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I have a couple of customers who I did a logo and 6 signs a few weeks ago. I picked up a couple of insulated mugs from the dollar store and put the logo in vinyl on them to show my appreciation. Today one of them called and asked me to make 50 or 100 of them depending on the price. I informed him that it would be much better for him to get them screen printed but he informed me that they would rather do business with me (Yippeee!) The problem is I don't think the vinyl will last as long as screen print and I can't do 100 of these things for nothing. I'm not real busy now so I was wondering if I could make a stencil and roll on some screen printing ink myself. Having never used the ink, my thoughts are to prep ea. mug and just roll it on. Am I dreaming? Or is there more to it than that? They like the vinyl and think it will be OK. I have had some on a mug I use since August and it is still intact. Should I sub it out or try it myself? Any advice will be appreciated. Thank you.
------------------ Kathy Joiner River Road Graphics 41628 River Road Ponchatoula, La.70454 PH. (504)386-3313 casey@i-55.com
Old enough to know better...Too young to resist.
Posts: 1891 | From: Ponchatoula, LA | Registered: Nov 2000
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Forget about vinyl or doing it yourself. They're usually printed in an epoxy, I believe, anyway you need a dedicated machine to do the job. Find a mug printer and have it done and mark it up.
------------------ Artworks Olympia WA
Posts: 797 | From: Olympia, WA | Registered: Nov 1998
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As long as we're on this subject I was going to ask how these would be priced. I had a request today for 400 stencils for glasses with an Indian head and some copy. I would be interested in what is the going rate. They will be about your mug size too.
How are you going to go about this, and how do you know if you have a reasonable price? I may have it done in high performance like you.... or sandblast mask, and/or farm it out.
------------------ Deb Creative Signs
Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
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I have had very few problems with using high performance vinyls on glasses, mugs etc. We have done sets of "gift wine & beer glasses" for the local hotel. A set we have for ourselves has stood the test of time over a couple of years regardless of punishment by the dishwasher ... aka myself
I have also used etchmark vinyl on glasses shower doors ... did a set of dolphins for my wife and these have lasted well. Also cast vinyl floral designs for the tiled walls of her sisters bathroom.
As long as the detail does not get too thin and preferably "crop" all fine points it will stick permanently. Stick to sans-serif or round serif typefaces if possible. I use clear "reusable" premask and weed on the glass .. its easier.
Costing? Material imput is mimimal .. maximum labour content A good project for the kids to weed if you have them ... or to while away the long winter nights
PS: For something more permanent on glass, you can cut a vinyl mask and use an acid etch solution obtainable from craft and hobby shops ... but its messy
------------------ Bushie aka Jon Butterworth Jonsigns old signwriters never retire ... they just fade into the background! Toowoomba,Queensland Australia.
Posts: 4014 | From: Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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Kathy Listen to Jim You are going to save some Asprin because of the headache. talk to a local screen company and Sub the job out with your mark up! Your customer will think your one fine Sign person and order other things you can sub or do yourself..
------------------ Raven/2001 Airbrushed by Raven Lower Sackville N.S. deveausdiscovery@sprint.ca
[This message has been edited by Stephen Deveau (edited March 21, 2001).]
Posts: 4327 | From: Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia, Canada | Registered: Jan 2000
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I used to get orders like this from a large national chain of hairdressing salons. There are companies out there that do nothing except promotional material like pens, mugs, calculators... I'd give one of these firms a call, I've found their prices more than reasonable in the past and all you need do is organise some artwork for them and then add whatever markup you feel appropraite. A quick walk through the heading "Promotional Products" in the yellow pages should get you a few to tender on the job. They generally have set prices for their products so you could get them to fax through their price list for future reference. Have fun, David
I'll bet if you did a web search for a co. like this you would come up with one of these companies which would allow you to organise it via email and post. Anything that I can do from my desk is preferable to phone/snailmail/fax in my books. ------------------ D.A. & P.M. Fisher Signwriting Brisbane Australia da_pmf@yahoo.com
[This message has been edited by David Fisher (edited March 21, 2001).]
Posts: 1450 | From: Brisbane Queensland Australia | Registered: Nov 1998
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Kathy, Like David said, Check with a Promotional Products/Advertising Specialties type place. If you can find a "Mom and Pop" type business they could become a good account for you also, I do work for several of these types of companies doing banners etc... for them. If you can't find one of them to work with you check your local screen printers and see if one of them has a bottle press. THe giggest factor in that is the cups that you are printing on usually have to have either small clogs or a indented groove on the bottom for them to run through the bottle press (turn over a few jars, cups etc... and you will see what I am talking about. IE: all of the world famous RAPID TAC stuff has these on the bottom. If you go out and buy a bunch of cups that don't have these you may be giving them away for christmas gifts for a long time!!!
------------------ Greg Gulliford aka MetroDude Metro Signs and Banners 1403 N. Greene St. #1 Spokane, WA 99202 509-536-9452
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Kathy, I've been doing glassware with vinly for a couple years and havn't had any complaints, except for the time I've spent weeding them.
We bought one of those pad printers a few years ago. I think it was around $3,000 new. Supposed to be able to imprint glassware or anything else you can stuff under it. You have to print the image on velum and burn a plate to get the image. Then you mix the ink and pour it in a tray. A roller picks up the ink and rolls it over the plate to fill the image and on the way back a blade scrapes off the excess. Then you drop the pad down to the inked image to pick it up and transfer it to the glass, etc.. The only problem was I never could get the ink to the right consistency, the plate burned just right or something so the image on the glass was always fuzzy. So it's been setting in a corner for a while collecting dust. If you're interested in it I'll ask my boss what he wants for it, but if it was me I'd let someone else imprint them, mark it up and go on.
------------------ When good things happen...that must be a sign!! Tony McDonald DBA-Ace Graphics & Printing P.O. Box 91 Camdenton, MO. USA (573) 346-6696 <daddyo@advertisnet.com> <tony@brownbeverage.com>
Posts: 1199 | From: Camdenton, MO. USA | Registered: Oct 1999
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Thanks all, for the great advice! I guess I'll go with the majority and sub it out. Seems I came to the right place. You are all so generous in sharing your knowledge. Deb, I was going to charge 3 bucks ea. to do it in vinyl and am certain it will be much cheaper to have printed. Again, thanks to all.
------------------ Kathy Joiner River Road Graphics 41628 River Road Ponchatoula, La.70454 PH. (504)386-3313 casey@i-55.com
Old enough to know better...Too young to resist.
Posts: 1891 | From: Ponchatoula, LA | Registered: Nov 2000
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This customer is adamant about sandblasting her own glasses. She is proficient with a cutting blade and a gun. She only wants the mask, so I was wondering what the price would be on only that. Would anyone know if there is a going price for what I described? Kathy, I am trying to figure the breakdown of your $3. She is also supplying the glasses. Thanks for any help in this.
------------------ Deb Creative Signs
Posts: 5373 | From: Loves Park, Illinois | Registered: Aug 1999
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Deb, Figure that one as strictly time and material. If your shop rate is $60.00, and it would take $8.00 in materials, and take 2 hours, that's $128.00 for the whole thing. If she's a friend, let her weed 'em, and you'll mask them for her....
------------------ Tim Whitcher Quality Signs & Design 107 E Adrian St Blissfield, MI 49228 qualitysigns@cass.net
Posts: 1546 | From: Adrian, MI | Registered: Mar 1999
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Deb, what I was figuring was $1.00 for the mug and $2.00 for vinyl and labor. If you check the prices on the imprinted ones at one of the promotional products web pages you will find that is not at all out of line. We cannot work for nothing. I cannot afford to do jobs by the inch. Takes about as long to cut & weed as a small sign. The customer must realize that our time is our living and not a hobby. But it's MORE FUNNER than any hobby I have ever had! Good luck dear.
------------------ Kathy Joiner River Road Graphics 41628 River Road Ponchatoula, La.70454 PH. (504)386-3313 casey@i-55.com
Old enough to know better...Too young to resist.
Posts: 1891 | From: Ponchatoula, LA | Registered: Nov 2000
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kathy, here's our take on your situation. We have a sign & awards biz with a laser engraver. We found it's easy to get caught up in letting your equipments capabilities drive your business. What I mean is, you have the capability to do a lot of great stuff but some things have more profit than others and alot of things have negative profit.
You should do is what makes the most profit (and of course, what you enjoy).
We found that the most profit is had from what the machines are primarily designed for: signs and awards. Everything else takes alot of setup, oddball materials, trial and error and an extreme amount of efficiency to even come close to what the experts can do and charge (etched or marked glasses, for example).
Then, if you do them and find its for a loss, and swear you'll never do them again, they'll come back next year for more. You did them once, what's the problem, right?
Similar to your "appreciation gift" we lasered our own business cards in wood when we started and others wanted them but felt stupid charging $5 for each one. So we snubbed a bunch of people unintentionally. Lesson learned.;-)
------------------ Rick Cooper Sierra Sign & Award Lake Tahoe, USA www.engrave.pctrader.com $$$Letterheads Website Supporter$$$
"The early bird gets the worm but the second mouse gets the cheese."
Posts: 135 | From: Incline Village, NV, USA | Registered: Nov 1998
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Verrrry good advice Rick. Next time I give an appreciation gift it will have MY logo applied professionally on it, not by me! I have convinced the guys that we need to have them done by the right people. Deciding factor: I got an order for ten 4x8's to get out and I "ain't messin' with mugs".
------------------ Kathy Joiner River Road Graphics 41628 River Road Ponchatoula, La.70454 PH. (504)386-3313 casey@i-55.com
Old enough to know better...Too young to resist.
Posts: 1891 | From: Ponchatoula, LA | Registered: Nov 2000
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