# what is a reasonable amount of casualty (spoilage/mistake/unsellable) shirts to expect from a printing job? per dozen? per 100?



## quantum_MC (Jun 1, 2010)

when dealing with a screen-printer, what is a reasonable amount of casualty (mistake/unsellable) shirts to expect from a printing job? per dozen? per 100?

for this particular job - we're doing a 2-color, relatively simple text laid over a graphic.

any input would be appreciated.

thanks!

-mc


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## n.signia (Nov 21, 2007)

The term is "spoilage" and it's usually a percentage (which I can't remember right now) we don't typically have alot of spoilage, but if your providing a printer with shirts on a contract basis, extra shirts is a good idea. If you search the forums for the term "spoilage" you should find your answer.


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## alvin6661 (Dec 17, 2009)

n.signia said:


> The term is "spoilage" and it's usually a percentage (which I can't remember right now) we don't typically have alot of spoilage, but if your providing a printer with shirts on a contract basis, extra shirts is a good idea. If you search the forums for the term "spoilage" you should find your answer.


we do 10% spoilage but im so good I dont have to worry about spoilage...lol


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## quantum_MC (Jun 1, 2010)

does this mean your customers agree up front that 10% (or whatever percentage a particular printer says) of their order COULD be flawed? or that said printer will cover the cost of up to 10% spoilage? do you advise customers to order an extra 10% of shirts to cover the possible spoilage?


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

I think 2%-5% spoilage is more of a standard that I've seen from different screen printers.

This is the amount that could be flawed, so your order might possibly be short by 2% (which you wouldn't get charged for).

Some printers allow you to request that your order be shipped "in full" which means that they'll make sure that you get exactly the amount you asked for on your order.


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## quantum_MC (Jun 1, 2010)

roger that. thanks.

-mc


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## contractprinter (Jan 5, 2006)

we have a 2% posted misprint allowance. it doesnt make much difference having one. usually a mistake is made in the first few shirts, so if you are printing less than 50 shirts it doesnt even come into play. and when your best customer tells you he needed that one large you misprinted on the 1000 piece order, you will reprint for free


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## alan802 (Mar 24, 2008)

Our misprint rate is somewhere around 1 shirt for every 1000, so I guess that's .001%. Our spoilage rate is slightly higher due to manufacturer's defects to the shirts that are sent to us from our supplier. I would put our spoilage rate at around 1 for every 250 shirts. I've had as many as 12 shirts out of a batch of 144 that were covered in oil stains that were not suitable for our customer, yes, gildan navy.

We did about 3200 imprints this week without a misprint but had 2 shirts with holes in them.


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

From a customer standpoint spoilage rates should only come into play on customer supplied garments. If the customer is purchasing the garments from the printer then spoilage percentages shouldn't apply. 

From a printers standpoint in ordering garments we allow 1%. Its not like the extras go to waste. We always have use for them.


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## 24HourMan (Jun 4, 2010)

Hi Quantum,
I contract printed (printed other peoples garments) for more than 20 years. A spoilage rate of more than 1% is too high and I would suggest you try another printer if you are quoted higher. The bigger the print runs you do, that is 1000s, the lower the % should be and I agree with Alan you can get the % less then .25% or even 0 on many jobs. If you are doing print runs of 25s, 50s & 100s, chances are your print spoilage % will be higher. As Contractprinter said, the mistakes usually happen in the first few, then the job settles in and you can power through them without issues. In my experience, if you are in the business, you will always have a need for printed samples. A good practice is to throw a few extras into each run to cover the inevitable garment fault and or print spoilage and if you don't have either, use the extras for samples or give your client a couple of free shirts, they will love it, it is cheap good will.


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## ChameleonPrints (Apr 7, 2007)

splathead said:


> From a customer standpoint spoilage rates should only come into play on customer supplied garments. If the customer is purchasing the garments from the printer then spoilage percentages shouldn't apply.
> 
> From a printers standpoint in ordering garments we allow 1%. Its not like the extras go to waste. We always have use for them.


I agree, spoilage rate is only an issue on customer supplied garments... which is something I discourage. If the printer is selling the garments then the customer should receive exactly the amount they ordered with no spoilage.


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## CNClark (Mar 2, 2010)

My contract price sheet says to allow 1% per imprint. So, 100 shirts with and front and back print would be 2 pieces. Most of our customers order 1 or 2 extra in the sizes with the most quantities, and most of our customers aren't sending jobs that require exact numbers either.


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## scottyjr (Sep 12, 2009)

ChameleonPrints said:


> I agree, spoilage rate is only an issue on customer supplied garments... which is something I discourage. If the printer is selling the garments then the customer should receive exactly the amount they ordered with no spoilage.


I also agree with this policy. Other than customer supplied garments, apparel ordered = apparel, correctly printed, delivered. - Scotty


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## brice (Mar 10, 2010)

contractprinter said:


> we have a 2% posted misprint allowance. it doesnt make much difference having one. usually a mistake is made in the first few shirts, so if you are printing less than 50 shirts it doesnt even come into play. and when your best customer tells you he needed that one large you misprinted on the 1000 piece order, you will reprint for free


This is consistent with what my contract printer asks for. Minimum 1 extra per shirt size. He provides me all spoilage overprints at the original qty. For example, if I send him 102 shirts, he charges me for 100 and prints them all. I don't get the spoiled shirts so if one of the 102 is bad I get 101. Does that make sense?

Works for me and matches the spoilage I price into my cost to my customers AND my best handful of customers get everything I print, if I print it. And they know not to expect it.


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