So you want to sell t shirts?? Quick Guide to get you started

11:49 AM

So you want to sell t shirts??

There are plenty of ways to earn money selling t shirts and anyone can do it including children, with their parent's permission of course.

A few things before getting started:
Determine how you want to earn your money.

Do you want to earn money from your own designs by selling them online with no obligation to purchase any equipment or items to store/stock yourself?
Do you want to earn money selling someone else's designs without any designs of your own (yes this is possible).
Do you want to create your own line of t shirts under your own brand?

Examples of apparel brands would be Levi's, Forever 21, Ralph Lauren.

Selling Designs Online
If you've thought about the first two questions and want to go with these options, then you can get started right away.
Websites such as Zazzle allows anyone with a Zazzle account to make money by promoting products and even individual pages found on the Zazzle site. Creating an account is simple.

Spreahshirt is another website that lets you earn a commission by selling someone else's designs. You can create items using the designs in their design gallery and sell them in your own shop. http://www.spreadshirt.com/design-gallery-C3402

Cafe press is another website that offers and affiliate program. You choose the products you want to promote and earn a commission from them.

There are tons of sites that offer these options and you never have to create your own designs. So while you probably share t shirt designs of other people online anyway why not get paid for it?
These websites also allow you to sell your own designs on their products which is another way to make money. You don't have to print or ship anything which is a BONUS! This would require you to have your own designs and you can even create your own designs using their online designer that most websites have. They have loads of clip art for you to use. If you want your own designs and can't design them yourself then you will need to get with a graphic designer to create them for you. Make sure your designer knows the specifications that you'll need to sell your designs (size, printing method, file type, etc). This option is great if you don't want to print or ship anything. Just sit back and collect the coins you earn.
Creating a an Apparel Brand:
Creating an apparel Brand requires a little more work but well worth it.

Come up with an ideas that are marketable
Determine what type of designs you want to sell (graphic or text)
Create designs that connect with people
Determine who your target market is (who will you be selling your apparel too), Who is your brand for?
Don't just sell your product, know your product. There are different types of ways apparel is made (silk screening, dye sublimation, heat transfer paper, DTG: direct to garment printing, heat transfer vinyl). Research the process, the cost and the quality of each method to determine which method you want to use and to help determine your starting price point
Tshirt brands: Not all t shirts are made the same and it is imperative to know is items specifications prior to selling. Visit T-Shirt Magazine Online for more information about Picking the Perfect T-Shirt Blank
Create a brand that is expandable. So for instance if you start off selling t shirts, your brand will allow for you to expand to offering coffee mugs or baseball caps, etc. Create a brand that's not restricted to one item, so when you are naming your Brand think long term, years down the line.
Choose where and how you will sell your items. There are plenty of Ecommerce Websites where you can sell your items online such as Shopify, Big Cartel, Etsy, Square.

BONUS TIP: Business cards are relatively the least expensive marketing piece so use it to your advantage.

Use as apparel tags. Punch a whole in your business card and attach it to the tag in the shirt using a tagging gun.
Washing instructions: make them double side (one side with busines info and the other side with washing or care isntructions)

BONUS #2:
If you don't have a designer and want to start off with purchasing designs you can do that as well. Keep in mind that it's likely that you may end up with the same design as someone else making it a little harder to build your Brand.

Websites to purchase designs:

BONUS #3

Once you've gotten your store up and running I'd recommend using Polyvore to create different looks to post on your social media pages. When people have a visual of how they can wear your apparel it helps them see themselves wearing it.