Hi all - Thinking of starting a lil business

[vickytoms]

Hi all

Ive been thinking about starting a sublimation and printing business for a while now and have just discovered this forum

Hopefully you can all point me in the right direction of the do's and dont's plus potential profit earners

Thanks very much

[Justin]

Hello and welcome to the forum

Justin
DSF Admin

[vickytoms]

Hi Justin

Im hoping to learn loads of things on here

Im currently looking at a package on ebay and i wondered if its a good deal, what do you think?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/281799989207? ... EBIDX%3AIT

Also whats the approx profit made from say a mug?

Thanks very much

[ArferMo]

Would not go over 250 to 300 for that lot.

[vickytoms]

thanks very much for the advice. we are looking to buy something around the £250 at the moment for a startup, do you have any recommendations? Im looking to do mugs, clothing printing, phone/tab cases.

Thanks very much

[Justin]

My personal advice would have been don't go near it. You'll be struggling on that budget, look at the Ricoh 3110 printer package for a pain free way in. That's your budget spent and a little more besides Then you'll need a flat press and a mug press. Look at our membership scheme, £10 per year and you get some great discounts with the likes of Xpres and Listawood...and more. 10% off everything at Listawood would give you the tenner back several times over.

[vickytoms]

Thanks for the reply

i could spend a bit more, say about £350. I have £350 in cash plus my credit card!

im looking to do it to earn a bit alongside my daytime job in a school so would only be selling through the Internet and word of mouth as I haven't got a shop

[Justin]

The danger you may face, like so many, is that you will start out with a cheap printer/non supported inks and cheap presses. You'll make a start and get the odd decent print and th rest will be poor. Then, you'll decide having seen what can be done that you need to buy better equipment. So.....you'll end up spending even more than you wanted in the first place!

Our advice is always to spend once and get it right rather than spend twice.

I appreciate this may not be what you want to hear but take it from those who've been there and wasted money, in the long run you'll thank them

[Quinsfan]

Pull up a comfy chair lots of coffee and have a good read of this forum. Any question you think of there is sure to be an answer here. Justin is right though. Buy cheap buy twice. The main thing you need is the printer and the Ricoh from one of the listed suppliers with your 10% discount is the best place to start.

[RogerC]

Hi Vickytoms,
Not sure if others have read through and noticed your budget but if they have they might be holding back being polite. In all honesty if your budget is £250 you'll not come close to a starter package worth bothering with. A case of decent quality mugs will set you back £40+ delivery, a printer that will be reliable but only A4 max print around £300 plus a mug press (cheap but reliable with after sales service) at around £200. So for around £550 you'll be able to print mugs but that assumes you already have a computer with compatible/suitable software to make/process the images for printing in the first place. For clothing add in another few £££'s for a suitable press and paper and you'll soon be totting the 'start up' to possibly around £1000.........but certainly in excess of £750. However you might strike lucky and get a reasonable set up kit from someone packing it in because the 'I'm going to make a killing with subli stuff' idea just didn't get off the ground.

Bottom line is sublimation isn't an easy route to untold riches. Most hobbyists barely break even but as it's a hobby it doesn't bother them and businesses that are successful are usually those who can do quality and quantity which means big orders, small margins but nonetheless a profit.

So sorry to pi55 on your parade but you'll not get far into sublimation with £250.