Why Should You Buy a Sample?
There are plenty of reasons to try out our preprinted or embroidered samples. Primarily, they’re a great opportunity to see our services for yourself. With screen printing, it’s generally not viable to sample a customers own design (due to the setup involved). Therefore, purchasing a sample is a very cost-effective alternative, where you don’t have to commit to a full order first.
Feel the Quality
The best way to check our printing quality, is to feel it for yourself. Get an idea of what to expect from us, before you commit to a full printing order of your own.
Try the Products
Fabric weight and style fit vary a lot between products and brands. Ethical reasoning aside – why is organic cotton so good? Wearing an organic product is the best way to find out.
Credit on Next Order
If you process an order for our custom printing services, you can claim back £10 from your sample t shirt order to use as credit. Just give us the invoice number when you enquire.
Great Designs
Also, people often buy them just because they like the designs! We’ve worked with a number of great artists to bring these products together.
Why Can’t You Sample My Design?
We don’t offer to screen print samples of customer designs, essentially because it’s too impractical and expensive. The amount of work involved for us to create a sample, is the same as a full order.
Most of the time involved with screen printing is the setup itself. Each screen has to be made. All the inks have to be mixed by hand. The machines have to be setup with the correct screens, platens and squeegees. Then there’s the cleanup afterwards. The screens have to be taken down and cleaned, along with all the squeegees. Then the screens get reclaimed for another order.
Screen Making
Ink Mixing
Machine Setup
The actual printing itself, by comparison is very quick. We can print roughly 500 t shirts an hour, whilst still taking good care of each print your order. The rate of printing means the work and time involved for printing one t shirt, is only actually a few minutes quicker than printing 50 t shirts.
Then there’s the cleanup afterwards. The screens have to be taken down and cleaned, along with all the squeegees. Then the screens get reclaimed for another order.
Print in Production
With all that considered, you can hopefully see why it’s not viable to sample screen prints for customer designs. This is why we think pre-printed samples that demonstrate our printing quality is an effective compromise, for both parties.
Sampling for Other Services
While we don’t offer sampling for customer screen prints, it’s slightly different for our embroidery and digital printing services.
As these services have little setup, we do have the option for you to sign off the first ‘stitch’ or digital print. However, you must still pay for these orders in full, first. It just gives you an opportunity for another sign off or make small adjustments.
Once you are happy, we will commence with the remaining units.
Shipping Prices & Destinations
We can ship sample t shirts to most locations, you can find more detail below.
Dispatch Times
Most domestic orders will be dispatched same day, if ordered before 3pm (Monday to Friday). Otherwise they will be dispatched the following day.
Orders with Blank Samples
Please bear in mind that although the printed samples are already in stock on premises, blank samples are not. If you’ve requested a blank sample alongside your order, we have to order and then receive this from our suppliers first. Then they will be dispatched in the same package.
UK Shipping
We ship Sample Store orders using Royal Mail.
| Domestic | Untracked | 1 Day Signed For |
| United Kingdom | £3.00 | £5.00 |
International
We ship to most locations worldwide. If your country isn’t listed below and you aren’t sure if it’d be included within World Zone 1, contact us and we will let you know if it is possible.
If you are ordering for sampling purposes only, please bear in mind we cannot ship full customised goods orders to every destination outlined below. If you’re planning to enquire about our customisation services, we recommend getting in touch before ordering a sample. This way we can confirm whether its practical to ship to your destination, or provide suggestions.
| International | Untracked | Tracked & Signed For |
| Europe | £5.50 | £12.00 |
| World Zone 1 | £8.00 | £15.00 |
| World Zone 2 | £8.00 | £15.50 |
Below is a list of zones by country. You can find out more about Royal Mail International Delivery on their website.
European Destinations
- Albania
- Andorra
- Armenia
- Austria (EU)
- Azerbaijan
- Azores (EU)
- Balearic Islands (EU)
- Belarus
- Belgium (EU)
- Bosnia Herzegovina
- Bulgaria (EU)
- Canary Islands
- Corsica (EU)
- Croatia (EU)
- Cyprus (EU)
- Czech Republic (EU)
- Denmark (EU)
- Estonia (EU)
- Faroe Islands
- Finland (EU)
- France (EU)
- Georgia
- Germany (EU)
- Gibraltar (EU)
- Greece (EU)
- Greenland
- Hungary (EU)
- Iceland
- Irish Republic (EU)
- Italy (EU)
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia (EU)
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania (EU)
- Luxembourg (EU)
- Macedonia
- Madeira (EU)
- Malta (EU)
- Moldova
- Monaco (EU)
- Montenegro
- Netherlands (EU)
- Norway
- Poland (EU)
- Portugal (EU)
- Romania (EU)
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia (EU)
- Slovenia (EU)
- Spain (EU)
- Sweden (EU)
- Switzerland
- Tajikistan
- Turkey
- Turkmenistan
- Ukraine
- Uzbekistan
- Vatican City State
World Zone 1 Destinations
World Zone 1 covers all countries that are not defined within Europe or World Zone 2.
At a glance this covers North America, South America, Africa, the Middle East, the Far East and South East Asia.
World Zone 2 Destinations
- Australia
- Belau
- British Indian Ocean Territory
- Christmas Island (Indian Ocean)
- Christmas Island (Pacific Ocean)
- Cocos Islands
- Cook Island
- Coral Sea Island
- Fiji
- French Polynesia
- French South Antarctic Territory
- Keeling
- Kiribati
- Macao
- Nauru Island
- New Caledonia
- New Zealand
- New Zealand Antarctic Territory
- Niue Island
- Norfolk Island
- Norwegian Antarctic Territory
- Papua New Guinea
- People’s Democratic Republic of Laos
- Pitcairn Island
- Republic of Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Tahiti
- Tokelau Islands
- Tonga
- Tuvalu
- US Samoa
- Western Samoa
If you still have questions regarding shipping, you can contact us using our quick contact form.
Sample Store FAQs
Below are some of the frequently asked questions regarding our Sample Store.
Products & Stock
Why are some products different prices?
Our store has a lot of history, through the different artists we’ve worked with over the years. The pricing essentially splits the products into two tiers:
Service Sampling Products
Some designs were made specifically with ‘sampling’ in mind. These are to encourage people to see the quality of our services for themselves. These are generally the lower cost products in the sample store.The £10 credit available on Sample Store purchases essentially means these products are a free t shirt. It’s a cost-effective way to see the quality of our screen printing, as it’s generally not viable to sample customer designs.
Collaboration Products
Others have been to generate interest in artists that we like through collaboration projects. These are intended to help support artists, who get a cut of each sale. These products are also eligible for £10 credit on your next screen printing order.
Current and previous collaboration projects include:
People You Might Like (2022-)
Full colour designs with a focus on digital. More about this coming soon.
Black Winnebago Club (2016-2019)
A minimalist black/white collaboration. Some of these designs are still available in our Sample Store, although many have been discontinued.
Yanu Wolfe (2012-2015)
Intended to explore the possibilities and push the boundaries of sublimation printing. These products are no longer available, nor do we offer sublimation services any longer. This has been replaced by digital printing.
Are out-of-stock items restocked?
If an item from our Sample Store is out of stock in a number of sizes, we will then print more of the design in our studio. If we don’t plan to re-print stock, it will be marked as discontinued and then it will be removed from the website once the stock is completely depleted.
Do you have a size guide?
On each product in the store, there will be a link to the garment it has been printed on. There you will find a size guide.
Ordering & Payments
How can I be sure that I've made my purchase correctly?
Once you have placed your order, you will receive a confirmation email. If you do not receive an email, contact our customer service – admin@blackwaterstudios.co.uk
Why might my credit card be refused?
Your credit card may be refused for any of the following reasons:
- The card may have expired. Check that your card is still valid.
- You may have reached your credit limit. Contact your bank to check that you have not exceeded the authorized purchase limit.
- You may have entered some information incorrectly. Check that you have filled in all the required fields correctly.
Can I remove items from my order?
You can delete any unwanted items from your shopping bag as long as the order hasn’t been processed yet.
Can I cancel my order?
Yes. If the order hasn’t dispatched then the order can be cancelled. In this instance, contact admin@blackwaterstudios.co.uk. You will receive an email if your order has been already dispatched.
Can I amend my delivery address?
You can amend your delivery address before dispatch by emailing us. Once your order has been dispatched, we can’t make any changes to your delivery address and your order will be sent out to you as per your order confirmation.
My parcel hasn't arrived?
If your parcel has not arrived, please allow 10 days for UK deliveries or 3 weeks for international deliveries. If your parcel still has not arrived, please contact us via admin@blackwaterstudios.co.uk or our quick contact and we will investigate the issue.
Delivery
How long does delivery take?
Delivery dates and times will vary depending on delivery address and country.
For information on delivery timescales, please visit our Delivery page.
However, if you’re worried your parcel is missing, please allow 10 days for UK deliveries or 3 weeks for international deliveries. If your parcel still has not arrived, please contact us via admin@blackwaterstudios.co.uk or our quick contact and we will investigate the issue.
Do you delivery to my country? How much is delivery?
We currently ship worldwide, and the cost is dependent on Royal Mail’s International Zones. To find out more, please visit our Delivery page.
Will there be customs tax?
Your sample store order should not be subject to customs tax. If you’ve been charged for customs tax on receipt of your order sample store order, email us.
What if i'm not in when my delivery arrives?
If you’re not in when the courier arrives, they will try to leave your parcel with a neighbour or in a safe place around your property. They may attempt to re-deliver the next working day (excludes Sundays & bank holidays). If this isn’t possible, they will leave a card explaining how to arrange re-delivery.
If you have any delivery requests you can state these during the order process. If you need to do this after the order has been placed, please contact admin@blackwaterstudios.co.uk before the item is dispatched.
Refunds & Returns
What should I do if I receive an incorrect item?
In the event of receiving a faulty item or wrong item, please contact us via admin@blackwaterstudios.co.uk or using our quick contact form. You will receive the refund cost of the item, this excludes shipping and handling. You can also choose to have the item replaced. Please note, we only accept refunds for faulty goods within 14 days of receipt.
How long will it take to process a return?
Please allow up to 10 working days for us to receive your items, process your return and confirm your refund amount via email. It may take up 4 weeks for your refund to be returned to you from the date that you post your item/s back to us, and will vary for international returns.
If you’re having any problems returning the item or it has been more than 4 weeks since you sent it, please contact admin@blackwaterstudios.co.uk.