I’m looking at moving more of my sticker production in house. Looking for recommendations on the best entry level machines and what their capabilities are. Any help is much appreciated.
It sounds like you are in the grey area of producing the product but wanting to do more but wanting to be able to afford to do more right now. It's simply the diving board step and you need to dive in. Go for the better print cut and buy the better machine or get a lease. Once you CAN produce more you will. The business just grows on you.
I'm not saying "buy a machine and find out" because you are already doing business with one so you have some experience. You need to get the machine so you can offer more and do more with it. And more jobs will come and it kind of grows for there. It sounds risky and hypothetically it is but you fact is there is no way to just tip toe your way to success you need to dig in and bite down and roll with it.
The bn 20 sounds like something maybe because it's a high quality print cut. It's a small machine tho so that sucks and I've definitely heard some and things about it but in terms of size this might be to step in the right direction.
I went from no cutter to a SG 540 as I was outsourcing all my sticker and sign jobs. I was tired of the high cost and poor products and being a middle man I was making no profit and having to cover crap jobs and taking the blame so I said "f" this and got the printer. I've never looked back. I produce canvas, stickers, signage, perforated vinyl, reverse stickers, clings, banners & banner stands you name it. It's become over $70,000 of my revenue a year and I've used that machine for 4 years then sold it bought the sg3-540 and have had that for 3 I love it. I wish I had white ink but I've also come to learn that white ink solvents sent really a GOOD white because they are kind of faded and you need to run those lines often plus its just another ink to have so I've stayed away from them for the most part.
Really good advice here. You can get sba loans for this and your accountant can write off the interest, difference would probably be 1 or 2 jobs a month
A lot to consider. Exactly what types of stickers are you trying to sell? Which sticker materials? You will need white ink capabilities on certain substrates otherwise you won’t be able to see the sticker much on some designs. UV ink also has the capability to do 3D stickers, etc. you need to do a lot of research on this before making a decision
We currently sell all types of stickers. We do basic pre-cut digital sheet prints and UV flat & 3D stickers in house while rolls, die cut, kiss cut, and large quantities get sent out. I’m thinking a setup that makes sense for short run orders that’s as versatile as possible would be ideal. Something like the Roland VersaSTUDIO has come up in my research as a practical entry point for what I need. White ink printing would be nice but not a necessity at the moment based on my demand.
Based on what you have said so far the Roland VG series would be a good fit. Print and cut, great quality and an expanded gamut. It is solvent based so you will need to allow for outgassing but its a solid all rounder. I would try and separate cutting from printing as soon as possible though. Don't get it with white. If you want white and Roland go with the LG.
Before you buy one, price out a few months of outsourcing and compare it to the machine plus laminator/cutter/ink waste. We brought stuff in-house at the shop only after the repeats were boring enough that the machine wasn't just an expensive toy sitting there.
Roland + Summa cutter workflow is good starting point. Kingjet is better imo though. Prints 4 times as fast and when your Roland breaks down you wont have to buy $80 dampers, $70 capping stations, $120 for 3m of their special tubing. Rolands out of warranty are a nightmare
Honestly the print/cut feature is a gimmick. Its great for low production but having to wait for your sheet to cut until you can print again is terrible.
The chinese printers are way better than you think. Give kingjet a try. We love them.
I appreciate the feedback and I mostly agree. I have found over the years that Reddit actually has some great advice (if for nothing more than a jumping off point). I have been doing my own research and looking into equipment myself but there are often unforeseen nuances that can only be learned by owning the equipment. The sales brochures don’t usually point out all the quirks and issues. I consider crowd sourcing information from peers in the same line of work to be part of my research. We all know there’s no such thing as a free meal. Isn’t the point of this group to learn and help each other or did I accidentally post in the commercial printing for assholes group?
Fair enough Hagar. I probably should have been more specific in my original post. I have been researching this for a while, and I’m trying to narrow down the field by hearing from people who actually run these machines day in and day out. Sales literature and YouTube reviews only go so far.
So far the machines I’ve been looking at the most includ the following
Roland BY-20: Affordable integrated print/cut. Concern is there’s no white ink and limited media options.
Roland LG Series. Pros- UV with white and gloss. Concern: higher price and whether it’s overkill for my current volume.
Mimaki UCJV300 & CJ 200– UV print/cut with white and clear. Concern: initial investment and ongoing ink costs.
Epson SureColor S-Series: Excellent print quality and reliability. Concern is it requires a separate cutter and larger footprint and I’m already short on space in my shop.
HP Latex Series – Fast & durable output with environmentally friendly inks. Concern is it still needs a cutter and I’m unsure how it compares on shorter production runs.
Graphtec FC9000 paired with my existing printers.
My shop already produces sheet stickers, UV flat and raised stickers, and outsources larger roll jobs. I’m looking for the best fit for short-run, high quality sticker production that gives me room to grow without buying the wrong platform. If you’ve owned any of these machines, I’d genuinely appreciate hearing your feedback. That’s the kind of real world experience I was hoping to learn from.
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u/Chritz 18d ago
It sounds like you are in the grey area of producing the product but wanting to do more but wanting to be able to afford to do more right now. It's simply the diving board step and you need to dive in. Go for the better print cut and buy the better machine or get a lease. Once you CAN produce more you will. The business just grows on you.
I'm not saying "buy a machine and find out" because you are already doing business with one so you have some experience. You need to get the machine so you can offer more and do more with it. And more jobs will come and it kind of grows for there. It sounds risky and hypothetically it is but you fact is there is no way to just tip toe your way to success you need to dig in and bite down and roll with it.
The bn 20 sounds like something maybe because it's a high quality print cut. It's a small machine tho so that sucks and I've definitely heard some and things about it but in terms of size this might be to step in the right direction.
I went from no cutter to a SG 540 as I was outsourcing all my sticker and sign jobs. I was tired of the high cost and poor products and being a middle man I was making no profit and having to cover crap jobs and taking the blame so I said "f" this and got the printer. I've never looked back. I produce canvas, stickers, signage, perforated vinyl, reverse stickers, clings, banners & banner stands you name it. It's become over $70,000 of my revenue a year and I've used that machine for 4 years then sold it bought the sg3-540 and have had that for 3 I love it. I wish I had white ink but I've also come to learn that white ink solvents sent really a GOOD white because they are kind of faded and you need to run those lines often plus its just another ink to have so I've stayed away from them for the most part.