Leasing Equipment Q&A
When is it a good idea to Lease equipment vs other purchasing options?  I’ve asked Chris Pfriem with ACG Equipment Finance to help answer a lot of the common questions about leasing. 

 

Q:  What are the primary benefits of leasing equipment vs. other purchasing options? 

A:  Generally, there are a few reasons why customers choose to lease in an “up market and also in tighter financial market we face today.”  First, leasing offers 100% tax deductibility.  Second, leasing conserves companies lines of credit with their bank since LEASING is “Off Balance Sheet” financing.    Companies can use Leasing for equipment purchases and keep their LINES of credit open for cash reserves or payroll, or for expansion purposes.  Lastly, many of my repeat customers come back to ACG for convenience.  Banks prior to freezing up credit can and in many instances are hard to work with.  Banks want financial statements from an accountant which costs money and time.  With LEASING, for most transactions up to $100,000.00, all that is needed is a one page credit application.  Decision time for LEASING is usually within a 24 hour period.  Banks can take days to make a decision.
 
 

Q:  What are the tax benefits of a lease*? 

A:  100% of the monthly payment is written off as an expense. 

 *It is recommended that you consult with your tax professional to review your tax savings based on your tax bracket and financial situation.

 

Q:  Do you have a minimum purchase amount to apply for a lease? 

A:  $1,000.00 

 

Q:  What is the timeframe from start to finish to receive my equipment? 

A:  We have many customers approved the same day they have submitted their credit application.  Once we receive the quote from Imprintables, we email the contracts to the customer and include a pre-paid FED-X label.  Once we receive the originals, we issue Imprintables the PO, and from there Imprintables ships the equipment. This can take just 24-48 hours to get completed.  (I suggest all customers contacting their Imprintables representative for shipping times and dates for delivery)  

 

Q:  What are the payment terms that are available? 

A:  We lease from 12, 24, 36, 48, or 60 months.

 

Q:  Can you be flexible with your payment plans?

A:  YES, depending on credit and the customers time in business, we have offered 3 and 6 month deferred payment plans to help a customer with cash flow while getting their equipment running for profitability. 

 

Q:  Are there buy-out options? 

A:  We have 2 buyouts.  One and the most common is a $1.00 buy out lease.  At the end of the term, the customer owns the equipment for $1.00.  The other and less common is a 10% residual lease.  Example for a $19,000.00 deal…After the lease is over a 10% or $1,900.00 balloon payment is required to be done with the lease.  (A 10% buy out lease would have a lower payment vs.. the $1.00 buy out lease.) 

 

Q:  What is my monthly payment? What is the rate? 

A:  In Leasing, we do not use an APR.  This is a LEASE and not a loan.  With leasing, we use a monthly matrix factor to calculate the rental payment.  This matrix factor is based on risk..  The lower the payment, the lower the risk etc.  Payments are calculated basically with 2 things.  First, is the personal credit.  Second, is the companies time in business. 

 

Q:  What if I am a new business and what if I have “not so good” credit? 

A:  We have a very high approval percentage at ACG.  We have programs to fit most credits and we do new businesses. 

Most approvals are good for 60-90 days.  Chris suggests to any customer who is interested to Email Him about your needs and your credit and to fill out a credit application.  There is NO OBLIGATION once approved.

Chris also asked that I post some additional documents that can also be helpful.  Please download and read the “Why Lease” and “Lease vs Bank vs Cash” documents from the “Box” on the left.

Comparing the Versacamm – Direct To Garment

Many of my customers have asked me to compare the Versacamm to many different types of Garment Decoration technologies.  The most common of which is Direct To Garment printing. 

The first thing to keep in mind is cost.  Generally speaking, the popular Direct To Garment printers have a price range of $10,995 up to $29,995.  Keep in mind this is only pricing the Direct To Garment printers that are in the same “class”.  What do you get for your money?  The lower end printers give you the ability to print onto 100% white Cotton T’s, that’s it.  There is also a printer in the $20,000 range that will give you the ability to print onto both light and dark garments, as well as some Cotton/Poly blends with a pretreatment.  The recurring cost in any printer that you choose is the ink.  For a dark garment, you’re looking between $4 to $5 per shirt for a 10×10 print. 

Unfortunately, the pretreatment can add as much as three minutes to each shirt that you press.  Time is money.  Durability is also an issue on the dark garments.  A shirt printed with Direct To Garment printing onto a dark garment will only last about 20 washes.  For most of your customers, this will not be enough.  You can actually get a similar quality using a $60 inkjet printer and Opaque Inkjet Transfer Paper.  Curing a dark garment will add a couple more minutes to each garment.

How much extra time do you have to service your machine?  With most Direct To Garment printers, you need quite a bit.  Clogging print heads is a common problem.  The cost to replace a print head is around $300.  Do you have to ship the machine back to have it replaced?  If so, you better make sure it is well packaged.  Those machines aren’t very light, how much will the shipping charge be?  If your supplier ships you one, are you qualified to change it?  Will you void the remaining warranty if you get in there and do something that you’re not supposed to?  These questions and many more have to be considered when making your purchasing decisions.

Now for the Versacamm.  For the purpose of this post, we’ll limit our comparison to the 30″ models.  54″ models are also available, but we’re comparing machines that are primarily for garment decoration here.  There are two 30″ Versacamm’s available, the SP-300 and the VP-300.  The SP-300 costs the same as the low end Direct to Garment Printers, $10,995 while the VP-300 runs $14,995.  The difference between the Direct To Garment prints and a shirt done with a Versacamm is that the Versacamm prints on a transfer media that has to be pressed onto the shirt.  For cost comparison sake, if you add the cost of ink and the cost of the transfer media, you’re looking between $3.50 and $4 per transfer. 

Quality wise, it is very tough to be the quality that a transfer printed with the Roland Versacamm will give you.  Durability is unmatched.  Once pressed, the transfer should look the same wash 100 as it does the day you apply it.  How many other decoration methods can you say that about?  The feel of the transfer is also exceptional. 

As far as the maintenance on the machine, take a vacation.  First, when you buy the machine, the company that you purchase from (This guy – adam@imprintables.com) will come to your location, install the machine and train you how to use it.  The Versacamm has a great feature where it will clean itself.  You can program the machine to run a head clean as often as you wish.  As long as you leave the main power on (there is a power switch on the machine that basically puts in in sleep mode), the Versacamm will turn itself on and run a little bit of ink through to make sure there are no head clogs.  Now if something where to go wrong with the machine, the installer is still responsible to come out and fix any issues. 

Now what if you want do decorate some materials other than the standard cotton or cotton/poly blend?  With a Direct To Garment printer, you’re out of luck.  With the Versacamm, it’s your lucky day.  The materials offered by Imprintables Warehouse for use with the Versacamm give you the ability to decorate virtually any type of fabric.  Using our Solutions Opaque material, you can apply to cotton, poly, Nylon, leather, canvas, performance, spandex and more!  Solutions gives you an amazing hand, opacity, durability and stretchability.  You can decorate bags, gloves, shoes, jerseys, compression wear, performance wear, mouse pads, jeans, hoodies…ok I’m rambling.  A lot! 

Here is my challenge.  If you’re considering any Direct To Garment printer, do your homework. 

– Ask me for a sample of what you’ll get with a Versacamm and ask the same of the company that your considering a Direct To Garment printer from. 

– Wash test.  Take those same samples and wash them under the conditions that you think you’re customers will be washing them.  See which one looks better.

– Compare costs.  I’ll be happy to help you get the true cost of any prints done with the Versacamm vs. the Direct to Garment. 

– Make a wise investment.  Either way you look to go, you’re going to be spending some money.  You need to make sure it’s going to be profitable for you both short term and long term. 

I’m sure there are a lot of questions that you still have.  Be on the look out for posts in the near future comparing the SP-300 to the VP-300, introducing the 54″ machines and more comparisons to other competing technologies.  If you can’t wait, please email me at adam@imprintables.com with any questions you may have.

Heat Applied Vinyl? Or Film?

A common misconception amongst Garment Decorators is the decorating method commonly known as “CAD-Cut” is using a Vinyl based material.  While that may have been true a few years ago, Heat Applied Vinyls, as they’re still known, have come a long way.   

There are still a few true Vinyls out there.  For the most part, however, the transfer material that you purchase from your supplier (hopefully me) is probably a Polyurethane based Film material.  Why does this matter to you?  The materials that are still considered to be vinyls are PVC based.  PVC based films are typically a bit cheaper than their PU based counterparts.  The key word there is Cheaper. 

A PVC based film will be fine for most one-color applications onto cottons, polyesters or cotton/poly blends.  You will have a bit of a stiffer hand initially and also after washing.  PVC’s tend to stiffen up over time.  True Vinyl materials should not be recommended for multi-color applications where the colors are layered one on top of the other.  Over time, PVC based materials will separate from each other.  I don’t think anyone wants to see an angry customer come into their shop with a couple numbers in their hands instead of on the garment where they belong.

Polyurethane based Films are a much more durable application.  They are typically quite a bit thinner and have a much softer hand.  When used as a one-color job, today’s films rival the look and feel of a Screen Print.  If you’re a Screen Printer, you may be able to see the difference, but odds are your customer won’t be able to.  Multi-color applications are bonded permanently, just as a single color would be.  PU Films can also act as a base color for a PVC if you choose. 

When choosing your “Heat Applied Vinyl” supplier, be sure to ask if the material that you’re going to receive is PVC or Polyurethane based.  Not knowing what you’re working with can lead to trouble down the road. 

The Spectra Eco-Film that I represent with Imprintables Warehouse is a Polyurethane based material.  Free samples and color swatches can be requested simply by emailing me at adam@imprintables.com with you’re contact info.  PVC based materials are also available for comparison.  If you’d like to see the differences between the materials, just email me and let me know.