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jki540 · July 30th, 2007

Hi all,
As much as I search on Google for info about the t-shirt industry, nothing provides as much insight and good information than this forum...so I thought I'd pose another question for general feedback.

How important is it to be able to sell dark t-shirts? My market is going to be the skateboard/punk crowd. We sell graphic tees to younger dudes in the 15 to 25 age range.

I ask the question because I am new to the t-shirt industry, and I can't seem to find a good way to print onto dark garments in low volume. I know screen printing does an awesome job on dark garments, but my business really won't allow for the set-up involved in screen printing. And I can't afford a DTG printer.

All of my designs are heat pressed right now. And because I like a soft hand and vibrant colors, I stick to white/light colors. All the opaque transfers I've tried to heatpress look like a piece of plastic, superglued to a shirt. Not good. My question is: How much business do you think I'm losing because I'm not offering dark colors? Does anyone have any anecdotes or stats to share? Such as: clients who have walked because darks were not offered, or a percent breakdown of dark vs light colors?

Really appreciate any and all thoughts on this matter!

Rodney · July 30th, 2007

Very important. Dark colored shirts are generally more popular for the demographic you're describing (and in general).

Quote:


	All of my designs are heat pressed right now. And because I like a soft hand and vibrant colors, I stick to white/light colors. All the opaque transfers I've tried to heatpress look like a piece of plastic, superglued to a shirt. Not good.

Don't use opaque transfers, use plastisol transfers.

what is a plastisol (silk screen printed) heat transfer: a definition

Fluid · July 30th, 2007

I agree. Dark shirts are way more popular than lights. You can probably do good without yet having dark shirts will yield more sales for sure

jki540 · July 30th, 2007

Thanks for the post Fluid. So in your view, the dark colored shirts sell better than the lighter colored ones, right?

Fluid · July 30th, 2007

They seem to sell more. SGIA did some research a while back and Black T's were the most popular by far.

jki540 · July 30th, 2007

Man...this is really helpful feedback. Thank you for your thoughts. It confirms my suspicions. Personally, most of my t-shirts are black or dark colored. i didn't know if i was odd that way, or if that was normal for most guys. sounds like it's more normal.

shirley1520 · July 31st, 2007

Having 3 sons, ages 16, 18, and 22, I asked them their opinion. They prefer dark t-shirts because of how hard it is to keep white clean.

They also don't like the 'heavier weight' t-shirts.

Hope this helps!
Shirley

jki540 · July 31st, 2007

Wow! Thanks Shirley...that's the perfect FOCUS GROUP!! This is very helpful and thanks for your insights. i never thought of the 'clean' issue. and i will definitely keep the lightweight issue in mind too when ordering my blanks.

thanks again!

edski · July 31st, 2007

Hi, I agree with Fluid, Black seems to be the most popular. However i prefer the lightweight tshirt, 5.5 oz. is perfect for me! We make 7 oz. and they are just too heavy, unless worn in the winter under a sweater or something.