Do I have to pay setup costs with every order?

You regularly order products with the same print from us. It's possible you are wondering if you have to pay setup costs for every order with the same print. To fully answer this question, it is important to make a distinction between set-up costs and tool costs. We explain both below.

What are setup costs?

Setup costs are all costs that are made when starting up a production. This is, for example, setting up the machine. These costs therefore apply again with every order. Think, for example, of making offset print plates, setting up colors on machines, ...

Because these costs are made with every order, it is more interesting to order enough pieces with an order, so that machines only need to be set up once, can produce longer and make more items. The setup costs are fixed costs, so the more items that can be made at once, the less setup costs per item, the lower the cost per piece. Because with larger numbers, these costs can be spread over a larger number.

What are tool costs?

Tool costs are costs made to make tools needed for a particular production. This is, for example, a cutting knife.

A tool has a certain lifespan and can therefore not be used indefinitely. It is possible to reuse this tool if it has not exceeded its lifespan. The lifespan depends, among other things, on the print run, the material, etc. for which the tool was already used and the age of the tool.

For example, a cutting knife that is tailor-made for a certain production will last an X number of copies before it is worn out. A mold that is custom-made for a certain production sometimes lasts a certain period (e.g., X number of months) due to its physical properties. A digital embroidery file (digitized version of embroidery) basically lasts indefinitely.

Finally, there is the storage/archiving period of the tool that you must consider: tools are usually kept for a maximum of 12 months from the last order date for storage reasons.

Can setup costs be omitted with a reorder?

Setup costs can never be omitted with a reorder. The machines must be reset and restarted with every order.

Tool costs may be eliminated in certain cases. For this we first must check whether the tool can be used again with the new order. It is best to contact us for this.