By now, you should be more or less convinced that the revolutionary DTF printing is a serious contender for the future of the T-shirt printing business for small businesses due to the low cost of entry, superior quality, and versatility in terms of materials to print on. In addition, it is highly profitable and high in demand as it is a popular choice for customers.
With DTF printing, you can design in small volumes. As a result, you can develop a one-off design to minimize any waste of unsold inventory. Also, it is very lucrative for small orders.
Do you also know that DTF inks are water-based and environmental friendly? Set your mission statement about reducing the impact of pollution on the environment and make it a selling point to your customers.
DTF Printing is perfect for small and medium businesses
First, start small and get the essential equipment. Start with a desktop printer and modify it yourself or get a fully converted one to make things easier. Next, get DTF inks, transfer film, adhesive powder. You'll also need a heat press or oven for curing and transfer. The software required includes RIP for printing and photoshop for designing. Finally, you need to connect your printer to your computer or laptop. Start slow and learn well until you can perfect every print before sending it to your customers.
Next, think about your design. Keep the design simple but look great. Start with a niche category for your design. For example, choose your shirt type from v-necks, sports jerseys, and so on. The benefit of DTF printing is the flexibility to expand your product range and cross-selling into other categories. In addition to a wide range of materials such as cotton, polyester, synthetic, or silk, you can print on zippers, hats, masks, bags, umbrellas, and solid surfaces, both flat and curved.
Whatever you choose, make sure to be flexible and change according to customer demand. Keep your overall costs low, have a good range of designs, and price your shirts reasonably. Set up a store on Etsy which will gather more eyeballs for you and make sure you put some money aside for ads. There is also Amazon Handmade and eBay.
The DTF printer needs much less room. Even in a busy, overcrowded printing house, you still have room for DTF printers. Compared with screen printing, the sum cost of DTF printing is cheaper no matter on machine or labor forces. It is worth mentioning that a small set of orders is less than 100 shirts per style/design; the unit printing price of DTF printing will be lower than that of the standard screen printing process.
High-quality materials and supplies are essential. Do not underestimate the importance of ink technology on your final product. We recommend Lotsa Style premium DTF inks. It has high color density and saturation, colors turn out bright and vivid, and will significantly minimize print head clog. Also available are our double-sided anti-slip warm and cold peel DTF transfer films and fine DTF powder with great stretchiness, long-lasting, and high washability.
We hope the information provided will help you consider the DTF printing T-shirt business. When pricing your product, remember to do your homework and factor in variable and non-variable costs, from printing and shipping to material costs.
