Hat embroidery?

[phototec]

I have a customer who needs some hats embroidered, can anyone on here sell to me wholesale.

One color design on the front of the hats, see design below (the color splotches are only to cover the bottom word which is the same style as the top words) one color design.

I'm thinking black hats with the design in white, but they may what different color hats also.

PM me with pricing info if you are interested.

 

[TXFB.INS]

Wild West Designs

http://www.signs101.com/forums/dto_vendor.php?tabid=37

He is a MM and im sure would appreciate the opportunity to be contacted since he pays to offer his services

 

[phototec]

One more shot at this:

I have two local embroidery shops that will do the WHITE logo on black FlexFit caps for $9-$10 per cap, one charges a $25 setup fee the other does not, however they have a min. order of 24-25 caps.

Is this the going rate and min. quantity for wholesale t the trade?

 

[WildWestDesigns]

One more shot at this:

I have two local embroidery shops that will do the WHITE logo on black FlexFit caps for $9-$10 per cap, one charges a $25 setup fee the other does not, however they have a min. order of 24-25 caps.

Is this the going rate and min. quantity for wholesale t the trade?

A lot of variables are coming into play here as to cost. How structured they are (mild, moderate, heavy), are they true flex fit or are they OSFA structured etc. The individual pattern itself (how much thread/bobbin used, time on the machine etc)

While I do not have minimums, most do have minimums. Typically though the ones that I know, it starts with 12. Although the cheaper ones ironically require higher numbers.

Be careful of the cheaper ones that throw out setup charges for orders under 100 (unless they are making up for it somewhere else in their pricing, just not under the heading of "setup"). This is where the quality is of the person doing the work. More time and effort goes into these patterns then people realize and ironically, they are already cheap as it is.

That's a frustrating issue as most people don't like to pay for setup anymore and ironically I've gotten pictures from people that were upset about that practice and that they got it cheaply done without setup charges and it's bad work. Exposed underlay is typically the issue, because it wasn't sequenced correctly. More then likely auto converted. Especially with hats, hats and shirts require different needs within a pattern.


Long answer to your question, it isn't totally off, but there are some variables as to what you are actually getting and how the file is being done, size etc. that aren't known, so it would depend on those. For instance, my machines can go as high as will physically/safely fit on the hat, some can't do more then 60mm period (not including margins, so even less). On low profile hats, I can fit 63.5mm after worrying about margins. So it really does depend as that would be a factor in the cost as that help determine how long it's on the machine(s).

 

[Pat Whatley]

Is this the going rate and min. quantity for wholesale t the trade?

Your problem is that there's a lot of setup work involved. If you're only looking for six hats and a wholesale price you're talking about somebody only making $20 on your order. Too much risk for them and not enough reward.

 

[phototec]

Your problem is that there's a lot of setup work involved. If you're only looking for six hats and a wholesale price you're talking about somebody only making $20 on your order. Too much risk for them and not enough reward.

Pat, the caps are for a club with over 700 members, sure not everyone will order a cap, and there is the size issue to deal with, so I don't want to pre order 200 caps and be stuck with od sizes.

Once they do the setup, then after the first order of 20 caps, they should be making money from then on.

I found another local source that has a one head machine that will make the caps for $12 each, no setup fee and no minimum, it all boils down to who wants the wok or who has to much works and doesn't need this job.

One of the first wholesalers (no setup fee), is running two weeks behind, but I have to pre-pay 50% for 25 caps and wait two weeks, no big deal but I don't have specific orders so what size(s) do I order?

 

[Nuagedesigns]

So from your last post it sounds like you are paying for samples for this possibble customer yourself? As you don't want to be stuck with odd sizes? If this is true that is your first mistake. If the customer wants customized samples then they should pay for them. What are you going to do with caps with XYZ logo on them if they decide they do not want them. Now second thing I see is you are going with a vendor that has a single head machine. I hope that is not all they have. If your customer sells say 50% of their 700 memeber club for a total of 350 caps what is his price per cap and lead time for this order. Have you explained to the vendor that the possiblty of a large order can follow? I have mutliple head embroidery machines and would hate to make my guy do a run of 350 caps on a single head not to mention in my area i would not be making enough money running the machine in that manner. I am justy throwing some info out there to think about.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Pat, the caps are for a club with over 700 members, sure not everyone will order a cap, and there is the size issue to deal with, so I don't want to pre order 200 caps and be stuck with od sizes.

Do you think you can get more then 25 people to order hats out of 700? If so, then it should be easy enough to meet that 25 piece min. See who wants hats first.

Once they do the setup, then after the first order of 20 caps, they should be making money from then on.

It depends on the situation. Some you will be, some won't be. It depends on how much variance there is within the order on what the customers wants. Unless you tell them that it's only black hat with white lettering. I've gotten weird combinations before. I've had to buy spools for funky colors for one or two hats. Those spools never get used again. It all depends.

Also, unlike your print applications, you have a much higher chance of spoilage, even if you have done everything right on the production end, the inconsistencies of production of the substrate, can cause issue. For hats, I've seen a lot of variance within an order of 13 (imagine an order of 700) from center seam thickness to eyelet placement. With center seam thicknesses, you might be steaming some of them (or heat pressing them) to soften them up. Definitely going to be eating away into your time, if you are trying to minimize spoilage or to try to get a much more even look between the hats. Eyelet placements, depending on if they are higher or lower and the size/shape of design also added time to try to compensate for.

I found another local source that has a one head machine that will make the caps for $12 each, no setup fee and no minimum, it all boils down to who wants the wok or who has to much works and doesn't need this job.

For an order of 25 (or less) a single head is fine. The quality may or may not be there(depends on the single head, how they run it and how good they are with digitizing, but if you are going to want them for the rest of the club, a single head is going to be rather limiting when it comes to a much much bigger order. If you manage to get a wholesale from someone with a single head, they are going to run themselves into the ground with quite a bit of work and not making any money at all.


Future orders may or may not happen. That would be speculation. It's not any different then someone wanting you to do a couple of door lettering (or whatever) on the cheap with the hopes of that they tell other people and you get more business that way. It's kind of the same thing. What we get a lot of is people will say how much for an order of XXX substrates, you tell them the price and then they come in and order X, but they want that XXX price.

 

[Pat Whatley]

Once they do the setup, then after the first order of 20 caps, they should be making money from then on.

:Big Laugh You know how many times I've had customers tell me that if I cut them a deal on lettering one van they'll bring me a whole fleet later?