Everything A New Print Shop Needs In Their First Sixty Days
DTF sample pack, a case of the three blanks that actually sell, a free gang sheet, a pressing guide written for a real bench, and a thirty-minute call with someone who has run a shop. Priced below margin. On purpose.
Short version, straight from the floor.
The Print Shop Starter Bundle is the first order a new shop should place with us, and it is priced below our margin on purpose. A five-substrate DTF sample pack (cotton, cotton-poly, 100% poly, tri-blend, and a nylon or performance sample), a case each of the three blanks that account for eighty percent of first-year print shop volume (Gildan 5000, Bella+Canvas 3001, Comfort Colors 1717), one 22 by 60 inch custom DTF gang sheet with your test artwork, and a thirty-minute production consultation with someone who has actually run a shop.
This bundle assumes you already own a press. If you do not yet own a heat press, buy the Heat Press Beginner System instead. That kit includes a press we stand behind. This kit assumes you can produce output the day it arrives.
The consultation is production, not sales. The thirty-minute call is with someone who runs the bench, not an account manager. We will talk pressing, pricing, adhesion, and workflow. We will not close you on a subscription. If you want a sales call, book that separately.
The sample pack is limited to five substrates. Cotton, cotton-poly, 100% poly, tri-blend, and a nylon or performance sample. If you specifically need a hood liner, sublimated fabric, or ripstop nylon sample, request it as an add-on. The default pack covers ninety percent of jobs.
The blanks case is a starter, not a stock plan. One case each of Gildan 5000, Bella+Canvas 3001, and Comfort Colors 1717 is enough to run your first fifteen jobs. It is not enough to actually stock a shop. Plan on a real inventory conversation by month two.
Priced below margin means we track who reorders. This is not free. We treat this bundle as a supplier qualification step. If you order it and never come back, we know. If you order it and become a repeat customer, we prioritize you. Fair on both sides.
The production perspective.
The Print Shop Starter Bundle is the first order a new shop should place with us, and it is priced below our margin on purpose. A five-substrate DTF sample pack (cotton, cotton-poly, 100% poly, tri-blend, and a nylon or performance sample), a case each of the three blanks that account for eighty percent of first-year print shop volume (Gildan 5000, Bella+Canvas 3001, Comfort Colors 1717), one 22 by 60 inch custom DTF gang sheet with your test artwork, and a thirty-minute production consultation with someone who has actually run a shop.
This is not a discount bundle. It is a wedge. The lifetime value of a print shop that treats us as their primary DTF supplier is fifty to a hundred times the cost of this kit, which is why we can afford to price it under a hundred and eighty dollars while a competitor sample pack alone runs sixty. If you never come back, we lost money on you. Most shops do come back, because after this bundle they know what our transfers actually feel like and they have a benchmark for what to charge customers.
The production consultation is the piece nobody else offers. It is a real half hour with someone who has run a bench, not a sales call. Bring your press model, your bench workflow, and your first three customer jobs. We will tell you what to price, where you'll make money, and where a customer will try to eat your Saturday. That thirty minutes is worth more than the sample pack.
If this sounds like your operation, keep reading.
Brand-new print shops in month zero to six
First-time owner-operators who just bought a press. Need to know what to stock, how to price, and how to talk to customers.
Screen printers adding DTF
Established screen shops adding DTF for short runs, dark garments, or full-color jobs their screens cannot handle economically.
Embroidery shops adding a print lane
Existing embroidery shops adding DTF to serve customers who want full-color on the front and stitching on the back.
Sign shops expanding into apparel
Sign shops with an existing customer base looking to sell apparel to the same customers. DTF is the fastest path.
Side-hustlers going full-time
Etsy sellers or garage operators moving from a Cricut EasyPress workflow to a real bench. Need supplier relationships, not more Amazon reviews.
Timing and triggers.
The day the press arrives.
Do not wait until you have customers to figure out what transfers feel like. Order the day the press ships. Learn on our transfers, not your first paying customer's job.
Before quoting your first ten jobs.
You cannot quote confidently without knowing what a DTF print costs at your volume tier. This bundle gives you the actual per-unit math.
When you're moving from Cricut or EasyPress.
Household equipment cannot produce shop-grade output. If you're upgrading to a 16x20 or bigger clamshell, this is the bundle that tells you what commercial output looks like.
When you're adding DTF to an established screen shop.
Screen printers know what plastisol on a Gildan 5000 looks like. This bundle gives you the DTF benchmark on the same garment so you can quote both methods for a customer without guessing.
What you get without gatekeeping.
This is the pre-qualification. If your first customer jobs come out clean off this bundle, tier pricing follows naturally as your volume grows.
What we're trading off, in plain English.
This bundle assumes you already own a press.
If you do not yet own a heat press, buy the Heat Press Beginner System instead. That kit includes a press we stand behind. This kit assumes you can produce output the day it arrives.
The consultation is production, not sales.
The thirty-minute call is with someone who runs the bench, not an account manager. We will talk pressing, pricing, adhesion, and workflow. We will not close you on a subscription. If you want a sales call, book that separately.
The sample pack is limited to five substrates.
Cotton, cotton-poly, 100% poly, tri-blend, and a nylon or performance sample. If you specifically need a hood liner, sublimated fabric, or ripstop nylon sample, request it as an add-on. The default pack covers ninety percent of jobs.
The blanks case is a starter, not a stock plan.
One case each of Gildan 5000, Bella+Canvas 3001, and Comfort Colors 1717 is enough to run your first fifteen jobs. It is not enough to actually stock a shop. Plan on a real inventory conversation by month two.
Priced below margin means we track who reorders.
This is not free. We treat this bundle as a supplier qualification step. If you order it and never come back, we know. If you order it and become a repeat customer, we prioritize you. Fair on both sides.
The pieces our customers reorder.
The three garments and two transfer products every new shop keeps reordering after this bundle.
- 1
Gildan 5000 Heavy Cotton Tee
The volume workhorse. Cheapest per unit in the category. Every new shop's first hundred jobs run on 5000s.
$3.20View - 2
Bella+Canvas 3001 Unisex Jersey
The retail-feel workhorse. When a customer wants Bella and not Gildan, this is the SKU. Prints DTF clean.
$5.90View - 3
Comfort Colors 1717 Garment-Dyed Tee
The premium ask. Garment-dyed, softer hand, higher price point. Where you make real margin on premium jobs.
$8.70View - 4
Custom DTF Gang Sheet (22x60)
The pricing structure every shop needs to understand. Learn to build sheets that maximize sq-in utilization.
$65View - 5
DTF Sample Pack (5 Substrates)
The educational tool. Feel the difference between cotton adhesion and poly adhesion before quoting a customer.
$18View - 6
UV DTF Transfers
The second lane after DTF becomes routine. Hard-surface transfers for tumblers, glass, and rigid substrates.
From $1.20View
What beginners should pick.
Order the bundle and use the consultation credit inside your first two weeks.
The single highest-leverage action a new shop can take is booking that consultation before quoting a paying job. Most first-quarter mistakes are pricing mistakes, and the consultation exists specifically to help you set defensible prices on your first ten jobs. Order the bundle, unbox the sample pack, run two test presses on the blanks, then book the call. Do not skip the call. Do not save it for later. Shops that use the call inside two weeks are our highest reorder rate. Shops that never book it are the lowest.
If this kit isn't the right fit, here's what is.
- Alternative
Heat Press Beginner System
Pick this when: You do not yet own a press. Start here first. This bundle assumes you can produce day one.
- Alternative
Etsy Seller Starter
Pick this when: You're selling on Etsy or TikTok Shop and drop-shipping or pick-and-packing yourself. Different volume math.
- Alternative
Apparel Brand Founder Kit
Pick this when: You're building your own brand, not offering DTF as a service to other customers. Higher garment tier.
Read this before you order.
How to price DTF jobs your first year.
Cost-plus math, market comps, and where new shops leave money on the table.
Setting up a heat press bench.
Table height, workflow, drying rack, and the fifty-dollar upgrades that pay for themselves in month one.
DTF adhesion troubleshooting.
Why your print peels, cracks, or lifts, and the six things to check before calling us.
Gang sheet economics for print shops.
How to build a sheet that hits ninety percent utilization instead of sixty. Real per-print cost impact.
Order these individually.
Custom DTF Transfers By Size
Standard transfer ordering by placement size. Where most of your jobs will run.
Gang Sheet Builder
The pricing lever every shop leans on. Learn to build sheets your customers cannot get elsewhere.
UV DTF Transfers
The rigid-surface lane. Tumblers, hard hats, glass, metal. Different substrate, same customer base.
Gildan 5000 Blanks
Restock the workhorse tee case by case.
Bella+Canvas 3001 Blanks
Restock the retail-feel workhorse. Order color runs as your customer base develops.
Comfort Colors 1717 Blanks
Restock the premium tier. Garment-dyed, higher per-unit margin.
Who else this kit fits.
Print Shops & Wholesale
The parent industry hub. Wholesale pricing, volume tiers, and the pro-audience conversation.
Embroidery Shops
Existing embroidery shops adding a print lane. Cross-sell DTF into stitched jobs.
Etsy Sellers
The other pro audience. Small-batch sellers with different economics than production shops.
Sports Teams
The end-customer category new shops book first. Team parents and coaches with predictable seasonal cycles.
What buyers ask before pulling the trigger.
- Do I need to be a business to order this bundle?
- No. You can order this bundle as an individual. If you become a repeat wholesale customer we will ask for a resale certificate to remove sales tax on future orders, but the bundle itself is available without one.
- What if my press is smaller than 16x20?
- The bundle works on any commercial press. If you're pressing on a 15x15 or a smaller Cricut EasyPress, the gang sheet in the bundle is oversized for a single press cycle, but you can cut it into press-sized panels. The blanks in the bundle work on any press.
- Can I upgrade the blanks case to a different SKU?
- Yes. The default is Gildan 5000, Bella+Canvas 3001, and Comfort Colors 1717 because those cover eighty percent of first-year volume. You can swap any of the three for a different case (e.g., Next Level 3600, Independent Trading tee, Sport-Tek performance) at time of order.
- How do I schedule the production consultation?
- You get a scheduling link in your order confirmation. Book any thirty-minute slot inside sixty days of order date. If you need to reschedule, one reschedule is free. Second reschedule requires re-purchase.
- Do you offer volume discounts after the bundle?
- Yes. Once you place a second order we auto-enroll you in the pro pricing tier. Additional volume tiers unlock at documented monthly spend thresholds. Wholesale terms are available on application.
- Can I use the bundle credit toward a specific product later?
- The consultation credit and the free gang sheet are tied to the bundle order. Both need to be used within sixty days. The blanks and sample pack ship immediately and are yours to use whenever.
Get The Sample Pack, The Blanks, And The Call
Priced below margin on purpose. If you're serious about running a print shop, this is the first order to place. Book the consultation inside two weeks for the highest leverage.