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J1m
11-02-2013, 09:57 AM
We have a club with a few thousand members, we want to produce our own promo stuff, much of it personalised, mugs, tshirts, coasters etc. we're about to buy a package from xpres, the cost is £2000 for an A4 printer, studio mug press, swing arm press. We do need the kit to pay for itself but at those prices it will take a while to see a return. Is this good kit? Will it last us long enough to pay for itself? We have no experience in this area and any advice is most welcome. Thanks

purpledragon
11-02-2013, 10:08 AM
Jim
you havnt said what make all the kit is so difficult to answer really i would think if its from xpres then it should all be of reasonable quality and should end up saving you money depending on how much use it gets obviously you have to take into account the price of stock you need to buy inks and time needed to print the stuff also you have to take into consideration electricity rent etc if its for you own club only then obviously that limits your customer base having said that with 2000 members if they all buy regually you should see a return in a reasonably short space of time

J1m
11-02-2013, 10:23 AM
Yes, this is the kit..
Xpres Premium Swing 15 x 20 Heat Press
Studio Mug Press
Epson WP4015 with 1 set of ink

J1m
11-02-2013, 10:29 AM
I notice that the printer can be bought MUCH cheaper if not bought for sublimation from xpres. Are they exactly the same printer with sub inks added. Can you buy the printer cheap and just swop inks? Thanks

socialgiraffe
11-02-2013, 11:27 AM
Xpres are a very good supplier and well recommended. As are BMS (printerowners.co.uk) and Listawoods (Listawoodstradesupplies.co.uk) and Longforte (longforte.com) the later two you receive a 10% discount on if you are a Premium Dye Sub Forum member, although I think this worked out the same price as BMS.

Also, consider the Ricoh printer. These have an excellent reputation as a printer you can turn off and leave without the risk of the heads blocking which will cause you problems and ink wastage.

Personally I would only purchase a dye sub printer from a dye sub supplier. As a person who is new to the industry you will need the back up that the experts can provide. If you purchase the printer from a non dye sub supplier who are you going to turn to if the printer develops a fault? The cheaper supplier can, and probably would, say the incorrect inks have been installed and subsequently not their problem.

pisquee
11-02-2013, 11:30 AM
you can buy the printer cheaper without sublimation inks, and source your own, but sublimation inks are still expensive.
One very important thing you get with paying more to buy the printer and inks as a bundle from a dealer like XPress is that they and the ink manufacturer - Sawgrass) take over the warranty on your printer, as the normal Epson warranty is effectively void as soon as you put the sublimation inks in. If you buy your inks seperately, you may find cheaper ones, but you would have no warranty on your printer - this is effectively what you are paying extra for.
Some people just decide to then budget for the actual printer being a consumable item that will break and need replacing a lot sooner than its normal life expectancy.
You need to put together a proper business plan and do your research -
what items will you be producing - what are their cost price (include all costs as in above post)?
Out of that profit made per item, how much will you be putting towards paying off the cap-ex of the production kit?
How many sales will you therefore need to make to break even?
Is your somewhat closed/finite market big enough to sustain this amount of sales over time?
How long will this take before you are actually making money?
Will you make enough profit over a given period for it to be worthwhile?

Now, then also work out the above, but this time work the figures for if you outsourced the production to a company who already produces these products, and see if it worthwhile you buying any kit at all - remember that it does take time to get set up, and be producing a good finished and consistent product, with quite a bit of wasted blank products/stock until you get to that point.

Crazytab
11-02-2013, 06:41 PM
Hi I got my equipment all from e-bay everything came with a 12 months warranty, and the flat press is 38" x 38" and the cost all in was ....£350....and I was very pleased with that, but everyone has there own opinion where's best to get things from. I hope you get sorted.:smile: