For me, it's mostly a matter of the expense of ordering that many. 3 patches (two chest patches plus the shoulder patch - the usual stuff in most NGA dojos) times 100 patches makes for a total of several hundred dollars, and probably 6 years worth of patches. Thus far, all of the money I've taken in has gone into equipment. That's unlikely to change in the near future unless I add several new students, which is likewise unlikely.I buy them in 100+ batches. I don't have to buy them all that often, but it's the cheapest way.
None of them have ever spoiled sitting on the shelf. Not yet.
To this point, I have ,and will continue to if I don't find a decent alternative. I'm mainly trying to keep with the common usages in the art. Plus, the patches look awesome on a black dogi.
Thanks! I'll check into their pricing.
I'd considered that. Like I said, I can do the chest patches on my machine. I can't do the shoulder, so I may end up just ordering those and embroidering the chest decorations.
yes and no, its a matter of scanning it in to a computer, so in real terms it costs very little, the cost comes from the fact the equipment costs a great deal of money and you have to pay for that, once that unit cost has been met, running iut badges costs very little
CafeePress will let you make custom patches. They're not embroidered.
Not if you can do the design yourself and produce the files they need (I had a graphic design business on the side back in the 90's, so still do most of my own stuff). And with many kinds of production, there's no longer the high initial set-up cost.
Dirty Dog beat me to it a little but are you needing an established patch(es) that you may be able to source through a retail outlet or another NGA school or outlet? I see a lot of Aikido patches online but do not know your specifics.
The OP was quite a while ago. I found a place that will print dye-sub patches for the shoulder, which gives me more flexibility than embroidery. I've not done anything about the chest patches.
I don't make any money on uniforms (and wouldn't make much, with so few students), but I don't really see how patches make an opportunity to sell uniforms.
I suppose if the patches were already on the uniforms. I could see some justifiable upcharge there.
All of my students already (by choice, not by requirement) buy their uniforms from me. I charge just enough to cover my cost on the uniform and patch. I mean, if we took my best year, I'd be selling about 10 uniforms a year (the most new students I added in a single year).
Just a thought; can you get the patches through NGA?
