Best Value (Full Color Vinyl Printer) for Home Business

[mc3customcoolers]

Hello Sign Community,
I have a small business that sells dog clothes on etsy.com/store/chicpuppybrand
We offer full color designs that I die cut & heat press onto polyester.
Currently we use Siser Easy Weed but our printer service charges by the roll, so we have to purchase more designs than needed & it hurts the business.
I'm wondering if there is a method to print onto my own Siser Easy Weed rolls from home without investing into a machine over $600?
Would appreciate your help, thanks!

 

[SightLine]

No idea what machine for under $600 would work. The machines most of us are using are well into the 5 figures range for costs.

 

[Pixels Are Bad Mmmkay?]

Unless there's something I'm not familiar with, you would need a latex or eco-solvent printer, at the very least. The Roland BN-20 is your cheapest entry level option starting at $8,500.

 

[White Haus]

Good luck with that.

 

[CanuckSigns]

no printer will work for the price point you listed, even broken printers sell for more than that for parts. just to fill my printer with ink costs me over $2000

I would seek out a new printing vendor who will let you order smaller quantities, i assume they are only printing full rolls so they can get the price down to the level you need per piece?

you might get lucky looking on craigslist for a printer someone is selling used, but it's a gamble, if the machines aren't used for a while and not stored properly they will clog up, which will cost thousands to fix.

 

[henryz]

If you are using easy weed heat transfer then they must be using a vinyl cutter not printer if you are buying full color prints then that is different. You can get a cheap and the point here is cheap cutter with it's basic software for around $300. A small digital printer for your heat transfer you are looking at $10k new if you find one used good luck.

 

[ewded]

Why would you use transfer for polyester? A sublimation printer is made for polyester and it cost $200, you can even use your home iron if you don't want to invest into a heat press just yet.

 

[2B]

Why would you use transfer for polyester? A sublimation printer is made for polyester and it cost $200, you can even use your home iron if you don't want to invest into a heat press just yet.

This works if it NOT an overall imprint and the customer is fine with the rest of the garment being white.
agree for polyester Dye-Sub is better

to the OP,
for that budget, you will be VERY limited on your options
find another printer that does lower runs OR keep using this company and fill in the rest of the order with general designs. Example, you have a "custom" order for Gato, then you have X number of other designs that are generic, the generic are listed at a lower cost.

 

[iPrintStuff]

Reiterating what henryz said but if you switch from full colour to maybe 3/4 maximum, you could potentially just buy a cutter/software and then cut/weed your own vinyl. That’s about the only thing that’s probably within your budget other than a cheap dye-sub printer but they’re pretty limited unless everything you’re selling is white.
Got an example of what you sell? Would probably give us a better idea of what to recommend.

 

[Gino]

I don't know much about homebodies and running a business outta my kitchen, but can you explain your avatar ??

 

[ikarasu]

I don't know much about homebodies and running a business outta my kitchen, but can you explain your avatar ??

You should try it. I can grill up a grilled cheese and use the pan as an iron to apply the transfer at the same time. Only suckers buy equipment over $600 when you Already spent $30 on a Walmart frying pan that'll perform just as good as your $2000 heat press!

 

[Gino]

Okay, but that still doesn't explain the avatar........... besides, my wife does all the cooking. I can't even boil water without burning it.

 

[jfiscus]

In all seriousness, you aren't going to find anything at that price point. The cheapest option for you is to find a used Gerber Edge/plotter system.

 

[vinylgraphics]

agree for polyester Dye-Sub is better

I would third dye-sub for polyester, but you'd need to rethink it if you're using the existing store's "pre-shrunk 75% cotton 25% polyester," for adhesion reasons.

If that isn't an issue, try looking into the Virtuoso SG400 to see if it fits your needs. It's listed around $550-$630 (USD).

 

[2B]

I would third dye-sub for polyester, but you'd need to rethink it if you're using the existing store's "pre-shrunk 75% cotton 25% polyester," for adhesion reasons.

If that isn't an issue, try looking into the Virtuoso SG400 to see if it fits your needs. It's listed around $550-$630 (USD).

agree, you need to be aware of the amount of Poly in the garment
50/50 the least amount of Poly that we would use for a Dy-Sub imprint