Start a T-shirt Store in Orchard Rd for Free? - Page 3

KittyMi

A question:

We pay upfront $1400. So when a Tee is sold, you will pay the designer $49? The designer will be paid the invested amount + profits per Tee ($1400 + $560). Does the designer get paid each time a Tee is sold or once every month?

Can the designer sell at other retail shop front? Like print samples and consign to other shops or is this exclusive to only your retail shop? Otherwise, you are restricting the distribution channel of the designer.

For an invested amount of $1400, I think 40% profits ($560) is not bad (hope I calculated correctly). But with the high production cost, there isn't much room for retail price movement. I don't think anyone will buy if the price goes beyond $50. The designer cannot give discount as this means eating into their profits. We still have to consider postage cost if the Tee is bought online, so purchase price of a Tee is in fact more than $49.

What I'm trying to say is that this business model kind of cap the profits of the designer. The designer is pretty much stuck at $49/Tee.

Sorry if I am not making sense.

ultimateworker

thanks for all the comments...

daffodil21: Yes, $1400 upfront.

ny1768: noted the high retail price of $49 given the current economic conditions...

fancypocket: thanks for understanding what it takes to run a retail shop!

KittyMi: Yes, you are correct. You can treat the $1440 as a security deposit in this case. If the 40 t-shirts get sold, you get back your $1440 + $560 profits. Yes, it's 40% on Return on Investment ($560 divided by $1440) if you look at it this way.

In terms of payment back to the designer, we will do it monthly otherwise there will be a lot of extra paperwork.

Our production costs are high because we produce it on a on-demand, piece by piece basis. And on top of that, we use American Apparel t-shirts.

There are people who buy our Norwegian designer series at $59 a piece and our Poets series at $69 a piece.

KittyMi

Thank you for answering my Qs. Think you missed "Are the designs exclusive to your shop? Can the designer consign to other retail shop? Print samples pieces for display in other retail shop, & order from you when there's orders coming from other channels.

ultimateworker

Yes, the designer can consign to other shops.

Yes, just print whatever you need to show as samples then when there are orders, just come to us

Or better still, tell the customer to come to our shop directly and we will handle the rest: getting his/her right size, fitting etc., payment modes (credit card, NETS) etc.

ny1768

Yep, before I posted I have already take into consideration on the operating cost that is attached to the $35.

I also understand on the emphasis of the quality and the print-out.

But at the end of the day, what I want to see is how much profit I can generate and if the retail is already at $49, I cannot expect a fast moving sales. And what if during the initial introduction sale, we might throw in a discount period. So that means my profit will then be much lesser. Also, eg, if I want to place it at another location, I might incur another operating cost that I have to bear on my own as the $35 is meant for the operating cost shld we put it at your choice of location.

Anyway, thumbs up to you. The printing looks good and it is a brilliant idea and effort.

KittyMi

How much will it be if I just want to use your printing service cos I agree that the printing looks good? As I only do children apparel, I will provide my own kid size Tee and romper blanks.

ultimateworker

Ny1768: I guess we will have to evaluate on a case-by-case basis if you do intend to do yr own shop space elsewhere. Talk to us!

Kittymi: for kids tees and rompers we can only use metallic foil from Italy.

Brydon

The cost of their machine is very high and by using this biz model , they can earn back their investment from you guys on their printing machine.

I feel you guys should do a spreadshirt/cafepress model and take in any order to recover back the cost of your dtg machine. Lower the cost of printing, offer other imprintable options and offer range of prices so that people can choose what they want and do their own mark ups.

It's better to have the printer running than not at all. Just my 2 cents.

cheapy_store

Sorry, i dont understand the red-highlighted above. If you pay us back $49, which works out to be the whole lump sum of $1440 + $560, what do you earn at the end of the day?

What about the cost of your t-shirt, rental, operating expenses, etc?

P/s : Sorry, correct me if I am wrong..

KittyMi

They earn the $1440 pre paid to them when you book your stocks. The $1440 + $560 is paid to you by those customers who bought your tees.

You pay $1440 ----> goes to their pocket

Customers buy your tees ----> pay them -----> they pay you