Suppliers for large format media

[Sortrac]

Hey guys!

Like a lof of people i’m sure, we’ve suffered from major price gouging from many of our suppliers. I’m looking into importing my large printable media (vinyl, banners, heat transfer etc) and my eco solvant inks directly from china in bulk in one or two shipments for the year.

We imported a lot of stuff from china, but printable media is a new one for is. I would love to hear from some of you guys if there is any manufacturer you would recommend! Any general tips or feedback would also be appreciated!

Thanks a buch!

 

[ChicagoGraphics]

Hey guys!

Like a lof of people i’m sure, we’ve suffered from major price gouging from many of our suppliers. I’m looking into importing my large printable media (vinyl, banners, heat transfer etc) and my eco solvant inks directly from china in bulk in one or two shipments for the year.

We imported a lot of stuff from china, but printable media is a new one for is. I would love to hear from some of you guys if there is any manufacturer you would recommend! Any general tips or feedback would also be appreciated!

Thanks a buch!

If your not buying full containers I doubt you will be saving much money. Out of all the manufacturers I been to the best ones are in Shanghai & Suzhou

 

[FlorenceC]

Writing from Ontario here. Our needs aren't sufficient to be buying by a full container, at least not for the large format department. Based on our current volume, a full container would likely have stock expire before it could be used entirely. Not only that, but the materials we do use do varies; we are not focused on just one kind of vinyl or substrate. Keeping light on in-house stock and relying on suppliers who can get stock to us within a few days has been key to keeping us flexible and competitive. Additionally, to my knowledge the trade printers we do deal with mostly stick local for substrates, for reasons of availability. Hardware is a different story. Being backordered on consumables can make/break a bid. Hardware we can usually find workarounds.

We work with Spicers for price, ND Graphics for low volume variety, WJT for low volume, EM Plastics and a few others for substrates.

 

[victor bogdanov]

Try getting a quote for a huge order from your current suppliers, ask them to quote a truckload, Should be significant savings and easier than ordering from china

 

[MarkSnelling]

Buying a container means you are going to have to pay in advance for those 600 rolls on a 40' container. Unless you have cash rolling around the shop, why tie it up? Run your business in just-in-time and pull from local suppliers who have the stock already on their shelves. I've only seen one or two customers successfully bring in their own containers.

 

[NazGraphics1]

don't forget the 25% Tariff

 

[Solventinkjet]

It's not the suppliers gouging you, most of the time anyway. If you saw the margins on vinyl, you'd understand why there are only a few large suppliers anymore. Unless you're selling 1000's of rolls, there's no money in it. We used to be like a Grimco with an 8000 sqft warehouse full of vinyl. The low margins is a big reason we are a tech support company now for the most part. As mentioned above, it's all about volume. The more you buy, the better price they will give you because they want to move more volume to make it worth while.