Low cost t-shirts

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by Wayne Doenges

I'm surprised that with over 350 views only 20 people have responded to the poll.
No one wants to save money?

We don't do multi-colored shirts so the prices are basically the same for us. We have a blue shirt with white silkscreen that's only about $8 a shirt. I bought 8 last year

[Joe Ross]

Originally Posted by Chris is me

We don't do multi-colored shirts so the prices are basically the same for us. We have a blue shirt with white silkscreen that's only about $8 a shirt. I bought 8 last year

We do the same, but there isn't an option for that.

[JesseK]

We get 'stuck' with polo's for $30 each, but they're 'sport' polos that have lasted nicely since we got them (2008). However, in order to allow our FTC teams to differentiate their own imagery/branding, they've moved to their own custom t-shirts for competition days.

They too would want monochrome silk screens, though it'd be roughly 15-20 shirts per screen (for students, mentors, and parents). I imagine there are many VRC, FLL, and FTC teams in similar situations.

[Trying to Help]

Someone on CD last year mentioned screen printing their own t-shirts and I met some mentors from Team 88 whose members tie-dye an amazing amount of team gear and it really got me thinking. We also have a fair number of arts-minded students. So last year, the students created their own designs, burnt their screens and printed their own shirts. We had polo shirts for mentors and t-shirts for students and mentors. It was a pretty cool learning experience.

The team took on the cost of the ink, screens, etc. Members paid for the shirts and I think we charged them something on the order of $3 each for the t-shirts.

Trying to Help

[EricH]

Wayne, the reason for limited responses may also be that some school districts may have "preferred" (or, mandatory) suppliers for things like shirts.

I know, for example, that my college prefers that teams go through the campus bookstore for shirts. We have to at least give them the opportunity to decline, or beat competitors' pricing. Doesn't mean that we can't go elsewhere, just that the bookstore has to know about it.

[Brandon Holley]

When our team does order T-shirts we typically order somewhere in the 75 range. We get them off custom ink for around $10-11 bucks a pop. Custom ink is nice because you can see the entire t shirt on the screen and design it yourself using their software.

For things like the Beantown Blitz (our offseason event) we're ordering somewhere in the vicinity of 300 tshirts in 3 screens of color, so we get a pretty decent cost break, I think we pay around $9/shirt.

Just an idea of volumes and cost break downs we have experience with.

-Brando

[Arefin Bari]

I know that there are many teams that look for cost effective custom T-shirts, shorts, reversibles, and jerseys.

I work for Lacrossewear Inc. which is a sports apparal company. I work there as a graphic designer. Lacrossewear Inc. is known for their custom apparal and being able to create whatever the customer wants. Even though the company's main focus is lacrosse, overtime we have expanded to other sports as well. Check out the website www.lacrossewear.com. If you want quotes or have any questions, feel free to pm me.

[keehun]

We get ours $10 to $12 after building a nice relationship with a tshirt company. We usually do 4 colors (3 front 1 back) for $10. What a steal.

[Jimmy Nichols]

We get a 3 color front and 1 color back for $8 a shirt.

[Wayne Doenges]

OK, here is the information you have been waiting for.
The company is High Tech Tees and the website is http://cloud.dnsprotect.com/~htbctees/index.html

Right now their digital shirt printer is down but they are still doing Silk Screening.
There is No Design charge, NO Setup charge and a low minimum order size.
They use only the highest quality t-shirts. I can attest to that.
They have 15 color t-shirts available, but if you want to send in your special shirt colors, he will knock off a few dollars.
Right now he can do 1-2 colors front and back.
He can take JPEG, AVI, photoshop etc. files for setup.

If you are interested, and call them, mention FIRST Robotics so he knows you are with a robotics team.

[artdutra04]

Originally Posted by Wayne Doenges

Right now their digital shirt printer is down but they are still doing Silk Screening.
There is No Design charge, NO Setup charge and a low minimum order size.
They use only the highest quality t-shirts. I can attest to that.
They have 15 color t-shirts available, but if you want to send in your special shirt colors, he will knock off a few dollars.
Right now he can do 1-2 colors front and back.
He can take JPEG, AVI, photoshop etc. files for setup.

* Highlight mine.

AVI? So they'll put videos on tee shirts? If that true, I want a shirt that plays a video clip of a bazinga.

[Wayne Doenges]

Has anyone ordered their shirts from High Tech Tees?

[Wayne Doenges]

Has any of the interested teams ordered their t-shirts yet? Or have you gone elsewhere?