Clothing line - do it myself or outsource?

Hi guys,

I'm working with a local business to produce a range of clothing. I used to own a dye sub business so have some idea about printing of t-shirts etc but I'm no expert.

We're looking to take branded t-shirts (Gildan etc) for example, embroider a small logo, relabel them and package them nicely as a high end product.

My question is:

Would it be cheap enough to outsource this and sell for a profit? Or would I be better off buying an embroidery machine and doing it myself?

How much would a very basic embroidery setup cost me? (We only need to do very small designs to start with)

Any advice would be much appreciated

Thanks

Rob

HI Rob,

I think outsource is the best option to begin with as set up cost and ordering everything in, like threads t-shirts etc will take any profit and a lot more out of your pocket, but once set up if theres enough profit then why not !!! good luck.

Regards Paul

I would agree with Paul. Outsourse to begin with. Embroidery machines are expensive and so is the program that goes with them. A starter setup with a cheap machine would be around 7K I would think.

I do some work for on-line shops. One buys from Primark and I embroider a small emblem. Total cost to them (garment and embroidery) around 7€ each. They knock it out at 20€.
Another customer supplies caps. I do the trial runs for him and then he gets the bigger orders done in China when he has prooved that it sells.
Whatever you do, good luck

HI Earl,
We do all are embroidery in-house as we deal with companies that want there stock with in two weeks or less but just out of curiosity whats the cost of embroidery in China say per 5 thousands stitches and the turn around time ?

Regards Paul

Hi Paul,
Spoke to my customer this morning. He is getting 50 embroidered beanies ( yes 50) at under 3,50€ each, delivered to Germany. Beanie without embroidery is 30 to 40 cents. Takes 3 to 5 weeks delivery time.

I would go with a drop shipping service, this way you can try products with out using alot of money on stock that may not sell, this way you get to test the market,

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Earl Smith

Hi Paul,
Spoke to my customer this morning. He is getting 50 embroidered beanies ( yes 50) at under 3,50€ each, delivered to Germany. Beanie without embroidery is 30 to 40 cents. Takes 3 to 5 weeks delivery time.

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Thanks Earl,
its not for me as 3 to 5 weeks is to long but great for people that have shops,
thanks

Thanks for your input everyone. I think we're going to outsource. Seems the best option!

pop a notice up on here in members to members section ABC embroidery (calvinabc) on here offer reasonable prices, as i am sure do other members

hi mrs maggot. thanks for that. only just seen this. thanks for the recommendation. always happy to help and give quotes. we have had a good bit of business from the forum. thanks for all the support so far.