SignsbyBrandon
New Member
Good afternoon! I run a small print shop in town but I stay very very busy. I am extremely blessed. I am pretty well known and I am a marketing guru so I have steady work coming in. Right now, I have a 6/6 manual vaster screen print press, Epson sublimation printer, 64" HP latex for wide format printing and digital HTV printing.
My current customer base is strictly business owners. 9/10 people who walk through my doors own their own business and are ordering work shirts for the most part. Right now, we do a TON of sublimation printing, but we have to constantly explain to each customer what sublimation is, how it works and that it can only be applied to polyesters that are lighter colors such a whites, grey etc. Some customers will insist on using polyester but some cannot stand it. I do not carry minimums on sublimation orders and typically charge $15 and up for front/back prints.
With screen printing, we require a 20 shirt minimum. MOST of the time we don't ever have to print anything over two colors because again, we work with other business owners who need attire for their employees and they end up ruining them eventually. BUT... there are times where we still have customers who come in and are wanting a handful of shirts, 50/50 or 100% cottons, dark colored shirts with a busy busy design. That immediately rules out screen printing and sublimation. I print a lot of digital HTV with our wide format, but again, depending on the design they have sometimes it is an issue because we can't add a white contour cut around the art work or it is a design image that cannot be contoured. Ex: a distressed American flag on a black shirt.
So that brings me here and the reason why I started this thread. I am interested in adding a DTG printer to our shop, especially because there's not but maybe one or two people in our area doing so. I have a strong background running my print business, I have a large customer base and I understand every aspect of the design process. I mainly use Adobe Illustrator and work with customers on custom logos as well.
I do NOT have experience with a DTG printer, BUT I do understand that they require maintenance and care. I have owned an Epson sure color ECO solvent printer and know that they need to be printed on almost daily.
So... I have a comfortable budget up to $15,000 or so that I am willing to invest. The two models that I have done some research and found second-hand are the Epson 2100 and the Brother 422 GTX.
The Epson 2100s range from $8k-12K machine only and a couple of listings that come as a bundle with a pre treat machine, inks, chemicals etc. I have found some Brother GTX's from $9,000-$15,000 second-hand as well.
I am quite confident that I will stay pretty busy with the DTG machine, especially since I have customers who walk in and are wanting a handful of shirts. Its just a matter of choosing out of both machines and receiving some personal experience feedback from the existing printers here on the site.
I appreciate everyones time and looking forward to hearing your feedback!
My current customer base is strictly business owners. 9/10 people who walk through my doors own their own business and are ordering work shirts for the most part. Right now, we do a TON of sublimation printing, but we have to constantly explain to each customer what sublimation is, how it works and that it can only be applied to polyesters that are lighter colors such a whites, grey etc. Some customers will insist on using polyester but some cannot stand it. I do not carry minimums on sublimation orders and typically charge $15 and up for front/back prints.
With screen printing, we require a 20 shirt minimum. MOST of the time we don't ever have to print anything over two colors because again, we work with other business owners who need attire for their employees and they end up ruining them eventually. BUT... there are times where we still have customers who come in and are wanting a handful of shirts, 50/50 or 100% cottons, dark colored shirts with a busy busy design. That immediately rules out screen printing and sublimation. I print a lot of digital HTV with our wide format, but again, depending on the design they have sometimes it is an issue because we can't add a white contour cut around the art work or it is a design image that cannot be contoured. Ex: a distressed American flag on a black shirt.
So that brings me here and the reason why I started this thread. I am interested in adding a DTG printer to our shop, especially because there's not but maybe one or two people in our area doing so. I have a strong background running my print business, I have a large customer base and I understand every aspect of the design process. I mainly use Adobe Illustrator and work with customers on custom logos as well.
I do NOT have experience with a DTG printer, BUT I do understand that they require maintenance and care. I have owned an Epson sure color ECO solvent printer and know that they need to be printed on almost daily.
So... I have a comfortable budget up to $15,000 or so that I am willing to invest. The two models that I have done some research and found second-hand are the Epson 2100 and the Brother 422 GTX.
The Epson 2100s range from $8k-12K machine only and a couple of listings that come as a bundle with a pre treat machine, inks, chemicals etc. I have found some Brother GTX's from $9,000-$15,000 second-hand as well.
I am quite confident that I will stay pretty busy with the DTG machine, especially since I have customers who walk in and are wanting a handful of shirts. Its just a matter of choosing out of both machines and receiving some personal experience feedback from the existing printers here on the site.
I appreciate everyones time and looking forward to hearing your feedback!
