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help! need a heat press, don't want to spend a grand!

os101king

New Member
I have been looking since I opened my shop, now I have three or four of my best customers who want short-run color apparel.... I need to be able to set them up and I'm not buying a DTG for four dozen shirts a year.... any suggestions on what brands to avoid? one of my suppliers sells a "JETPRESS" with a 12"x15" platen for $495.... anyone?
 

os101king

New Member
Yeah, well truisms are one thing. Experience is another. I need to get one of these to keep some customers happy, not to add a line to my products. So I was looking for someone with some experience with that particular machine. I am going to use this thing six or seven times a year. Would you spend a premium on a machine that will gather dust most of the year?
 

OADesign

New Member
well,

"I" would do the math...

Cost of goods + equipment + Labor = YourCost

I try to get 30% gross profit on any job.

So MyCost / .70 (.70 being the decimal inverse of 30%) would give me my sell price.

If you do this math and get a price the makes sense to you and your client then go for it. if not then dont.
(ex: MyCost = $200. I want to make 30% Gross profit. $200 / .70 = $285.71 < my sell price)


Please tell me you haven't quoted the job yet.... with out doing all the math.

No need to tell them that their price includes the equipment to produce the job. If they are okay with the price then go for it.

Tell them that next time they make a run it will be "cheaper"...
 
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theskipman_98

New Member
Perfect the lost art of "Ironing". Should be able to get that and a board for like $25.

LOL and do tee shirts like the guy out to the 'market with Walmart Iron-ons and a Lexmark printer eh?



We have a Hotronix Mighty press digital that is pretty old (6+ yrs?) and it works flawlessly for us, but we really don't do many tees (about 300 month if that).

Try the for sale forum or see if one or try the vendors on the bottom of this page to see if they have one. Some ppl get into then get out, and trade in.


They are models on ebay new-used for around $800 (that was the price of a self opening), to ship it was $25.

just my .02
 

rcook99

New Member
We own an INSTA 228 digital swinger and love it. It was worth the money and has paid for itself many times over. just my .02
 

Mikew

New Member
If the heat press is going to be a dust collector most of the year why not look into outsourcing the jobs?
 

ChicagoGraphics

New Member
No, I wouldn't buy the machine if I'd only use it a few times year. What I would do though is sub it out and not have to worry about having a heatpress.
 

SweetDaddyD

New Member
I bought a small used Hix on ebay for $200 and it's been doing what I need it to do so far. I don't want to buy a chinese one and I don't want to spend the big bucks so I guess that's where I'm at for a while.
 

Bigdawg

Just Me
We got both ours on ebay real affordable prices. You could get a real decent used one for a couple hundred that would be just fine.
 
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