So I'm currently in the works of nailing out a business model for a new t-shirt design company.
I am looking into having my shirts printed at a local screen and embroidery print shop.
It makes sense to me that the best way to go about this is to do "made to order" shirts. That way I don't have to spend a lot of money upfront on inventory and if no one ever buys an extra large or one of the designs I don't waste money.
Do screen printers generally do this? And I'm assuming it would cost more than just having mass quantities printed at once?
Obvious downside is that it would take longer for the customer to get their shirt...
Once this business gets up and rolling I'll be able to keep an inventory based off what designs,colors,sizes are most popular. But I don't have a lot of money to spend on a large inventory right away.
What about this idea? Gathering up all the orders for a week and having them printed at the end of the week? This way you can still avoid the inventory yet provide the printer with enough orders to fulfill their minimum. Is that practical? Sorry I'm really just trying to throw ideas out here.
What about this idea? Gathering up all the orders for a week and having them printed at the end of the week?
It's practical if you're large enough (I believe it's what T-shirt Hell does for example), but what happens when you get 1 order for Shirt A, 1 order for Shirt B, 1 order for Shirt C, and 34 orders for Shirt D? Or worse still, 1 for each without the 34 to offset losses.
For on demand inventory like this, some members here would recommend plastisol transfers (I'm not one of them, but I mention it because it's inevitable someone will ).
Well I guess to start off I will have to make assumptions of what sizes and designs will be most popular? I'm limiting my colors a lot to start off with too. The whole idea of buying a lot of inventory and not selling particular sizes, colors, or designs sort of sucks. ha But I guess that's the nature of this business.
I'm starting off real small. I'm still a student so all my nights away from school will be devoted to this. But don't be put off by "student", I'm trying to be professional as possible.
Well I guess to start off I will have to make assumptions of what sizes and designs will be most popular? [...] But I guess that's the nature of this business.
Yup and yup. You can always start conservatively if you're worried about losses.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bades
Any other good ideas/tips on stocking inventory?
If you check out the (sadly incomplete) FAQs (there's one in most sections) there are a few good starting point threads. In the Wholesale Tees section there's some threads that cover size breakdowns: they'll never be 100% reliable, but it should give you some tips on what sizes to start with.
If you're in a situation where you can pre-sell some shirts before printing, that's one of the best ways to get an idea of size breakdown without a financial commitment.
a good idea for a small run is to do 1 of each size and one additonal large and extra-large. or 2 of each size and one addition large and extra-large. unless yr dealing with a niche market (of this niche market) L & XL are always the top sellers.
I do shirts on demand for a lot of the designs that we create and sell, but it's a huge hassle. It's a good way to cut down on left over shirts that are not getting sold if your idea isn't great, but It is a real pain to deal with.
I can imagine most screen shops wouldn't deal with this at all.
best thing to do is just do small orders like the others said.. or even better do a Pre-order for shirts..
On the last 4 designs we put out we did pre-orders for those shirts. That helped to raise the funds to buy the blanks as well as made us able to print all the shirts at once. I usually leave my screens inked and on the press for way longer than most do, but I am trying to get in the habit of making larger runs, then cleaning up the screen and storing it.
I'd say either pre-orders, a small order to start, or Direct-to-garment printing.
Print mass quantities or on demand? 
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