Heat Press Deal....$365 New!

I've seen some postings regarding members interested in purchasing transfer presses to suppliment their vinyl business. I myself have been considering this purchase and have been trying to decide on a size and a brand. I ran across this deal that looks very appealing. Wondering if they will sell at the wholesale price if you're not interested in a distributorship? I know of one other person that has a screen print shop that is ready to buy. Maybe we could organize a bulk buy....or if one of the shop owners want to become a distributor, we could get him into this for half the investment with just a few more interested buyers. I bet I could drum up another 2 sales locally or buy an extra one and E-bay it. At this price, it would be worth the risk to me to try a no-name with the stated warranty and American support. http://www.screenprintsupply.com/catalog/heatmaster/heatmasterpage.html

 

Wheels in Motion

I spoke with the sales department and sent them an e-mail regarding the request to purchase a lot of 12 without a distributorship and they said that they didn't think it would be a problem but they would pass it on to the boss for approval. All they want is the sales. It may get a little stickier working out the details since I'm sure the payment will have to come from one source. I may have to set up a Pay Pal deal....any suggestions. Once they come back with the OK we'll get into the details. I have at least one other committed from my end and maybe 2 so from the looks of this post we're pretty much there. I also asked if they would discount the "name" brands" if we could arrange a bulk purchase in case there was hesitance to the other, and if we could mix and match sizes in the order of 12, we'll see what they come back with. His initial comment was "There's power in bulk purchase, more people oughtta be realizing this and they could get things allot cheaper".....I thought of Fred and his business strategies when I heard him say that. So, I'm thinking they may come back with some flexible offers. I questioned the warranty and he said parts and service would be honored through thier company. I'm sure these are import knock off 's so if anyone's got a problem with this, you need to re-consider. I may lean toward one of the other brands if they give the discount.....or....we could approach another distributor with a bulk purchase deal of a name brand if you want?

 

Thanks for the insight! I've been racking my brain out on research and it's just like buying a cutter....the more I look the more confused I get, especially since (like I was with the cutter), I'm not actually using the machine yet. I can't afford to go with one that will do it all like the Geo Knight DC, I'd like the portability of some of the smaller units like the HIX Presto (in case I were to do any meets or events, but I don't want to be limited by it's substrate thickness capabilities...which brought up a good point on the Heat Master I need to get answered regarding the floating platen? I had some intentions of using mine on some decorative tiles so I need to follow up and/or consider the limitation. I don't think I'll have the same issue's you did regarding the multi-hundred shirts...at least for awhile. If I got that many, I'd be cutting a deal with my Screen printing buddy and just take the referral fee.

 

Update.....I have spoken directly to the guy who designed this unit and the push is on to sell it over the other brands but he said they would discount other brands as well. I am awaiting an e-mail to see what the discount for the HIX HT-400 and the Stahl's Mighty will be. I asked about the larger units and to get the price break they would all have to be the same size but if we go over 12 units on 1 size we could get a dicount on a few larger ones...unfortunately the larger ones aren't in stock right now. I spoke with him before I got the question about the floating lower platen so I have sent another e-mail asking about that, the temperature range, and if payments had to be made by one individual or if they will give the price break once all the commitments were called in. He is also supposed to address a UPS shipment question I had. Maybe all who are interested should send me your contact and shipping info so I'll have more details to go by when discussing shipping and such. My email is datcat@gt.rr.com From the count I made regarding the positive responses and my contacts.....we're there if everyone comes through. I'm sure it would take all of next week to make the arrangements since I have a day job...and that's if they will take individual payments...if not I need to get some advice on some ideas like Pay Pal.

Thanks,
Mike

 

Final Deal on Heat Master

OK, here's the latest and final offer from All American regarding specifics for the Heat Master...

1) The guy who designed this wrote me back and said the machine was designed purposely to have a floating upper platen only and tried to explain for reasons I didn't understand since I haven't ever used one, says it's a better design????OK, I'll have to trust his expertise...What would you say if you designed and sold it?
2) It is limited to substrates up to 1/2 " (I know HIX states 1" on their similar machine).
3) The temperature range is to 425 deg. F (I've seen 450 and 500 on others...don't personally know how much of a limitation this is but not much I assume, if anyone has a difference of opinion or experience please let us know)
4) THE BIGGY...One payment will be required. I will have to determine how large of a burden this will place on me. Not saying it will be at all, just need to know for your and my protection. I may have to add a little to the price to cover my expenses but I, by no means, plan to turn this into a profit thing for me since all I was looking for was a way to take advantage of a discount in the first place. Although, now my credit line will be the one at risk if someone backs out. We'll work through the details before any of us commit. I have to say that my intrest is sparked now on becoming a distributor if we all have success with the machine....couldn't ask for a better group of testimonials. I'm not much of a risk taker though so if one of you are and want to step up, I'll consider the option of passing the torch.
5) They will extend the offer to ship individually via UPS at a $45 fixed rate to anywhere in the USA besides AK and HI.
6) They will offer a bulk discount of 15% off MSRP for the other 2 name brands. I did the math and it does't seem like much of a deal since I've seen the same units listed on Ebay go for around the same price. I think they are just trying to sweeten the looks of their own product.

As for bulk discounts from other suppliers.....

I spoke with one other that supplies the HIX model 400 and they were willing to give a considerable discount for the same quantity. Keep in mind we're talking a higher price for the brand. $629 was the initial price but when I asked about individual shipping he said he would lose "his" bulk discount which equated to about $20/unit. He sounded like he may still negotiate but I didn't push it so even if he didn't go for $629 it would be a max of $649 which is $50 cheaper than I've seen that unit anywhere. I'm betting with a little more contact, we may get the HIX somewhere for around $600. With that in mind, I'd also bet we may get the Stahl for about $500 or a little less because I've personally found a TX supplier close to me willing to sell it for $595 for a single unit but he won't go less even for quanties because he's just a resaler. BTW, it's not Signwarehouse but they'd be on my list to contact if this angle gets persued.

To sum it up...For all who voted in on this, give me your feelings on....

1) The payment issue on Heat Master (are you willing to up the anty to cover my troubles...won't be much and I'll give the details when I figure them out.
2) Is anyone else already in a position to pick up the torch...i.e. already set up with paypal and have enough room in your budget to make a considerable purchase while risking that half of us don't back out of the deal? JK about the latter but something to consider.
3) Would the popular vote be to persue a more popular brand name or will we lose half of our bagaining power due to the cheapskates like me? JK...I'm actually on the bubble, I was convinced I'd be paying between $6-800 after researching for awhile but this machine appears to have everything I was looking for at a considerably lower price. The only thing that doesn't attract me is the weight for being very portable...shipping weight on the specs is 95 lbs. if I recall correctly which isn't of considerable difference for similar machinces but I have found one that is made from aircraft aluminum that has the same whistles and bells touting to be the next evolution due to the ease of portability. May consider seeing if they are up for a bulk discount deal.

If Heat Master deal goes down I don't want to be known as the guy who sold you down the river if we all get a lemon or be held responsible for making warranty issues good. I may have to check into seeing what I need to do to cover myself legitimately. I see this as shared risk and I happen to be the guy who stumbled across it. Don't want no stink eye from forum members and quit getting the priceless help I get off of the forum on a regular basis. It wouldn't be worth the discount if that should happen.

To avoid crowding the board with unnecessary discussion, feel free to e-mail your responses to me directly and I'll try to sum it all up and post a general response. You probably won't hear much more from me before Monday night cuz I'm headed to my lake house for the holiday!....Before you pass judgement, on me for that last statement, I gotta clarify. It's a poboy special (not too shabby though) I built on my own over the past 10 yrs. I got a bad habbit of takin' on chores if I think I can do it myself and save a buck, I've really got to refrain from going out in the garage and crankin up the mig every time a customer wants a real estate sign frame. I wouldn't have most of what I got if I didn't have this attitude though.