Michael B’s Jerseys & T's

FAQ’s

 

 

How do I place and order?

1) Getting Print Ready Artwork.

• If you don’t have print-ready artwork and need help designing or creating your vision, we would enjoy helping you create it. We           offer graphic design services and would be happy to take a look at what you have to give you an estimate for our design services. However, many simple Logo/text designs for shirts or signs can be created within our free 30 minutes of Graphic Design included with every order.

• If you think you have print-ready artwork or are going to create it yourself, please refer to our Art Guidelines for information that can help with that task.

 

2) Style(s), Color(s) and Size(s) for apparel.

• We offer thousands of styles, hundreds of colors and many different sizes. To say that choosing a T-Shirt style can be overwhelming is an understatement of HUGE proportions! That is why we have listed some our most popular choices on our product pages to help simplify the style choices. These suggestions represent 90%+ of our sales when it comes to garments. There are four main wholesalers we work with and no single one of them have every style we need. With a combined total over 10 million sq/ft of warehouse space stacked to the ceiling with garments and accessories, finding a match to your needs is usually very do-able. Let us know what you are looking for in a garment and we will get you a price for the blank garment in a matter of minutes and will be able to check inventories to see availability of style, size and color. Final price for printed garment will be available once we have seen your artwork, know the number of ink colors, print locations and quantities/sizes. Use our PRINTING PRICES page to help gauge what the cost will be.

 

•  Apparel color can vary between lots and because lots are intermixed within the sizes, it is common to have slightly different shades within the “same color” choice. These differences usually aren’t obvious when being worn by a group. It is usually only obvious when shirts are folded and stacked right next to each other. When a sample garment is ordered for verifying a “color match” for a client’s project, we always caution that the next batch of shirts we get may  be a slightly different shade.

 

• Size is usually fairly easy to determine. All the manufacturers list their sizing measurements for each style on the websites. If you aren’t sure on sizing, one reliable way to determine what you need is to get out your tape measure. Lay a shirt, sweatshirt or other garment out that you own and like the fit of and measure it. The charts will show you what size is closest to your “favorite” shirt. They will also list the tolerances, usually 1”+/- .  If you find your favorite T-shirt measures on the low end or high end of a style, you may want to adjust the size you order accordingly. If you are wanting actual samples of garments to help with your sizing or color choices, we also offer that option. We charge wholesale cost plus any shipping fees imposed by our suppliers. They will drop ship them from their mega warehouses for us and usually will arrive at your door 1-2 days after we receive payment from you.  We ask that no two garments be the same size or color and that you try to keep total garments below 5 if possible. Please Contact us if you need samples. (Note: Some brands prohibit the sale of blank garments without decoration).

 

3) Order Deadline.

If there is a specific event or date that you need the garments completed by, PLEASE let us know when you place your order. We don’t play the games some internet based screen printers play. There are no 30,40,50,100%  “RUSH” upcharges to get it a little faster. We don’t sit on projects for three weeks to encourage clients to justify paying a surcharge to receive their project in a reasonable time frame. When we get a job order placed, it goes into the que to be done ASAP in the order they are received. That is usually 4-7 business days after final design approval and payment has been received. There are occasionally busy times and those times could be a little longer than the 4-7 days, but we will ALWAYS let you know before you place your order if projects are taking longer than the 4-7 business days.

 

“RUSH ORDERS” are one of the ways that many internet based companies compensate for their advertised “Bait & Switch” prices. If you are curious about how good a deal you are getting, then simply look at Cost Per Finished Garment amount. It is actually very easy to compare. All screen printers can buy the same garments and go through similar processes to complete the project. When it comes down to it, ignore the Free this, Free that, upcharge for this and upcharge for that…compare the delivered to your door price per garment. Make sure you ask yourself, does the screen printer on the other side of the country care if you are dissatisfied or feel taken advantage of? Some are actually very concerned and are conscientious. Those are usually the smaller shops that are doing screen printing for the love of the art. Many of the huge online companies that pay big $$$ to get their ads up first on Google searches are generally not very responsive to complaints/concerns/questions. I have done several projects for clients who received garments that were incorrect, damaged and in one case was printed mirror image. The manufacturer of that client’s project at least offered to reprint the garments but needed two weeks to get them ready (he even said it was a FREE RUSH job) and then it would take 4-6 days for delivery unless the client would be willing to pay over $200 to have them shipped UPS 2nd day air which would still be nearly two weeks to late.  Seeing how they had only 9 days before their “open house” for their new business, they called us for help. We had their shirts on our press printing two days later, even with their original printer REFUSING to send us a copy of their artwork. The client literally held their “backwards” shirt up in a mirror and took a picture to send to us to work off of for the new design. We got the shirts to them three days before their event and they were HAPPY!!! Our closest garment supplier didn’t have the style/color of shirt they wanted so we actually upgraded their shirt to a better quality and same color for no extra charge. Even had we charged the little bit extra for the higher quality shirt, their final price would have still been $3.13 per/shirt less expensive from us. Their final price per shirt from us was $8.71, the original printer in California was $11.84 with “no rush charges”. The funniest part of our clients story (maybe not to them) was they received a reprinted order from the original supplier for their Restaurant OPEN HOUSE shirts two weeks after they had already launched their business!! The original printer did that so they didn’t have to refund the clients’ money.

 

4) Shipping & Payment

Full payment & your approval of final artwork will be necessary for your project to be put onto the shop schedule. Once that happens, we will have a good idea of when you should expect your project to be completed/delivered. To get your job on the books, we will send you an invoice where you can pay through Quick Books with your credit card or do an ACH (bank transfer) through your bank. For projects involving additional Graphic Design services that are projected to be in excess of the 30 minutes that is included with any order, a 50% down-payment of projected cost of the design (@ the $60hr rate) is required before artwork creation will be started. If artwork we create for you is used for an apparel or sign order with us then the rate will be billed at $45 per hour. If after artwork is complete and client choses to not place an order with us using that design, the rate for the artwork project will be our standard $60/hr rate. After Graphic Design services are paid in full, artwork will be transferred in file format(s) requested by client or passed on to our Printing Department for designs headed for production in our shop. For clients only wanting the graphic design file created for them, these files are kept for at least two years. If a different file type/format is needed of your graphic artwork design, we will provide those to you for free for two years.

 

As far as shipping goes, we don’t advertise outside of the St louis area, so most of our jobs get free delivery. Usually by one of us owners. Occasionally we use a courier service if we have a bunch of small jobs to deliver or even send it UPS or USPS if it is cost effective for us. But there isn’t a charge for delivery for our local customers. Any shipping out of the St. Louis area (St Louis County & St Charles County) will have some shipping charges added depending on location and size of order. This will be made known prior to placement of order.

 

 

 

What format do you need my artwork in?

There are many types of files we can work with but print ready artwork  vector files (.ai, .eps. and some—but not all-- .pdf files) are ideal for screen printing. It produces the best images with the least amount of pre-press work needed on the artwork.

 

Vector files:  Adobe Illustrator (.AI or .EPS), some Adobe Acrobat (.PDF).  For .AI, .EPS or .PDF files, please MAKE SURE the fonts/texts are converted to outlines. If we don't have that specific font, we won't be able to see it!! If you are using a graphic designer for your artwork, please make sure they are told it is for screen printing. It is suggested that you use Graphic Designers with experience in designing screen printed artwork.

 

Also acceptable, but many times incur additional Design Fees, are high-resolution pixel based images.  With these types of files, we recommend at least 300 dpi.

 

Pixel Based files:  Adobe Photoshop (.PSD), JPEG images (.JPEG), TIFF images (.TIF).

 

Once your artwork is submitted, our graphic designer will proof your design at no charge.  If any revisions are necessary to prepare for screen printing, we will inform you of the needed revisions. You can make the necessary revisions yourself or we would be happy to assist with those additional graphic design services for an additional fee at $45/hr.  Please note:  We DO include up to 30 minutes of graphic design services at no additional cost for each project.  This generally takes care of most minor modifications that are necessary for getting designs screen-ready for printing.

 

CLICK HERE FOR ADDITIONAL ART GUIDELINES

 

 

 

What if my design is just a sketch?

Absolutely we can help!  We have in-house graphic design services available to help turn your sketch, photograph or idea into screen print ready artwork.

 

What are your order minimums?

We have no minimum order requirements.  Sometimes we run specials featuring a certain quantity but we are always happy to do what ever number shirts/signs you need. Please note that the cost of each product will decrease substantially as the number of garments ordered increases.  Any product that is screen printed requires a significant amount of labor to set up the screens prior to actually printing.  Those setup costs are the same regardless if it is for a 10 shirt order or a 1,000 shirt order.  That is why your CPS (Cost per shirt) goes down the more you have printed.

 

Why do some screen printers have free setup?

In reality, there is no such thing as “free setup”.  Most shops buffer the appearance of the setup fees by imposing minimum quantities (i.e. 24 or 12 garments) and then distribute the setup fees in the cost of each garment.  That is why it is so much more expensive per print/impression for their 12 shirts vs 50 shirts.

 

Can we get one screen printed sample shirt (press check) so I can see if I like it?

Since we have no minimums, buying one shirt is no problem, although you might be a little sticker shocked by the price. We price everything very straight forward and as simple as possible. The set-up and screen fees are listed for each number of screens needed to be made. Then every shirt from 1 to 1000+ will simply be the fee per location on our Prices page plus the cost of the garment. That means the set up fees become more affordable as the number of garments printed increases. While it sounds steep for a 1 color shirt screen printed to cost something like -$48 dollars, the same screens used to create an 30 shirt order would only be around $6.41 per shirt or a total of $192.30. Seems a little crazy that 1 shirt would be $48 but 30 shirts would only be a total of $192.30. That is why many shops have minimums of 12,24 or 48 shirts. But sometimes people only want 5 shirts and $15.41 for each shirt mentioned above is exactly what they want. When we set up screens for any job, regardless if 1 shirt or 1,000 shirts, we go through the same process. It takes about 2 hours to produce the screens, register screens on the press and then clean out the screens to get ready for the next job.

Heat Transfer Vinyl might be a more cost effective option for smaller quantities. Less colors and less detail in the design for HTV, but still vibrant and durable!!

 

If you buy a press check shirt then you now have the screens made. Any additional prints would be just the cost of the garment and the actual screen printing charge of $0.82 per location for a one color print on a 100% cotton tee. There would also be a screen re-set fee of $10 per screen to remount your screens if you decided to go forward with additional shirts at any quantity. *** Please note, we usually reclaim all screens immediately after job is finished so BE SURE TO LET US KNOW IF THIS IS A SAMPLE PRINT. If we aren’t told it is a “press check” and that there is a possibility you may want to print more soon after you check with others, we would likely have reclaimed the screens for new jobs. That would mean the full set-up fee would need to be charged if you decide on ordering more of the same print later. “Press check screens” will be held for two weeks ONLY if we are made aware your order was a press check. Press Checks can also be a few shirts, it doesn’t really matter how many, just be SURE to let us know there might be additional orders in the next two weeks needing the same design.

 

Can I supply the t-shirts for you to print?

As a general rule, we do not allow customers to provide their own garments for screen printing. On the very few occasions we have printed T-Shirts supplied by clients, we have had to charge $2.00- $4.00 extra per shirt for handling and we unfortunately can’t offer any warranty on the end product or replacement of any shirt ruined because of “spoilage”. (Due to the nature of the screen printing process, there can be misprints/errors that our industry refers to as spoilage.)

 

How long does it take to get my printed shirts?

Once final approvals & payment have been received, it generally takes 4-7 business days to complete the project. During busy times there could be longer delays but we will always inform you before your order if projects are taking longer than the normal 4-7 business days. Please let us know if you are on a tight time-line.  Depending on the shop schedule, we may be able to help expedite your project for you. We don’t play the games with 50-60-70-100% RUSH ORDER FEES that many online companies use to compensate for their “Bait & switch LOW prices”. We refuse to threaten to sit on an order for two to three weeks to pressure customers to pay “RUSH” fees. If it is in our que, it gets done asap. If you are a prior client wanting a reprint of the same design (different color shirt or ink is OK) then it can be as quick as 1-2 days if the order isn’t too large.

 

 

 

Will you PRINT even this design???

Any design that is intended to bully or intimidate anyone is a HUGE no way in our book! Extremely vulgar wording & nudity is also usually a no for us. We reserve our rights to not print any design we chose, BUT, designs that are simply in opposition to an idea, belief, philosophy or political agenda are almost always a yes, even if that design is the exact opposite of our own personal views. Our 1st Amendment is #1 for a reason. Everyone has the right to have their voices heard, but within reason of course. Each individual design will be considered based on its own merit, but if the design is simply name-calling at a grade school playground level…..please, go play somewhere else! Consider advocating for what you are supporting, not advocating for what you hate. It makes life far more enjoyable for yourself and our diverse community.

 

We too inevitably get the request for t-shirts with Nike, Adidas, pro & college sport teams (Go Cards!!!!) and SOOO many other trademarked/copyrighted designs for illegal resale as "official" merchandise. No way, no how! UNLESS, you have the written consent of the owners of the trademarked/copyrighted material. But please be prepared to provide us proof that will need to be verified by us. The last thing you want is our inquiry to alert an organization of a designer requesting copyrighted material be produced.

 

What about misprints, will I get 30 shirts if I order 30?

Typically, yes. But….. because of the nature of screen printing, there can be misprints and errors that make the garment unusable. This is referred to as “spoilage” in the industry. Depending on the number of shirts, fabric choice, ink choice and design complexity we order a few extra shirts so there usually isn’t a problem with filling the order fully. But Murphy’s law is a challenge to prepare for!! Our “official” policy is to allow spoilage of 3 garments or 3% (whichever is greater) for our standard Plastisol ink and Heat Transfer Vinyl printed garments. Water based inks and specialty inks are 5 garments or 5% (whichever is greater). What does this mean for our customers? It means that if there are misprints within those tolerance, you will not be charged for those garments. However, that also means an order of 30 shirts may only have 27, 28, 29 shirts in it and will be considered complete. If there are more misprints than the tolerances above, we will re-order and reprint those garments to bring the totals back up to the ordered quantity or within the tolerance. If the numbers of shirts needed is critical, please consider ordering a few extra. Note: Don’t worry, Personalized name and numbered shirts will be filled exactly as ordered!

 

Why is there “spoilage”?

We order our wholesale apparel from one of many warehouses around the country that total over 10 million square feet. There is no way for us, in our 1,200sf shop, to have replacement garments in stock (other than the extra shirts we ordered originally for your project) to make sure all orders are always filled exactly. Waiting 1-3 days for replacements to be shipped to us means the presses must be torn down, screens cleaned and the press prepped for the next order waiting in the que. Nearly every screen printing shop does this to help control the prices we have to charge for our services. If it takes two hours to reset a job on the presses for three shirts missing on a 70 shirt order, that would result in prices needing to go up substantially. Similarly, if we were to order an extra 10 shirts to make sure your 70 shirt order gets filled exactly, that also means a substantial price increase.  So unless the “spoilage” exceeds the tolerances listed above, we appreciate your understanding in our efforts (and the industries efforts) to keep prices affordable. Our “spoilage” rate is about 1.6 out of 100 for our garments. Since we order one or two extra garments for smaller jobs (less than 75pc) we can typically fulfill the order with “no spoilage” reductions. If you absolutely need EXACTLY 34 shirts…consider ordering a couple more to assure you have what you need. If you need exact numbers but don’t want to order a couple extra to assure you get at least the exact number, we generally we have a few extra garments left over from jobs that had zero misprints that might work. Very likely they wouldn’t be the same shirt, fabric or even an exact color match, but we can usually find something in our shop that completes an order “close enough” for those wanting to only order exact numbers.