I am interested in hearing from anyone who sells their shirts online on their own website (not cafepress or other services) — what is the average number of shirts you sell per week (or month, year, etc)? What methods have you found successful in promoting your website? Do you also sell to retail stores, at festivals/events, or other avenues? If so, about what percentage of each? And finally, are you screenprinting, heat pressing (and if so, what type of transfers), or outsourcing your printing?
I think it would be very insightful just to see the different experiences that people in this business have and what has worked for them.
I am interested in hearing from anyone who sells their shirts online on their own website (not cafepress or other services) — what is the average number of shirts you sell per week (or month, year, etc)? What methods have you found successful in promoting your website? Do you also sell to retail stores, at festivals/events, or other avenues? If so, about what percentage of each? And finally, are you screenprinting, heat pressing (and if so, what type of transfers), or outsourcing your printing?
I think it would be very insightful just to see the different experiences that people in this business have and what has worked for them.
Thanks,
Neil
I'll tell you, if you tell me how much money you have in your savings account. And how much you make a year.
I'll tell you, if you tell me how much money you have in your savings account. And how much you make a year.
Point taken... I know what works for one doesn't mean it works for another. Plus I don't expect people who have worked hard and invested a lot of time, talent, and money to give up any secrets to success IF they don't want to. But I am curious for those who sell shirts online, what kind of volume are you averaging off web sales? How does that compare to other methods of selling in your experience? Each person has different experiences with what has worked best for them. Please share what you would like in regards to that.
Point taken... I know what works for one doesn't mean it works for another. Plus I don't expect people who have worked hard and invested a lot of time, talent, and money to give up any secrets to success IF they don't want to. But I am curious for those who sell shirts online, what kind of volume are you averaging off web sales? How does that compare to other methods of selling in your experience? Each person has different experiences with what has worked best for them. Please share what you would like in regards to that.
Hi Neil,
My niche was ice skating pro-shops. The best ones are the shops that owned several shops throughout the state. For example one pro shop owned about 12 shops and the buyer I worked with did the buying for all their shops. She would purchase about $3000 (wholesale) each time. I had another client that purchased for 3 pro shops and she would purchase $1500-$2000 shirts. I hate cold calling, but I was very lucky that every shop I approached bought something, except for one small shop. I created all my own designs on sweatshirts. There are so many possible niches out there, like the bowling shops, dance studios, etc., that sell t-shirts on a regular basis with the same designs. I had about 10 good designs and occasionally I sell them on eBay too. Oh, and glitter was also my niche. It requires a little more work, but no one works with glitter, so I didn’t have any competitors. I sold each sweatshirt for about $12.50 - $15, the pro-shops sold them for $25.00 - $35.00. Many people approached me for a few t-shirts, but I didn't take those jobs because I loose money. I like the pro-shops because they order in volume. I don't print shirts for pro-shops any more so I don't mind sharing my experiences. Well, occasionally my daughter sells my shirts on eBay.
Hope this helped!
- and the person pressing your shirts? ...$20 bucks an hour?
she makes more $$$$ sometimes when she delivers them local. Nice gal and can she press shirts.
Actually, Rogers Television did a special on a TV Show called "Shop Toronto" not long ago and she was the star of that flick. You should watch it sometime.
If you don't mind me asking, how did cutting back on retail stores help - just because it gave you more time to focus your energies online?
As for me, I have had an online store for over a year, and am certainly not as successful or known as I'd like, but I know these things take time. I print all of my shirts and such myself. Spurts of success have come through publicity in print magazines and t-shirt blogs, and I do some advertising online and run ads in the magazine Giant Robot.
I supplement my income, but not by much. It's almost another full-time job, sometimes more, but I rely on my day job to pay my bills in hopes that whatever profits I have through selling my designs will keep the business afloat until I can do it full-time.
__________________ SEIBEI - put a monster in your closet.
Follow me on Twitter @davidSEIBEI
...Spurts of success have come through publicity in print magazines and t-shirt blogs, and I do some advertising online and run ads in the magazine Giant Robot.
I supplement my income, but not by much. It's almost another full-time job, sometimes more, but I rely on my day job to pay my bills in hopes that whatever profits I have through selling my designs will keep the business afloat until I can do it full-time.
Hey David,
I'm in the same boat as you. Work full time, print in the off hours. Luckily (like you I think) my boss lets me store the shirts, and print them at the location I work at. He gave me a little trolley type thing to put my heat press on, and I roll it out at night, lock the doors and press and battle it out with Mr. Hix.
If I can ask, how has your ad in Giant Robot done for you? Just in terms of, "is it worth doing?' and "was there a noticable improvement in sales?"
Advertising performance can be tricky to gauge, so I'm curious.
As for the ad in Giant Robot...I have no idea, to be honest. We just finished a huge IndieClicks campaign (very effective, if you have a catchy banner ad), so I don't know what's been coming from GR and what hasn't. Unfortunately, website logs can't track what made a person enter our URL...
I am putting another one in the next issue; I figure I should keep up with it, and also GR is one of my favorite mags so it's fun to support them. The rates (which I can't discuss, though they're easy to get) are better than you would expect for a magazine of its size, I think. I, at the very least, was surprised by the cost of a half-page ad (which we run).
__________________ SEIBEI - put a monster in your closet.
Follow me on Twitter @davidSEIBEI
Online (and offline) Selling Experiences 
Re: Online (and offline) Selling Experiences 
I know what works for one doesn't mean it works for another. Plus I don't expect people who have worked hard and invested a lot of time, talent, and money to give up any secrets to success IF they don't want to. But I am curious for those who sell shirts online, what kind of volume are you averaging off web sales? How does that compare to other methods of selling in your experience? Each person has different experiences with what has worked best for them. Please share what you would like in regards to that.
