uateva

to cut things short i just got a bright idea for all of you out there on a tight budget(i'm actually starting my screen printing "business" in DEBT). i've been trynna find the right shirt for what i'm trying to do and just figured something out...i sample different shirt brands just by going to the swap meet or flea market or whatever you wanna call it.lol. we got a big one here in Hawaii at aloha stadium with hundreds of shirt vendors and thousands of shirts to sample without spending any money. it won't solve all your problems but it'll give you an idea of what direction or company you wanna go with. yesterday i tried on alstyle, hanes, fruit of the looms, pro club, gildan, anvil, DREAM USA, and a bunch of other shirts all for free.lol...so far i'm liking the Hanes Beefy-T the best. so if you're trynna save money but wanna check out as much shirts as you can...be a loser like me and take a trip to your local flea market!hahaha

 

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swellybellys

Hey Tyler, not a bad idea. Guess I need to find a huge flee market in Arizona, although I would much rather be in Hawai

 

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queerrep

Quote: Originally Posted by uateva ... so if you're trynna save money but wanna check out as much shirts as you can...be a loser like me and take a trip to your local flea market!hahaha

LOL. That's funny, Tyler. Some wholesalers have their shirts on display at their warehouses (i.e. here in Atlanta Broder Bros./Alpha and Alstyle do it). Even though that's not convenient for most people, that is another option to 'try before you buy'.

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splathead

Feeling and sizing the shirt before washing is one thing. But sampling is really more than that. You want to see how the shirt holds up after a wash. You want to see how your designs on each shirt holds up after a wash. Swap meets are a good idea to go and buy one shirt though. Cheaper than ordering 1 shirt from the wholesalers and pay their $10 shipping cost!

 

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COEDS

Quote: Originally Posted by splathead Feeling and sizing the shirt before washing is one thing. But sampling is really more than that. You want to see how the shirt holds up after a wash. You want to see how your designs on each shirt holds up after a wash. Swap meets are a good idea to go and buy one shirt though. Cheaper than ordering 1 shirt from the wholesalers and pay their $10 shipping cost!

Great post and I agree you need to really wear the product to get to know how it reacts to wear and tear. ...... JB

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uateva

i agree 100% joe...u need to see how the shirt(s) hold up after washing and what not...by the way i'm a SPURS fanatic! i think i'm their only fan here in Hawaii.lol

 

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splathead

Quote: Originally Posted by uateva i agree 100% joe...u need to see how the shirt(s) hold up after washing and what not...by the way i'm a SPURS fanatic! i think i'm their only fan here in Hawaii.lol

Here's hoping they play better today than they did Wednesday

 

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Jasonda

Quote: Originally Posted by swellybellys Hey Tyler, not a bad idea. Guess I need to find a huge flee market in Arizona

You're kidding, right? I thought Arizona was the flea market capital of the world!

 

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Sheepsalt

Great idea! Yeah, like the others said, you do need to take some shirts home and see how they hold up with use. I've had shirts that I thought would be great, but ended up not being very comfortable when worn all day.

Hey, Cathi, if you google 'arizona "swap meet" "flee market"' you'll find allot of options. There's a couple pretty big ones in the Phoenix area.

 

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swellybellys

Thanks Brian, I will do that. I have only been in arizona for 5 years and been doing the tee shirt thing about a year. So I need all the help I can get, my biggest problem seems to be getting the maternity tees for a good price, always looking though, I will not loose hope.

 

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Rico Menor

when i was looking for a primary shirt I just ordered one of each and had the wholesaler ship it to me, there is usually a price break on samples. I have aslo contacted the maufaturer direct and had them send me one or two at no cost to me. I have one of every brand shirt (That i could think of) in a bag so I can go back and take a look at it or show someone if need be.

 

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jaycen29

I love the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet...always go whenever I go back to Hawaii lol.

 

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AustinJeff

Quote: Originally Posted by uateva i sample different shirt brands just by going to the swap meet or flea market or whatever you wanna call it.

Recently, I was interested in a particular brand of organic shirt and I was quite surprised to find a bunch of them -- brand new -- at a local thrift store (they were printed for an event, and apparently over-ordered a bit.)

Anyway, I bought several, including some I would actually wear.

I was not too happy with the results. The material was rough, and the cut was weird. I basically wrote them off.

A few months later, I decided to give them a shot again and ordered a couple of samples. Much to my surprise, they were totally different. The specs of the shirt had changed.

In this case, it was a legitimate change by the manufacturer. I've also bought T's at a flea market that I'm 90% sure were counterfeit -- or at least unmarked seconds.

Bottom line: Regardless of what the tag says, the shirt you get at the flea market may not be the same shirt you would get from a distributor.

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ambitious

I absolutley agree with you Austinjeff i bought a couple samples from a swampmeet to do my testing and were way different than the ones i originally had, The material from the swampmeet ones were very thin not as thick as the original ones.

Not sure about other States but i realized CALIFORNIA is home of the BOOTLEG especially Los Angeles The Alleys to be exact,So be carefull folk's when buying from swampmeets...

 

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