DSF

I'm thinking about coasters, but reluctant to buy a new press and all the potential problems considering the low profit nature of coaster sets and having to print 4-6 of them!

Anyway, the Unisub coasters, how does the print quality compare to an actual photograph in comparison?

How do they perform as coasters in 1-2 years time? Are they going to fade/ peel away, warp?

I'm considering not going the sub route and buying cork adhesive backed material with laminated images. But are sub coasters good quality?

UniSub coasters print up beautifully. You get excellent, glossy photo reproduction and I can tell you from personal experience that, aside from a few tea stains, the ones I have at home look as good as the day I pressed them.

And don't think of them as low profit, they look that impressive that people will pay good money for them with the right images in place.

Same as scotty said! They are pure beauty once you print descent quality photo on it!

mmm, I'll need to get a sample of a printed coaster then. I would hope that a subli coaster is pin sharp like a photographic print, but our process can be prone to blurriness if not printed properly.

Coasters are a great seller, although a lower profit margin than some other products we do, but as they sell so quickly, are easy to print, and can easily print 12 at a time in our flat bed press, it's fine ... we only do the glass coasters, but sold around 1000 of them in December.

The unisub coaster gives the best print out of all subli items we use. Easy to do and quick with great results. Laminate versions are poor by comparison and do not last anywhere near as long in my experience.

Are those the glass coasters with the pattern on top? I'm not sure if I like those. Although that's a fair comment, with the right design they become 'designer' and attract a premium price.

I found a company who supply glass coasters with photo inserts which looks like a lot less work. Listawood do some wooden coasters also, but I don't think they have quite the attraction of glass. There is money in glass coasters though, I've seen some nice examples on Etsy. Never look on that site, there is always someone more talented than you!

Uni sub coasters are, as has been said....brilliant. The colour reproduction is really good and the finish is excellent. As for profit margins remember people are paying up to £10-£15 or more for a set of 4 mass produced ones from the likes of John Lewis so IMO profits are there to be made.

No, we use glass coaters with a smooth non-patterned/textured top, but we are in the designer market rather than the personalised printing market, and can charge a nice price for them.

Avoid laminated ones, or the ones where you slot a photo inside them - they just aren't as good, and don't hold as much perceived value to the public as a sublimated one.
To the public, a laminated one is "you've just stuck a sticker on it" and the other type is "you've just put a photo inside" - these are things that they can do themselves (or imagine they could quite easily) the more removed your product is from what an everyday person thinks they could make easily themselves the more they will pay for it.
There's a similar perceived value in the weight of something too glass/ceramic/slate/marble coasters can sell more than plastic/wood, and one of the reasons for this is they feel a more substantial product due to their weight.