Start Up Costs For Newbie

[A.Repton]

Hi there, i have been looking to start up a business making phone cases/mugs & t shirts for some time now. I have done a fair bit of research on the market & what sells the best etc. The start up cost is where i have hit a stumbling block, i have read through the forum in regards to the printers & whats best, near on all posts have stated that ricoh are the far superior printers for numerous a reason, & they are highly recommended over the epson. For a starter what printer model would you advise?

Secondly, heat presses. I have seen you can buy 5in1s 6in1s etc, has anyone had any bad experiences with these? Am i best just getting a flatbed & a mug one separate, or do i purchase a 6in1?

Thanks for taking the time to read, sorry if its too many questions at once, just want to make the right purchases for the long run,

Many Thanks
A.Repton

[NikGrey]

Personally I advise the Ricoh, they 'Just Work'.

And I started with a 5 in 1, total cr@p.. I still use the Mug Press from that - and the plate press for the Mug bases.. I had terrible trouble with the flat bed press as it was heating differently all over the plate.

They have an element like an oven so there's no way you will get even heat.

Do yourself a favour and buy Ricoh, and a decent press - I bought an Adkins auto clam.. fantastic piece of kit and the resale value will remain constant.

[RogerC]

Ricoh printer......flat bed press.....separate mug press so, unlike a 'multi' press, if something goes 'pop' in the control unit you've still got one press you can keep working.

Flat bed press.....Stahls Maxx or Adkins..........not cheap but excellent quality and superb warranty.

'Buy cheap..........buy twice'........... so go for the best you can afford and use 'trusted' suppliers. BMS is mine of choice but there are others. The best suppliers will be happy to talk you through things.

[A.Repton]

Thanks for the replys guy,

In regards to the ricoh printer, obviously dependent on images etc but on average how many mug prints would i get out of a set of inks?

Once again thanks for your time

[Alastair@Xpres]

Hello A.Repton,

As a standard quote on starting up with sublimation I would recommend an Epson 4015, a small Adkins Clam press and a studio mug press from Adkins. You can buy all this outright and also go down the leasing route if you want to keep costs down.

With heat presses I would usually go for dedicated presses, so a mug press and a flat press so that you can keep productivity high and not spend time changing elements and press plates.

This is a standard quote that we usually put together and we have a really wide range of customers with this setup as you can achieve top quality results even with this start up setup. The Epson is closed cartridge and personally I have never had any issues with the printer.
To be honest purchasing from a reputable supplier should give you plenty of aftercare support if you are worried about problems with your equipment whilst running your new business venture.

All the best

[Renniwano]

On the Ricoh.. I was advised by Sawgrass that a set of cartridges should print around 500 sheets A4, full colour at 60% inkage.

[soulclaimed]

Also don't buy the cheap paper from eBay prints are acceptable but one print with my new trupix paper and I'm never going back print is very sharp and more consistent than any others I've done.