7 Ways to Save Money Using Heat Transfers
When we keep our costs for materials low and price our decorated apparel at the right price, plenty of profit is able to be made in the custom apparel industry. When you choose to use custom heat transfers as one of the materials needed to decorate for your customer it’s important to understand the ways to reduce your material cost or not pay too much. Here are ways you can save money using heat transfers:
1. Choose the Right Transfer Type
With several different types of heat transfers available at Transfer Express, it’s important to order the right transfer type for the job you need to do. With standard inks, specialty inks and digital transfers all performing best for different applications, knowing what features you need in a transfer can help save money.
For example, you need to print on a standard 50/50 Cotton/Poly t-shirt. Elasti Prints® can apply to 50/50 shirts, but Elasti Prints® are more expensive and really made for temperature sensitive polyester fabric with a little stretch. You wouldn’t “need” to choose Elasti Prints® when Goof Proof® is a less expensive option that works great on 50/50 shirts.
If you’re unsure of which transfer type to use, our customer services team is available to help you choose the right transfer type as well.
Example of a Gang Sheet
2. Gang Sheets
A screen printed transfer is plastisol ink on a release paper that is 11.25″x14″ in size. This means you have 11.25″ x 14″ of area to add as many designs as you can fit (leaving enough room to cut them apart, of course). When more than one design is on a sheet, it’s called a “gang sheet”. Get creative if you have extra room on the sheet like including an add-on sale, your company logo, or even just for extra artwork to display or use as samples.
Keep in mind, screen printed transfers are priced by the number of colors on the sheet, so only gang sheet multiple designs when the designs share the same color combination.
Your customer’s logo or mascot archived to use in Easy Prints layouts
3. Custom Clip Art
When you have a customer such as a school or company that has a specific mascot or logo, and they will be a repeat customer, save money by archiving that mascot clip art to be able to use in other designs on future orders. Creating a Custom Clip Art from your customers mascot or logo allows you to receive lower Easy Prints® pricing as opposed to paying Plus pricing each time the custom artwork is ordered. Learn more about the Custom Clip Art Program.
Any of our packages arrive in just 2 working days in the continental US.
4. Plan Ahead and Know Your Turnaround Times and Shipping Options
Even though your orders will ship faster when using Transfer Express, turnaround times vary depending on the type of artwork or transfer type being ordered. Try to plan ahead and give yourself enough time to have your order produced. This will save you on any Rush charges in the end.
Your shipping options play a role in your material costs as well. By planning ahead, you can avoid having to use a faster ship method like Next Day Air or Saturday Delivery. If you’re on the West Coast, you want to choose the Speedy Air option which gives you a faster shipping option for the price of ground.
Learn more on saving on shipping costs.
5. Group Orders to Ship
When placing multiple orders, save shipping costs by combining or “Grouping” the orders to ship together. For example, if you have an order that is scheduled to ship today and another order is scheduled to ship tomorrow, group the two orders together so they both ship tomorrow. Instead of paying 2 shipping charges, you’re now just paying one!
Use our number calculator to easily determine the best way to buy the amount of numbers you need for the best price.
6. Use Number Calculator
To avoid overbuying screen printed transfer numbers for team uniforms, use the uniform Number Calculator on TransferExpress.com. Enter in the numbers needed to complete the order and the Number Calculator will tell you how many Packs or Kits you need to get the job done!
7. Create your designs using Easy Prints® layouts when you can.
There are times that your customer has a logo or other design that they are adamant about using on their apparel and that is completely understandable. Other times, a customer may come to you with an idea, simple text design or may not have an idea what artwork they want. In these instances, choose artwork layouts out of the Easy Prints® layout collection either in the Idea Book or on TransferExpress.com. Generally choosing and customizing artwork out of our layouts are less expensive than having custom artwork printed.
If you have any questions on how to save money on your next heat transfer order, just ask your Dealer Services Representative and they will help guide you to increase your profit.