If you’re looking for a reputable screen printing Las Vegas company, then avoiding these 4 tricks will help you avoid losing time and money.
Trick #1: Your price per shirt is “$x”
This is by far the biggest trick employed to make themselves look like the best valued option.
When someone buys a car or something big, many times people will ask for the “Out The Door” (or OTD) price. Just like it sounds, OTD means what is the total price I have to pay so I can ‘walk out the door’ with it. This number is very important because it tells you what your final costs will be.
Another number you’ll need to know is the “cost per shirt” price. That is, what is the cost of each individual shirt in your order. If you get 10 shirts for $100, then your cost per shirt is $10 per shirt ($100 total cost divided by 10 shirts).
While you need to know both numbers, the one customers seem to focus on more is the cost per shirt price – and companies know this and will try to capitalize on their client’s oversight. That’s why they’ll make their cost per shirt price lower by adding in all their fees afterwards.
An example of this is:
A company quotes you $100 for 10 shirts – which is $10 per shirt. But, your total bill is not $100. After they tell you it’s $10 per shirt, they then tack on all their fees, such as graphic design, setup, cleanup, credit card, etc) as well as other items like shipping, if necessary. All these fees add up to $40. So, your total price is now $140 – which makes your cost per shirt actually $14 per shirt ($140 divided by 10 shirts).
In this example, the price difference is very noticeable because it’s only 10 shirts. But, if you have a larger order, the numbers are bigger and companies can milk a few dollars here and there without raising any red flags. Most times clients don’t even think to check the math until we point it out to them.
The $3 per shirt special
This is by far the biggest one we see and it’s not that we can blame the company for doing this – they’re just using advertising techniques to try and draw customers in.
Sure, printing of the shirt may only be $3, but they won’t tell you about all the “additional” fees you need to pay, including:
- Screen set up fees
- Color changes
- Ink fees
- Special (print) location fees
- Clean up fees
- Delivery fees
- etc.
Know what your OTD price is and base your cost per shirt off that price – NOT the price before they tack on all the erroneous fees.
All of our quotes have a cost per shirt price that reflects the total OTD price of the job (including fees and shipping, if applicable). We offer free delivery to the Las Vegas area.
Trick #2: We need to charge you an extra color for your under base
An under base is simply a layer of ink that gets printed on the shirt first (hence it lays “under” the other colors). This layer of ink now prevents the colors that lay on top of it from being affected by the color of the shirt.
Many amateur screen printers think printing on dark shirts ALWAYS requires a white under base. This simply isn’t true – it really depends on what you want your final product to look like. If you’re trying to put really bright, vibrant colors on a black shirt, then yes, you will need an underbase. However, in some cases, underbases aren’t necessary. This is where you need to work with your printer to see what the best course of action is. However, you do NOT ALWAYS need an underbase like many non-experienced printers will tell you.
Whether they’re trying to over bill you or they simply don’t know any better, you should not have to pay for their lack of knowledge.
Trick #3: Yes, we can print any artwork you submit to us on shirts
If you’re working with a graphic designer who is familiar with designing specifically for shirts, then you should be okay. But, if you’re submitting something you found online, one of two things will happen:
1) You’re either going to end up with a poorly printed product, or
2) You’re going to have to pay to “clean” the artwork up, which entails an additional fee
If a company tells you they can print whatever you submit to them at great quality, then you should be very wary of them. They are doing this to ‘lock you in’ and once you’ve put a down payment in, they will turn around and charge you for the additional artwork fees.
Worse yet, they may not charge you the fee but then you end up with a fuzzy or blurry design on your shirts and you won’t be happy. You now have to wait longer to get your items and hopefully the company you’re working with will work with you to fix the problem.
Trick #4: Our shirts are top quality and you don’t need the specifics of the shirt
This is another issue we see a lot of the time.
Many screen printing companies, for some reason, don’t put the specifications of their shirts onto their quotes. They will put other specifics in relation to the printing of the shirt, but it’s important for you, as a consumer, to know what product you’re getting.
There are 2 reasons why companies don’t lay out the shirt specs:
1) They’re lazy OR
2) They don’t want to tell you so they can charge you more for a “premium” shirt but give you a less superior product
It’s important to know exactly what type of shirt you’re getting.
If the style and specifications are the same, there’s not much difference between the different brands. This is not what we’re referring to. What we’re talking about is a company charging you for a 6 oz shirt and giving you a 5 oz shirt. They may try and charge you for a polyester shirt but turn around and print your job on a 100% cotton shirt.
While not as prevalent as in the past, we still hear of companies providing clients with shirts that have the tags cut off – which means the shirts are defects or irregulars from the manufacturer.
This is what the printing industry calls “bait and switch” – they bait you with the promise of a good product and you get stuck with a much cheaper version so the company could make more money.
We lay out all the specifics so we’re both on the same page when it comes to your order.
Don’t fall prey to any of these, or other, tricks companies will use to try to get the edge on you. It’s important you know (and understand) everything you’re getting when looking to get t-shirts printed and know bids you’re comparing are apples to apples.
We know your time and money are important to you. We don’t need to play games and employ shady tactics to win your business. We let our name, quality products and superior service do the talking for us and we know you’ll be happy working with us.
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