Metal Print Pre-Order Sale

I’m embarking on a project to print my darts (digital artworks) in-house. tl;dr to get there I want to offer pre-order prints and below are the aspects of this project so you know what you’re buying.

Lore:
The darts were previously printed on this beautiful pearlescent photo paper but I had to discontinue it because I’m quite the butter fingers and ended up ruining about half before I managed to post them. The profit margin also sat at about $20 each. From there I decided to increase the quality and sell more durable prints which became sublimated metal prints and drove the price up from $50 to $370. I instantly noticed a drop in sales so I can confirm the price is a pain point for the art lovers.

Since sales dropped dramatically the digital artworks became more focused towards my colouring in book series and I didn’t keep up with the cost of production. A recent sale has now exposed the fact that I’m no longer making 40% of the profits but just 10%, before postage costs. So if you spend $1800AUD including postage (to Florida as an example), I only earn $130, but I still do all the leg work of travelling to Sydney to pickup the print, packing and posting it to you.

Solution:
Since then I’ve been researching how to print the files in-house so I can save on production costs. To do this I need to collect about $15,500 in order to purchase two machines, the blanks, the frames and consumables as well as have a seperate circuit wired up here for the machines. I’ve buffered how much I need for each section by increasing the total a tad so I don’t undercut my budget.

The machines:

• A heat press: I’ve chosen a 60cm x 100cm sized heat press due to costs for larger machines becoming exponentially higher. I have found one press that is 100cm x 120cm that is great however this requires three phase and also increases the cost of the electrician as I’ll need a different meter and electricity consumption. I’ll be looking at this option when my business progresses. Postage may land at about $500 judging by how expensive my artworks may be to post.
  
• Printer: I require a special sublimation printer with specific ink and I’ve narrowed my search down to two printers. I’m likely to order the $10,000 Mutoh printer because I like Brother as a printing company, trust their printers and they partner with Mutoh. This is also the most budget friendly printer available in the size I need. There is a second Epson option which costs $14,000 and Epson is known to do sublimation well so if my budget expands Ii’ll consider this option. For now I’m going to the Mutoh printer. Postage may land at about a thousand judging by how expensive my artworks are to post.
        

The obstacles:
Heat press size: Since I’ve chosen a 60cm x 100cm press, this means that I should reduce the size of the metal prints I sell to 100cm x 100cm and learn how to double press a print without damaging the artworks or make the largest print I sell to 90cm x 60cm. If anyone is willing to purchase a 100cm x 100cm print on sale with the caveat that this will be my practice on learning how to press them right then please go ahead and purchase a practice print.

Consumables:
The consumables for this project includes sublimation paper, ink, blanks and frames. I’m actively finding quotes for the frames and blanks because those won’t be as easy to find as the ink and paper and right now my quotes sit at roughly $800 which includes a MOQ of sizes ranging from 25cm x 16cm to 100cm x 100cm, the frames to match and postage. One of my quotes came back with $1700USD for postage which is why I can’t fix a specific number to this until I purchase. The postage will be by sea and take two months to arrive from China.
   . 

How to achieve the solution:

1. I’ve decided to sell pre-order prints, this listing is to pre-order whatever size you’d like and have as long as it takes me to earn the money to decide what you’d like printed. For this specific project I’ll also offer to print any file of your choice on the listed sizes.
2. I also want to encourage you to purchase any painting you’ve had your eye on lately and the money will be allocated towards this project.
3. If you want any discontinued photo paper prints then please snatch up any of the remaining artworks.
4. I also have a colouring in book series that is well stocked up until the 2023 editions which I’d like to encourage you to purchase.
5. If you’re a minimalist but really want to chip in, please check out my tips page and send over some encouragemoney.
6. Since deciding to put this project into action I’ve kicked off the project by allocating $900 to investments that I won’t cash out until I’m ready to make a purchase. One of those investments is volatile and I bought low, while it has the potential to peak at 160%.

What you get and pricing:
When I have the set up ready with all my consumables, you then decide what artwork you’d like according to the size tier you purchased. This gives you a year to keep your options open, move house, wait for my sick new artworks and whatever else, I’m also not going to force you to action your purchase when I have my machines, for example, if you are moving house at the time or waiting for a specific event where you’re gifting the artwork, I’ll gladly post-pone the print. For a one off offer I’ll print any file you request, which means a photo of your granny, your own artwork, advertising for your business. Anything. After this run I’ll be sticking to my artworks. As of today, May 23, 2026, I’ll aim to price the sizes as close to the final price as possible. After the pre-order project is complete I may change the prices slightly depending on how much everything actually ended up costing. These prices listed are the ball park numbers I’d like to achieve.

There is one dicey item which is 100cm x 100cm, this is for people who want to opt in for the practice prints, there may be an error on these. So I’m titling the size “with practice error”. But to be honest, I don’t want to send out bad quality items so I’ll likely practice on little ones before practicing on your big one.

Timeline:
I’m hoping to knock this out in a few months, however I’ll set a deadline of a year and use the email you place on the order for a special email campaign to send you monthly updates so you know I haven’t taken your money and run and I still owe you a print. This aspect, plus the percentage crowd funding websites take is the reason I didn’t opt in for another Kickstarter campaign. Doing this through my website gives me all the funds, minus card fees, and a flexible timeline which reduces panic. If I’m close when a year rolls around I’ll send out a survey to see what the pre-order art lovers think. Some may need the money back so there may be a situation in a years time where I’ll have to take it on the chin and refund whoever doesn’t want to be a part of the project anymore. In saying that I need to clarify that in order to reach this goal this is non-refundable for the year starting May 24, 2026.

As of May 23, 2026 I’ve allocated $900 of $15,500 to this project. We are 1/17th of the way there!