Not all custom merch orders are created equal. It shouldn’t be surprising, but your business can order the exact same run of shirts from two different shops and walk away with two completely different experiences.
One is welcomed by people who want to help make the best possible thing, gets an accurate proof, watches the first piece come off the press, and reorders a year later without a second thought. The other gets rushed through a sales process and three weeks later a box shows up that doesn’t match what they approved, and nobody they can reach seems to own the mistake.
We put ourselves in the first category, and our customers think so too. That’s how we’ve earned more than 100 five-star Google reviews doing it. You can see that work in our project gallery. This guide walks through what to check before you hand over your artwork.
The quick overview
- Where it gets printed matters. Ask if your job prints in their shop or gets routed somewhere else.
- Whether you get an accurate proof. A digital proof should be standard, and you should be able to ask for a photo proof or in person press check. And it shouldn’t cost extra,
- Who answers when something’s wrong. Is there a person who takes responsibility and fixes it, not a support ticket or someone who shirks responsibility.
- How they handle reorders. Your inks, your files, and your sizing should already be on file the second time you order.
- What they’re straight with you about. Minimums, turnaround, and rush fees should get an honest answer, not a sales pitch.
- Whether they’ll say no. A real partner tells you when something won’t work and doesn’t try to sell you into the wrong solution.
Where does your job get printed?
Screen printing has a lot of real, physical steps behind it: burning a screen for every color, registering the screens so each color hits in the right spot, and dialing in squeegee speed, pressure, and angle before a single shirt runs. That work happens somewhere, and the further the production happens from the person who sold it, the more likely there’s gonna be a disconnect between what you requested and what gets printed.
Our whole team is here, typically within shouting distance to each other. Our open shop setup is designed to facilitate communication between the sales team and production. It’s also why you can visit any time you want and be as involved as you’d like to be.
Some of the online-only shops you’ll find in a search are a webpage in front of a broker, and your job gets sent somewhere you’ll never see. Plenty of people order that way and for some things it’s fine. But when you have questions or something goes wrong, it means there’s nobody to walk in and talk to. The only way to know for sure, wherever you’re ordering, is to ask directly. Our local vs. online ordering breakdown goes deeper on that difference.
Do you get an accurate proof, and can you come in and see your order being printed?
A proof is your last chance to catch a problem before it’s on everything you ordered. An accurate digital proof is standard on every Kong order, so you can review all the details and approve the design before we commit a single piece.
If that’s not enough, we’ll coordinate a photo proof or an in-person press check, free of charge, at any order size. You shouldn’t have to pay extra to be confident in your order. For mockups, we use Seddi Decorator, which scales your design to the actual specs of the garment you chose, so what you approve on screen matches what shows up in the box.
Ask any shop you’re considering how proofing works and if you have to pay extra for extra assurance that everything will look great. If you can’t get a straight answer, ask again. It should be an easy question.
Who answers when something goes wrong?
Every shop has a bad batch eventually. It’s happened to the best of us. What matters is what we do about it.
Every project gets careful eyes and careful hands, and we catch most problems before they ever become yours. But when something does slip through, we want to know about it. A Kong, there’s a real person who picks up the phone and makes it right, not a support email with no number to call.
Ask a shop directly what happens if a run doesn’t match your proof. Listen for whether the answer involves a dissertation on policy, or if someone will truly care about making it right.
How they handle your reorder is the real tell
Here’s what’s worth remembering. These are more than just shirts. They represent you, your small business, your team, or your cause. That’s why consistency matters.
A real partner keeps your inks, your art files, and your order specs on file so shirt when you need more shirts a year down the line, it’s a smooth, hasslefree process. Our guide to screen printing reorders shows exactly what that looks like in practice.
Minimums, timelines, and straight answers
The last piece is whether a shop tells you the truth about what it can and can’t do. Our minimum is 25 pieces for most things. Standard turnaround is about three weeks from the time your order is paid. For screen printing and DTF, if we can get it done sooner, we’ll do it. No rush fee needed.
Embroidery works on a tighter schedule, so there’s less flexibility there. And if your job is best created for a method we don’t do, like DTG, we’ll say so. Sometimes pointing you toward DTF instead, and sometimes toward a different shop entirely. You can see how screen printing stacks up against embroidery in our screen printing vs. embroidery breakdown.
Five questions to ask before you sign off
Put the checklist to work. These are the questions worth asking on the phone, before you send artwork anywhere:
- Where does my job get printed, and can I see it being made?
- Will I get a digital proof, and can I ask for a photo proof or press check at no extra cost?
- What happens if my order doesn’t match the proof, and who do I call?
- What do you keep on file for my next order, and does a reorder need new artwork?
- Is there a job you’d tell me not to bring you, and where would you send it instead?
A shop that answers all five straight, without dodging any of them, is one worth trusting with your project. You can also see our full production process for a look at how an order moves from quote to your loading dock.
Ready to see how we answer these for your next order? Get a quote or contact our team and ask us anything on this list. Seriously, ask us all five!
Frequently asked questions
What should I look for when choosing a screen printing partner in Austin?
Look at four things: where production happens, whether you get an accurate proof before printing starts, who answers if something goes wrong, and how well they handle your reorder. A shop that owns its production, cares about proofing, gives you a person to call, and keeps your specs for next time is worth trusting with your order. Ask these questions before you hand over your artwork.
Should a screen printer let me see a proof before printing my order?
Yes. A digital proof should be standard on every order, so you approve the design before a single shirt runs. Kong also offers a free photo proof and a free in-person press check, at any order size. If a shop won’t show you a proof or charges extra fees press check in person, it’s worth reconsidering.
What happens if my order comes back wrong?
With a real partner, a person picks up the phone and works with you to make it right. At Kong, that means you can talk to a person who worked your job, knows what happened, and knows how to fix it. Ask any shop you’re considering what happens when the end product doesn’t match the proof, and listen for whether the answer involves a person or a policy.
Is it better to work with a local Austin print shop or order from a national online site?
Most Austin print shops, including our competitors, do their own production. Where it matters is with national operations that are a webpage in front of a network of contract shops, where the job gets sent elsewhere and you lose the ability to see a proof or visit. Ask any shop, local or online, where your job gets printed.
How can I tell if a print shop will handle my reorder well?
Ask what happens if you need more. A real partner keeps your inks, artwork, and orders specs on file, so the process is hassle free and the shirts a year from now look identical.
Does Kong handle embroidery too?
Yes. Screen printing, DTF, and embroidery are all part of what we offer, and plenty of orders mix them. Embroidery runs on a tighter production schedule than printing does, so rush requests are harder to accommodate and more likely to carry a charge. If hats or polos are part of your order, flag your date early and we’ll tell you what’s realistic.
Can I visit the shop where my order is being printed?
At Kong, there’s not much we would love more. We print in Austin, so you can visit, request a press check, or come see your run in progress. That kind of access is a good test for any shop you’re considering: if you can’t see where your job is made, you can’t verify anything you’re being told about it.
Ready to start
Your custom merch deserves a partner, not just a printer. Ask us the five questions, come see the shop, and decide for yourself. Get a quote and we’ll take it from there.
