need to meet a deadline? Are you going to pay for the computer that crashes with all your artwork and software? Are you going to be able to finish the job when your employee calls in sick? Are you gonna pay for the utilities, cell phone bills, electricity, internet etc etc? Are you going to pay for ink when it runs out and pretreat??
> 
> Sure the print, tshirt and bag/tag and postage is included but do your really think that's all there is when you say _"Their services sound great but I don't see how folks can get the math to work into a profitable business plan"_
> 
> ...


what he said


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## dmfelder (Oct 25, 2008)

Yes, given the trade-off of using direct-to-garment printing versus screen printing, and the relative risk and capital investment (lack of inventory), $9 for a non-underbased garment and $11 for underbased leaves plenty of room for profit. The big guys charge much more. 

Keep in mind that shirt fulfillment services offer much more than just printing. They (we) typically order the blanks, pre-treat, manage the printing (in our case scale and hang appropriately), cure, package, and drop ship directly to the consumer. There are costs associated with all of these activities, not to mention the investments in facilities, printing systems, heat presses, etc.

Our most successful clients are selling 15-30 shirts a day, which leaves room for a lot of profit at minimal expense and effort. In our case, clients even make incremental profit on shipping.

Bottom line, successful clients have a good business plan and a targeted demographic. Get that in place and you can make thousands monthly with minimal investment...even at $9.

Best wishes.


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## kjw (Oct 3, 2010)

take all advice with a grain of salt especially mine :>
go with your gut feeling and if that requires you taking less profit in the beginning to go for your dream then do it
im new too
DTG seems like big money and considerable maintenance
silk sceeen is cheaper but will require some hands on skills to learn
good luck were both going to need it LOL


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