Custom screen printing is a necessary service for creating t-shirts and other designer products for businesses, but deciding on what kind of company for printing can depend on many factors. In general, two major choices people are faced with are between local screen printing and national screen printing companies. There are pros and cons to each type of service.
Location Is Important
Local screen printing companies have the obvious benefits of proximity to their customers. They can meet with them in person to go over their design. Being able to speak freely with a person is invaluable, and certainly makes the entire process much simpler. Clients are able to work closely with the screen printing company and directly have a hand in the entire process. National companies are able to help people across the company, but they aren’t able to give that personal touch local companies can. Communicating with them can be relatively difficult, as the only means of discussing the project is via email or phone call, both of which can be fruitless due to customer service representatives that don’t really care about your project like small screen printing shop owners would.
When debating local and national screen printing companies, it’s important to factor in shipping. Typically, people making custom orders at a custom screen printing shop and at national screen printing companies make very large orders. These bulk orders typically take up a lot of space and become extremely heavy. This makes the logistics of the project extremely important. Being close to a local screen printing shop can make picking up the order simple, as all it takes is a vehicle with enough space to put them. National companies, however, have to ship these heavy boxes full of t-shirts across the company from their warehouse. This can cause extremely high additional shipping charges that can quickly become overbearing.
Differences in Service
National Companies boast their ability to cover the entire country, they all lack the personal touch that local screen printing shops have. Local screen printers are dedicated to their clients because they know how important this is. There’s no room for error which leads these local companies to devote themselves to completing your project at 100%, whereas larger companies accept a few failures here and there. Larger screen printing companies are only invested in turning a profit, versus smaller companies that are just looking for a new project to tackle.
When choosing between a national screen printing company or a local screen printing shop, make sure to go with the local company. They may charge slightly more, but they guarantee your project will be better than expected thanks to your constant input and dedicated team that loves what they do. You’ll also save on unnecessary costs such as shipping. If you’re looking for the best screen printing shop based in Seattle, then check out Pork Chop Screen Printing. We pride ourselves on every project we undertake, and we’re always looking forward to taking on more.