DSF

Quick question, are there different quality plain cases available? I've seen plenty and they all seem fairly low end, perfectly acceptable but wondered if more 'premium ' blanks were available?

Are you talking 3d, metal inserts or flips etc. There are different levels but it is limited.

Posted in the 3D section Sorry, I should have detailed, it's 3D primarily.

I just had an order for 700 cases. I could only get 300 from the normal supplier (at 60p each), tried another supplier who charge £1.75 per blank, the difference was very marginal and certainly did not warrant the significant increase in cost.

This was for 3D blanks.


I think film versus paper makes a huge difference and unless I have a few grand lying around I may knock it on the head, Sublideck is a good machine but if selling B2B there is not enough profit in it for me.

Sorry, I only ever click on new posts rather than forum categories.

You can get various types of the standard 3d with Matt or frosted finished but beyond that there is a ranged of 2 part cases. It is basically a soft rubber cover with a 3d wrap Plastic part the clips around. Think I saw a credit card holder version based on that as well. Have you seen the 2 piece 3d version. Different colour options as well and easy to print as corners aren't part of the print area.

Think I saw a credit card holder version based on that as well

Sunfly have it advertised but it is not available yet as far as I am aware.

Are you at Sign & Digital Andrew? Coffee time again?

I will be going but haven't worked out which day. I was supposed to be picking up a large bit of kit from there at the end of the show but have partly held back as need to sort a van etc. Might go up earlier to take a look so I still have a chance to go back, although they might have made other arrangements. Might be the Monday as it stands.

Justin;121472 wrote:Posted in the 3D section Sorry, I should have detailed, it's 3D primarily.

Ive seen different qualites with different suppilers ..Best one are from Sublideck ppl but as Simon said they are over £2 with Vat when you can buy ones for 60 p bit less quality ..I think Sublideck ones they use a quality coating on their covers that might be the reason its only take 100 secs to get a perfect cover ..

What machine are you currently using for the 3d phone covers Justin? If you want to email us a photo and I will get one of the 3d covers done on the sublideck for you, so you can do a comparison. We have sold 3d cases for a long time now but to be honest the sublideck HD ones are far superior and worth the extra 50p in my opinion better print and a thicker grade of plastic.

Might be the Monday as it stands.

It doesn't open until Tuesday.....

worth the extra 50p

It's an extra £1.15 +VAT to be fair. Plus the film is 50p, a sheet of dye sub paper is about 5p based on 3 per sheet. So total cost to print one case is £1.60 + VAT EXTRA.

If you are selling direct to consumer then I do not think it is that much to worry about considering cases can go for about £10-15. If you are drop shipping or selling to trade then the unit cost is very significant.

The other issue with this machine is I can not quite fathom the target audience who will purchase the machine.

If you are selling to someone who sells direct to consumer, then ideally you need a machine that can be changed from one phone model to the next quickly and easily. You can do this with the Sublideck, but... you will need another oven somewhere to keep the other jigs warm. Otherwise waiting for a jig to warm up each time you change models is going to get very annoying.

If you are selling to someone who wants to do small ish bulk runs, then the unit cost needs to come down significantly.

When I saw this printer at P&P I did (and still do) think it's a great machine, just a wee bit confused. I did ring a customer of mine to find out how much they pay for printed phone cases on bulk orders and they said £1.19 a unit. So I just can not fathom who will buy this machine, it is a great machine and I would be interested to find out who is buying the machine in terms of who their customers typically are.

I know that most drop shippers charge around the £5-6.00 mark for a phone case, so even with that price point it you are only going to make about £3.75 a case. Take away VAT, electricity and all the other costs and you are down to minimum profit.