How to Prepare Yourself to Order Decorated Garments
You have been chosen to order the shirts for your groups function.
What now? I will try to help you in this article lighten the task as much as possible.
Gather all of the important information every screen printer will ask you.
How many shirts do you need? Did you figure all of the members of your group and family members that may want one as well? We suggest adding 10% to your order for the extra's that may come in later.
(Screen Printers hate doing that one or two extra ones that may have been over looked.
) Know the sizes and quantity of each needed.
I can not stress enough how important this is and how often people overlook this crucial information.
What type of shirt is desired? There are many types of shirts available for decoration.
T-shirts, polo shirts, hooded sweat shirts, sweat shirts, dress shirts, etc.
T-shirts tend to be the least expensive and the most popular.
Do you have a logo in mind or would you like to have the print shop design one for you? If your group has their own logo, go ahead and put it on a flash drive or email it to the printer most prefer.
eps format or.
pdf but go ahead and save what ever format you have available.
If you don't have a logo then brainstorm with your group to come up with some ideas and color choices.
(remember that the more colors the higher priced the shirts will be) The closer you are to knowing what you want for a final product the lower the cost of art will be.
When do you need the shirts by? Most decorators will do their best to fulfill your request to have them by a certain date, but it is best to prepare yourself early to allow plenty of time for the process.
Generally I would suggest allowing at least 3-4 weeks.
What type of decorating would you like? There are several decorating options available.
Screen printing is the most common but there is also direct to garment digital printing (covered in a later article), embroidery, heat transfer, sublimation (only available on white poly), embellishments such as rhinestones and flock, and the list goes on.
Each has there own pro's and con's and you may want to consider asking your decorator why they recommend a certain option.
When you have answered all of the questions above now lets start to choose a decorator.
Everyone has a friend or relative that makes shirts right? True but, you will need to ask the decorator a few questions to help you choose the right one.
Price is never the only method of choice.
1.
Are you the one that actually decorates the shirts or do you contract that out? A large majority of decorators do not do their own work.
They send the projects out to contract decorators who in turn do the decorating then send it back to the original company.
I am not saying this is a bad thing as it works well for many companies out there who do not have the knowledge nor the resources for the large commercial equipment required to do everything.
If they outsource then make sure they will be able to get the shirts back in your desired time frame.
2.
May sound like common sense to everyone else but ask if they allow their employees to smoke in the shop or around the shirts.
You would be surprised at the amount of shops that allow smoking in break rooms.
If you smell it then be certain it will get into your order.
3.
Ask them how long they have been in business.
This is no way an indication of the quality of work they perform but gives you some security in knowing they will be around if a problem arises.
4.
Ask them how they handle misprints.
If they replace the items without question and immediately then you can feel safe about your order.
Ask them about the time frame in which they will take care of the defective merchandise and if you will get any additional charges out of it.
Do they offer proofs to help prevent misprints? If not run as fast as you can.
5.
Ask about the payments and what payments they accept.
Most everyone will accept checks and major credit cards.
A lot of companies will not allow purchase orders from individuals or allow them to pay with terms so clarify this before placing your order.
Some require full payment up front which is the norm on all internet transactions and most brick and mortar stores require the same.
Be prepared with the funds ahead of time.
6.
A lot of decorators will honor their work if it is defective but will not honor the shirt itself if there is a fault with it.
Clarify this with your decorator ahead of time.
If the shirt itself has a flaw will they replace it free of charge or will they tell you they are not responsible for the garment as they are just the decorator? They should replace it with no questions and take the matter up with their vendor at a later time.
7.
Ask the decorator if they will guarantee that the shirts will be done the date they say they will be.
A lot of companies will give you a vague answer to this, but again clarify this up front.
Once you feel comfortable that you have your answers in place and the decorator has answered the questions to your satisfaction then you are ready to place your order.
This is a lot of information but if you get it together ahead of time it will save you a lot of phone calls and trips back and forth from the printer to get it.
I will be placing various articles on here from time to time regarding various screen printed products and decorating methods of garments and promotional products.
What now? I will try to help you in this article lighten the task as much as possible.
Gather all of the important information every screen printer will ask you.
How many shirts do you need? Did you figure all of the members of your group and family members that may want one as well? We suggest adding 10% to your order for the extra's that may come in later.
(Screen Printers hate doing that one or two extra ones that may have been over looked.
) Know the sizes and quantity of each needed.
I can not stress enough how important this is and how often people overlook this crucial information.
What type of shirt is desired? There are many types of shirts available for decoration.
T-shirts, polo shirts, hooded sweat shirts, sweat shirts, dress shirts, etc.
T-shirts tend to be the least expensive and the most popular.
Do you have a logo in mind or would you like to have the print shop design one for you? If your group has their own logo, go ahead and put it on a flash drive or email it to the printer most prefer.
eps format or.
pdf but go ahead and save what ever format you have available.
If you don't have a logo then brainstorm with your group to come up with some ideas and color choices.
(remember that the more colors the higher priced the shirts will be) The closer you are to knowing what you want for a final product the lower the cost of art will be.
When do you need the shirts by? Most decorators will do their best to fulfill your request to have them by a certain date, but it is best to prepare yourself early to allow plenty of time for the process.
Generally I would suggest allowing at least 3-4 weeks.
What type of decorating would you like? There are several decorating options available.
Screen printing is the most common but there is also direct to garment digital printing (covered in a later article), embroidery, heat transfer, sublimation (only available on white poly), embellishments such as rhinestones and flock, and the list goes on.
Each has there own pro's and con's and you may want to consider asking your decorator why they recommend a certain option.
When you have answered all of the questions above now lets start to choose a decorator.
Everyone has a friend or relative that makes shirts right? True but, you will need to ask the decorator a few questions to help you choose the right one.
Price is never the only method of choice.
1.
Are you the one that actually decorates the shirts or do you contract that out? A large majority of decorators do not do their own work.
They send the projects out to contract decorators who in turn do the decorating then send it back to the original company.
I am not saying this is a bad thing as it works well for many companies out there who do not have the knowledge nor the resources for the large commercial equipment required to do everything.
If they outsource then make sure they will be able to get the shirts back in your desired time frame.
2.
May sound like common sense to everyone else but ask if they allow their employees to smoke in the shop or around the shirts.
You would be surprised at the amount of shops that allow smoking in break rooms.
If you smell it then be certain it will get into your order.
3.
Ask them how long they have been in business.
This is no way an indication of the quality of work they perform but gives you some security in knowing they will be around if a problem arises.
4.
Ask them how they handle misprints.
If they replace the items without question and immediately then you can feel safe about your order.
Ask them about the time frame in which they will take care of the defective merchandise and if you will get any additional charges out of it.
Do they offer proofs to help prevent misprints? If not run as fast as you can.
5.
Ask about the payments and what payments they accept.
Most everyone will accept checks and major credit cards.
A lot of companies will not allow purchase orders from individuals or allow them to pay with terms so clarify this before placing your order.
Some require full payment up front which is the norm on all internet transactions and most brick and mortar stores require the same.
Be prepared with the funds ahead of time.
6.
A lot of decorators will honor their work if it is defective but will not honor the shirt itself if there is a fault with it.
Clarify this with your decorator ahead of time.
If the shirt itself has a flaw will they replace it free of charge or will they tell you they are not responsible for the garment as they are just the decorator? They should replace it with no questions and take the matter up with their vendor at a later time.
7.
Ask the decorator if they will guarantee that the shirts will be done the date they say they will be.
A lot of companies will give you a vague answer to this, but again clarify this up front.
Once you feel comfortable that you have your answers in place and the decorator has answered the questions to your satisfaction then you are ready to place your order.
This is a lot of information but if you get it together ahead of time it will save you a lot of phone calls and trips back and forth from the printer to get it.
I will be placing various articles on here from time to time regarding various screen printed products and decorating methods of garments and promotional products.