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Which printer for printing onto clear vinyl? (small stickers
Hi guys Im Thomas, been lurking on the forums for a while and learnt a heap so thanks for that!
Up until now I have been making small die cut stickers on a craft robo – dont laugh!
Since i stated doing this i have kind of become addicted to it and being in the situation of unemployment im toying with the idea of selling my VW camper, buying a larger cutter and other equipment and starting up on a bigger scale from home to see how it goes.
Anyway, one of my friends has approached me today asking if I can do some stickers for his business which are printed onto clear vinyl. It would be worth approx £500 a year to me if i can do it.
My question is, what kind of kit would i need in order to do this? I would love to see if it is viable for me and would give me another string to my bow when i make a go of it. To give you an idea of my budget the camper will bring approx £6k – this will need to buy a new 24" graphtec cutter + software and a little £1k van.
How much would a suitable printer or printer/cutter set up cost? I dont mind buying used to test the water but dont want to buy the wrong one. It would be desirable if i could print white but not essential.
Anything else i should know before i go back to them?
Sorry for the massively newbie questions, Im alright on the cutter side of things but the printer stuff is confusing for me. Any help very much appreciated.
Thomas
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6 Replies
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Hi Thomas
Keep the camper – must more fun than printing stickers 😀
John
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Hi Thomas, welcome to the forum. My advice would be to keep your camper for now because you are not really ready for a printer that would really be suitable for sign work.
Save up and buy a plotter is one option and then start to grow your business. Digital print can be bought from a trade printer to start with and then as your demand for it increases and your customer database grows you can think about buying a printer of your own. Learn to walk before you try to run, hope that makes sense to you. -
I agree with Martin. Try buying in the print first from a trade printer and see if the demand is there.
I always say that you cannot buy a printer solely to print one kind of thing.
I’m running a 64" roland, and I run everything through it, Posters, Banners, Vinyl, Canvas, Pop ups, Roll ups. I may do occasional stickers. There’s no part of my digital print that I can solely rely on to make a business work. I ride the tide. Some months I have orders for banners coming out of ears, the next month it might be posters, followed by roll up banners… it’s a case of being versatile and maximising the use of the printer.
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Thanks guys, i was kind of thinking it wouldnt be viable to start with and i should stick to what i know for the time being.
Where would be a good place to look for trade printing as I would love to have the business, and help out a friend.
Regarding the camper, thats going as it is surplus to requirements as i have another little car which i would not be willing to sell as i couldnt replace that. I also have access to my fiancees car so it really isnt neccessary for me to keep the camper. Saving up for a plotter isnt an option as i am unemployed and the way i see it if i cant find a job (I live on the Isle of Wight – massive unemployment) I may as well make my own job.
Thanks for taking the time to reply 😀
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I don’t know any down that neck of the woods.
We’ve got Cestrian on our doorstep
PS2 aren’t a million miles away
and JKN but think they get their prices for trade and public mixed up. -
quote Martin:Hi Thomas, welcome to the forum. My advice would be to keep your camper for now because you are not really ready for a printer that would really be suitable for sign work.
Save up and buy a plotter is one option and then start to grow your business. Digital print can be bought from a trade printer to start with and then as your demand for it increases and your customer database grows you can think about buying a printer of your own. Learn to walk before you try to run, hope that makes sense to you.Totally agree with this!
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