with The Foilcraft

Helpline: 01708-731294

Creative Printers
 of London

Since 1986

WE SHIP WORLDWIDE - AVAILABLE IN 110v & 220V

When you purchase your hot foil printing machine from us, we will give you a list of recommended suppliers for consumables. We feel that it is in our customers best interest to have access to a wider range of suppliers rather than being tied to us for all their supplies. This will ensure that you buy products at rock bottom prices whilst maintaining higher profit levels.

A list of recommended suppliers is supplied with your purchase. However, for your benefit, we have shown your buying prices under the ‘Cost’ column below.

NOTES:

1) If printing onto customers own products  eg Diaries, Covers, Binders etc. it is not unusual at all to charge around £1.50 per print – especially on short runs of say 12-24. On one-off’s it is quite normal to charge around £3.50-£4.00 for a personalised item such as Wallet, Purse, Phone or Tablet Cover.  This takes into account your set up time and profit mainly as the cost of the foil used is negligible.

2) Above buying prices are a guide only and are subject to change by the suppliers at anytime without notice. We have supplied the above details in good faith only and cannot be held responsible for any errors or subsequent change of prices.

3) The cost per item shown above is inclusive of VAT but excludes shipping.

4) The above items are available from our recommended suppliers and we will not be responsible for any issues arising when dealing with our recommended suppliers. Any queries must be directed to our recommended suppliers and not us.

5) Metal Letters. You will need to buy Type (Metal Letters) if you wish to print text in straight horizontal lines. You can learn more about Type by clicking here.   If you wish to buy long lasting Type, then we would recommend Brass Type.

6) Metal Dies. If your customer requires unusual fonts with perhaps designs and logos, then you will need to order a Metal Die. These are available from our recommended suppliers. You simply upload your artwork onto their website to the correct size and pay for it online. Generally speaking, you will receive your Die the next working day by post. We always opt for 1/4” Magnesium Die (3 Gauge) as it will not bend easily and will last a lot longer (You can print ten of thousands on prints with each Die before it will need replacing ).

The cost of a Magnesium Die is worked out by the total number of square inches of metal used in making the Die (regardless of how simple or complicated the design is). Often, a 1/4” Magnesium Die, the size of a standard Business Card can cost around £13.50-£15.00. You would normally charge your customer for this Die on the first order and use the same Die on future orders. Technically speaking, the Die remains the customer’s property - however many would let you keep it for safe-keeping.

If you can group several pieces of artwork together and get several Dies made at the same time, you will find that the cost per Die actually drops pro-rata. It is not unreasonable to add a small mark-up on Dies yourself for handling and maybe creating artwork if it has not already been supplied by the customer.

Download PDF Guide here

Important! Normally, Dies are standard etched which means the text, logos etc will protrude by about a couple of mm. However, when printing onto soft padded surfaces such as album covers, you would be best advised to ask your supplier to ‘Deep etch’ the Die which will ensure that the rest of the Die does not foul the item being printed on. Also, it is a very good idea to ask your Die supplier to crop closely to your design to avoid similar issues, as described above. Please click here to see examples of grouping of several pieces of artwork and the corresponding Dies received from suppliers the next day.

7) Brass Dies. Brass Dies are often used for high end/intricate work but can be very expensive. In all the 30 years I have been involved in the hot foil printing business, I have never had the need to use Brass Dies as Magnesium Dies are more than adequate. You can learn more about Brass Dies by clicking here.

8) Polymer Dies. You can make your own Hot Foil Polymer Dies with our UV Ultra Plate Maker. These are cheap to make and can be made within about 30 minutes in-house.  They will not last as long as Metal Dies but they can be useful for one-off jobs or jobs which require completing the same day. Making Polymer Dies does require some practice to perfect and may not be suitable for every application.

Profitability

As you can see from the profit figures above, the potential to make good extra income on a weekly or monthly basis is a real possibility. For example, 2 different orders  for 100 key fobs each could potentially earn you £102.00 (£51.00 per 100 key fobs). From here, you can easily do the maths and work out that it is not at all unreasonable to suggest that earning in excess of £500-£1000.00 plus per month could be achievable once your business is up and running.

Of course for the more enterprising, this can double and treble - it is all about how much effort you put into the business. With the internet, it has now become so easy to reach a wide and diverse market and there is no reason why one should not be able to make generous additional income on a weekly or monthly basis from this low cost opportunity.

Who would I sell to?

Just about everyone is your potential customer!  You could for example print key fobs for garages and car forecourts, promotional giveaways for exhibitors at trade shows, pre-printed items for dog/cat lovers or even keepsakes for weddings, pencils with kids names on them etc. Now that we have got you thinking, just take a pen and paper and start thinking along these lines and making notes - you will soon surprise yourself just how large and diverse the market really is!     Selling is easy these days - via your own website or via eBay, Amazon etc.

Hot Foil Printable Items
(Cost & Profit Analysis)

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