# Questions, Vinyl vs Plastisol Transfers, Pricing...the learning process has begun



## everlastingxxx (Dec 9, 2010)

Hi,

Ok i purchased a 16x20 Max Heat Press and a Graphtec Robo Pro from Coastal (they were great). I am an experienced Graphic Artist so the whole illustrator to cutter has been pretty painless. But here are some of the issues i have ran across:

Last week i was asked for a t-shirt quote for a dancing studio (that does a lot of yearly t-shirts). I quoted $15 each for 13 black 50/50 t-shirts, 2 Color Back, Front Pocket one color, turn around time 3 days, no set-up fee. The quantity was right at the edge where i may screen print (plastisol transfers in house). But i wanted to show off my new equipment and the vinyl transfers.

The client wanting to give me a chance, forwarded me the other quotes they got from other print shops. I was floored when i saw their quotes. One quoted $7 each and another $6.25 with a $15 setup. Maybe they were lowballing so they would get the bigger print jobs later on. I did the job at $10 each just to get my feet wet and show off what i can do. 

The shirts were a hit. Many complaints about screen printing is the cracking in the ink and the opacity on dark shirts. Compare vinyl and screen printing and the vinyl stands out a lot more. My wife loves it. People were amazed at how sharp the text was. Well quickly a member of that dance class wants 30 shirts, 2 colors. Ok now my question is, are they expecting vinyl quality? Because i would much rather screen print at that quantity? Not sure how to quote. 

Another job i just got. 100 light colored t-shirts, 1 color front and back. The imagine on the back is a photo with text above and under it. Older shirts they had printed shows a lot of dots from the screen printing process. I decided to test a shirt out and use JetPro transfer for the photo and vinyl for the letters. Looks much better. Smooth clean image. But it is not cost effective. I can get it done cheaper with screen printing (pt), but i dont like the dot pattern. Could i do a mix match? Press the transfer paper and have plastisol transfers for the text? I did a rough calculation and for 100 shirts that comes out to well over 25 feet of vinyl, lol. That’s insane, right? I quoted $6.75/per shirt with $25 set-up. The client accepted. 

Side notes:

I still cant get my optical eye to cut for me. Not sure why yet. It also keeps telling me the rollers are not aligned. It is kindof particular. Other than that the cutter is amazing and the detail is better than i could have expected.

I ordered the t-square it. I find myself spending way too much time trying to line it up and sometimes seems impossible. I am making the effort.

I really like Easyweed. The quality is very nice and i have been impressed. Only downside is the sticky backing sticks to everything, lol. 

The Max press has been great. Wish it did have a pressure gauge. 

I pressed a mousepad and koozie using JetPro. That stuff gets very hot. Burned my finger trying to peel.

Well just thought i would share my experiences. Looking to get better at this. Fun mixing up my day. 

Some examples.


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## Louie2010 (Feb 26, 2010)

Your work looks real nice. 

It is great that even though you had to lower your price a little that they still paid you $3.00 more a shirt than the competition was quoting. With time you will be able to increase that even more, as you grow relationships.


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## nitewalker (Jan 27, 2010)

Anthony, what exactly are you doing when you contour cut? I have the same cutter and love it.
I alsso have a MAXX press (15x15) and love it as well, and also wish it had a pressure gauge, but it's been working fine setting it manually.


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## everlastingxxx (Dec 9, 2010)

nitewalker said:


> Anthony, what exactly are you doing when you contour cut? I have the same cutter and love it.
> I alsso have a MAXX press (15x15) and love it as well, and also wish it had a pressure gauge, but it's been working fine setting it manually.


Hey John,

I was able to get it working this morning. I finally realized what the carrier sheet was for, lol. That extra space allowed the optical eye to read the registration marks. Hey how long does the blade last?


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## nitewalker (Jan 27, 2010)

The stock blade can last 3+months of moderate to good use; cleancut blades will last much longer.


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