Some buy the lower end machines. A few buy the higher end machines. In teh beggining both will make money. Later on the higher end machine will pull ahead. A heavier duty machine always does better in the long run.
I have a pounce kit for my cutter, never used it. No need for it. Opus is nice. But my cutter does not haeve it and I do at least printed & contour 200 stickers a week. You will be surprised just how fast you will need a cutter that will allow you to run printd work thru it..
Some buy for what you get (freebies, coupons tec.) rather than what 'it' will give. Bargain hunters always pay twice. Look at how many of us have redone some jack legs work who used the cheapest crap they could find. The same is with machines. Go cheap and pay twice.
Go cheap, But, just try to cut one contour job with a lower end machine ,,, and ruin just one run of work. and you will very quickly find out why you never buy a cutter based on price.
Tracking and cutting true is paramount. Economy cutters do not have the internal power to track long and straight first time every time especially in long runs.
Higher end cutters won't fail you. They are made to do more than just knock out a few lines of letters. They will track straight and cut true time after time. You will appreciate paying a few hundred more if you ever have to cut a job of 100 stickers, then find your third line gettin out of registration with each line after gettin worse.
So many will say. "I dont need a full feature power machine." "I'm just cutting vinyl". Well, that is a very short sighted concept. Any one with any spunk will want to grow and expand the mind and business. A lower end cutter will not follow you into the future. But it will only hold you back.
This bussiness is changing fast. Today, a shop with just a low end cutter is nothing more than a hobby shop. The day of a pure vinyl work just about over. All you have to do is look at ebay and see the ugy compared to the nice of a printed magnetic. Printing is comming on fast and so is the need for contour cutting of printed work and stickers.
I'm so glad someone gave me a heads up on cutters years ago. Avoid the low enders just to get you started. OR, you will pay twice for your choice. If you are posting to get afffirmation for going cheap. You already made up your mind to go cheap.
--Techman
