How I Lost $11,000 Selling T-Shirts – DONT MAKE THIS MISTAKE
In this video I talk about how i lost $11,000 on t shirt printing equipment. Dont make this same mistake.
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Comments (46)
Thanks for sharing this video
We thought we were the only one
😢 we have a DTF 😢 it suck
If people could be Honest and tell us the truth no one would buy things like this
DTG = Direct To Garbage
Thank you for the straight no chaser info! Much appreciated
Dam that's messed up it seems once they get paid they don't care about the customer
Someone tried to give me a dtf printer and a DTG printer and i said no think you, i took her sawgrass 800 and the 400 instead because those don’t require any maintenance and they are great machines with great customer service, thanks for the advice Brando, i stay away from those machines 🙏
what are your thoughts aboud thre Punehed A4/A3 L805DTF PRINTER/? aRE THRERE ANY UNFORSEABLE PROBLEMS IN THE FUTURE?
What I like about your channel is you are a straight shooter, clear and concise. I have learned a lot. I wish I had seen this video 7 months ago. Our shop decided to venture into DTG because we were turning down a lot of smaller orders that were too expensive to order transfers for. We had outsourced some orders to third party wholesale DTG shops. The quality was all over the board – and none were close to acceptable. Turns out they were outsourcing smaller orders to small jobbers. Never the same person twice. Leadtime's were3-6 weeks and longer!
So we canned the DTG idea. Then someone recommended doing DTG inhouse. I was 110% unfamiliar with the current DTG printers and that you could do it inhouse. We ultimately came across the RICOH Ri1000 out of Brioso Dr. Costa Mesa, CA. We had a lot of conversations over a couple of months. We requested samples and what we received was nothing short of amazing. However, we don't know what we don't know. . .
We finished a couple large projects and had the cash to make the purchase. We negotiated an attractive discount and some additional accessories at no charge, and ordered the printer. The printer arrived and we put it on a custom cart and moved it into the shop. While waiting for the printer to arrive, we continued to research in order to be prepared to use it. We discovered the "humidity" issue and when I called RICOH I was told we had a small range of humidity within which to operate. Great. More expense in humidifier and heater.
We unboxed the printer and loaded all the accessories into the cart. Then three large projects came in and the printer sat there, covered up and never turned on, never loaded with ink. We were having issues maintaining the proper "humidity" while working the three projects, so I was not interested in loading ink and testing anything, and risking clogging the printhead or causing other issues.
The Regional Sales Manager is totally indifferent after the sale than he was getting the sale. Typical. Where we stand now, is we have a brand new RICOH Ri1000, a lot of accessories and ink, and what amounts to no desire to go any further. The additional cost to test, dial in, run daily, etc. to keep the printhead clear, (even though it has a built in self-cleaning feature and the lines are suppose to drain and we were told as long as you run a shirt every week or so, it should be fine. . .), doesn't make sense in our situation. It's not the printers fault or RICOH's, it's that. . . we didn't know what we didn't know, Letting it sit between jobs is not a good idea and wasn't clearly driven home during the sales pitch.
We may not be giving the RICOH a fair shot, as it is a world renowned printer company. However, I'm at the point where I believe it makes sense to cut my loses and sell it to a shop that can use it daily and it would most likely be a great addition to their shop. Once we load everything and use it, the price I could recoup will drop significantly. As it stands, it's brand new and needs the right home.
Thanks again for your channel and all the information you are sharing.
That's what you call a money pit
DTG-C has given a lot of training on the printer I bought from them, but DTG is expensive for sure.
Hi, what would you recommend for printing on demand in a small country store that works on dark tshirts?
Thank you so much for sharing this video!
I had the same issue with this printer, sold it out, and preserved the rest of my money! I didn't buy any other new devices before ensuring that after-sales services were practical and helpful. I lost my money, about $4000! That was a lot of money for me. We all learn from our mistakes.
Different for me DTF printer always leaving it with solution capped it’s been a year and we replaced the print head. But for us it’s been good
Thanks for sharing. I’m going to continue to invest in my screen printing setup and skills and become efficient as possible in this method. 😎
Thats Why I Dont Jump On Every New TechnologyThat Comes Out If It Aint Broke I dont Try To Fix It Id Take Em To Court!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Big Brandoh, that was a super bad experience for you, that was a hell of a let down. But the best thing is you didn’t give up. And by the what’s the best quality plain tshirts to start with. Having trouble with finding good quality tshirts plains with the tear off tags 🏷️. Would be great to hear from you about what to go with.
It happens to us all. I had similar experience with a software company. My fault, I did not do my research or check references. E
Thanks for sharing some wisdom B. I know for sure that you really helped a lot of people that probably couldn’t afford that kind of loss !
I bought a dtf printer with no knowledge. Waisted $3k it’s just sitting there.
I learned the same lesson, but with White Toner printers. Expense lesson.
Valuable lesson learned. I think companies have a responsibility to tell customers about the good and bad side of their product. Will only make them more trustworthy if they tell the truth. Thanks a lot for sharing 👍🏾
I love your honesty.
Ur awesome
I really do appreciate your integrity. Thank you for all your videos!!!
Great information bro! Sucks you had to go through all that!
💯💯💙
dang sound like espon eco tanks printers lol aka subby all bad
What machine was it? There some dtg’s that don’t dry up
Wow what a sad and incredible story. You were patient!
bro ty so much for these vids bro youve saved me so much money 100. because of your vids i make sure i research everything. 1 year in business doing tshirts i fee like ive just broken even or maybe just over and im happy with that when it could have easily been alot worse. appreciate it bro 100000000
THIS is great content. real life struggles, we all go through them and yeah talking bad aint good for content but the real needs to be talked about not just the good and sometimes the real aint pretty. Thank you for this.
shit… i was almost convinced!!!
Damn thats crazy🤦🏽♂️
are you a filipino?
Def appreciate you sharing the struggles, it helps others realize they are not alone during hard times like this…
I learned that with a $16000 DTG. Ill say mine. RICOH. The Ricoh 6000. Same exact story only difference meine didnt work on arrival. Ink not pulling, then printer table not moving, laser not calibating. The list go on. Never printed one shirt. Not one. Just a nozzle check on paper. Emails, on the phone send pics. No tech available in my area to come out and fix it. For months going back and forward with phone call and emails. Then they tell me oh we dont we no longer have tech here to even talk to me able it for that model because the Ricoh 1000 and 2000 just dropped. Told me about a guy in California that can fix it. Yeah California. Im in Texas. Contacted that guy, $900 just for labor not even parts. Crazy. I found better luck with a Espon F2100 but it IS a money pit. Pit. A big pit. Especially starting out. Im fortunate to have a thriving business before getting in the DTG printers. And lucky to grab a contract with a local school and still not really making much of a profit. Listen to this man. It aint what they are painting these machimes out to be. The ink, pretreat, heat press, maintenance etc all cost especially for a small business get started.
Thanks for the nightmare story. Confirms my decision to have never tried to start my own company.
I've found out that absolutely 100% of everything that your sold is a 90% lie
Thank you, i was definitely thinking of getting one. I am not mechanical minded at all.
Real as it gets. Thanks for helping me avoid mistakes. I wish you didn't have to go through all the headaches.
Man I gotta say you hit the nail on the head on this one ….can I add fake software being sold from non trusted reseller …so yes thought it would be a snap but same issues just starting DTF humidity temp acrorip it starts to add up ,oven which I haven't purchased yet cause I'm starting to see your point and have someone else with set up make my ready to press dtf's quick ? I'm sure lots of others would like to know is cost , what's reasonable price for a full color DTF if I out sourced that part ? I also realized why some designs are simple with hardly any artwork , cost $$$ and trial plus errors … well got more stuff dealing with like who to purchase if you go with temu you can find some good quality but if you want a large you'll have to go up a size XL think they measured people outside of the states 😅 thanks 👍 for video
I had a DTf printer and noticed all this problems in the first month so luckily put a charger back when the company refused to return the hectic printer.
I appreciate your honest fr .
So was the humidity too high or too low?
THE TWO STEP PROCESS WAS A NO GO FOR ME
THIS IS HOW I FELT ABOUT MY GRAFTECH MK 60 VINYL CUTTER ABOUT NO TRAINING NO CALLS NO NOTHING THIS IS ABOUT 15 YEARS AGO STILL HAVE CUTTER. GUN SHY TO BUY ANOTHER ONE
Do you have a ricoma machine?