Discuss the process of getting your t-shirt line into brick and mortar stores and selling offline. Topics include industry tradeshows, events, line sheets, sales reps and other retailing tips and advice.
I set up in western North Carolina. I'd like to visit Texas but so far I stay east of the Mississippi River.
I live in dallas texas area and will be making a trip up to the smoky mountians and was thinking of bringing some items to sell to make it a business trip. what are some of the good markets up and over there?
Right now we are not doing t shirts but looking into the business, kinda wanting to get out of our current line and move to something else. We do mckinney and canton texas 1st and 3rd monday. when we get into t shirts we will have to have a portable operation to be albe to setup at the shows to print on the spot if they want.
What markets depends upon where exactly you are going to be. In the Pigeon Forge Tn. area the biggest weekend market is The Great Smokies Flea Market in Kodak. Exit 407 off I-40 . Here in western NC, the biggest is Smiley's , exit 44 off I-26. In the Cherokee-Franklin-Dillsboro area you could try Uncle Bills, good tourist market in the summer. Weekdays are smaller local markets
i'm just starting the flea market/street fair thing. i'm shooting for doing my first one in NYC the saturday before november. it's scary, but i'm moving forward!
i'm wondering what i need to bring. this is my list. if anyone can think of something i've missed, i would really appreciate hearing about it. i will just have a table, no booth. and i pray that the weather continues to be mild.
- banner
- table covering
- receipt book
- calculator (do i need this if i'm doing "sales tax included in price" and rounding the prices up?)
- stickers for prices
- display rack (i'm thinking of using a tabletop drying rack and clothes pins)
- dollar bills/five dollar bills, etc. for change
- merchandise, of course
- water/food
- notebook
- book for sign up for e-mail mailing list/mailing list
- baskets to hold merchandise
am i forgetting anything?
btw, i know that in NYC we don't play sales tax on clothing under $120 dollars or so. does anyone know if that only applies to stores or if it also applies to flea market clothing sales?
thanks, everyone! online sales would be easier to do, but until i get enough traffic to get some decent sales, i'm okay with doing these "shows." plus, i can offer stuff that i can't offer online. and i think people might want to buy when they see stuff in personal and they likey.
i would add: business cards/flyers-when someone buys something, i make sure to put my flyer in their bag. also leave some on the table for other potential buyers can pick one up in passing. they may not like your stuff, but they probably know someone that does and they can pass the information on.
inexpensive way to make flyers using word or publisher....break the page into 4 quadrants, cut and paste your info in each quadrant. print using black ink on color paper and cut. 100 sheets will get you 400 flyers.
tie-downs/clothes pins- need these in case the wind is blowing. we had to use some water bottles because we were not prepared for this. not sure how you plan on displaying the shirts, but there is a good posting here, just search for displays. myself along with others have pictures posted. another forum member created a rack system using 2x4's hung by chain from the tent. very simple and awesome.
10x10 tent- you should get a pop-up tent. very helpful, will protect your items in case of inclement weather. be sure to ask the event coordinator how much space is allotted. all the events i have worked so far has been 10x10.
bags- box of bags to put merchandise in for customer.
cords & light- depending on the time of the fest, you may need lights. also ask the coordinator if electricity is provided. if not, take your supplies anyway, someone else will have a power source and they might be willing to let you run your light source.
help- most important, you will need help. i thought i was superwoman and boy
was i wrong.
I tried to do a craft show in my area of Mount Airy, MD and they told me that putting designs on T-Shirts was not considered a CRAFT???? I could of arqued with the guy and normally I would but that same week I was going through getting my LLC, business license and setting up my website so I really didn't have the time or energy to argue with him. I did explain to him that it was a c raft and I would fight it next year.
I tried to do a craft show in my area of Mount Airy, MD and they told me that putting designs on T-Shirts was not considered a CRAFT???? I could of arqued with the guy and normally I would but that same week I was going through getting my LLC, business license and setting up my website so I really didn't have the time or energy to argue with him. I did explain to him that it was a c raft and I would fight it next year.
Nabs
You aren't the first t-shirt seller to run into this problem with "craft" shows. Some show administrators are more strict than others when they define "crafts".
I tried to do a craft show in my area of Mount Airy, MD and they told me that putting designs on T-Shirts was not considered a CRAFT???? I could of arqued with the guy and normally I would but that same week I was going through getting my LLC, business license and setting up my website so I really didn't have the time or energy to argue with him. I did explain to him that it was a c raft and I would fight it next year.
My business is 90% craft fairs. I have run across only a few people who say printing on t-shirt isn't a craft. The best response is to ask them to at the very least to look at an email of your artwork, and explain to them that you are an artist you just happen to print your art on t shirts rather than have it framed. It always leaves them speechless after that.
We have been doing crafts shows in midcoast Maine since the summer and have had no trouble gaining acceptance to shows, so far. We carefully word the description of what we do by emphasizing that we create original, digitally designed apparel and often call it wearable art. We were turned down once by our own town but we spoke to the woman who was organizing the show and she loved our work and accepted us for that show and a second one. We charge the same amount for our shirts at the shows as we do at any other venue. We have been getting a lot more orders from people and sales have gone up. It seems to get better with each show. We recently bought a smaller heat press to bring to the indoor shows.
i would add: business cards/flyers-when someone buys something, i make sure to put my flyer in their bag. also leave some on the table for other potential buyers can pick one up in passing. they may not like your stuff, but they probably know someone that does and they can pass the information on.
inexpensive way to make flyers using word or publisher....break the page into 4 quadrants, cut and paste your info in each quadrant. print using black ink on color paper and cut. 100 sheets will get you 400 flyers.
tie-downs/clothes pins- need these in case the wind is blowing. we had to use some water bottles because we were not prepared for this. not sure how you plan on displaying the shirts, but there is a good posting here, just search for displays. myself along with others have pictures posted. another forum member created a rack system using 2x4's hung by chain from the tent. very simple and awesome.
10x10 tent- you should get a pop-up tent. very helpful, will protect your items in case of inclement weather. be sure to ask the event coordinator how much space is allotted. all the events i have worked so far has been 10x10.
bags- box of bags to put merchandise in for customer.
cords & light- depending on the time of the fest, you may need lights. also ask the coordinator if electricity is provided. if not, take your supplies anyway, someone else will have a power source and they might be willing to let you run your light source.
help- most important, you will need help. i thought i was superwoman and boy
was i wrong.
hope this helps.
one love!
thanks a lot! great! yeah, after i posted i realized i didn't include bags. also, i ordered moo cards with my shop's name and URL, so i will slip one of those into every bag. but it looks like what i will sell at the flea market will be a little different from what is online. hmmm. i have to think about what to do about that.
i will only have a table, so i won't have a tent. i was thinking about pinning the tees to a portable clothing "line" thingy, so they shouldn't blow away. and then i might have baskets for the tees. i'm in NYC without a car, so i have to try to take as little as possible.
the flea market will be over at 5pm, so i HOPE i won't need lights. but dec. 1st, well, it may be dark at 4:30. hmmm. thanks for mentioning that. lights never crossed my mind.
i know, i know i need help, but i have no family here, so i feel like i would need to pay someone. and it's hard to do that when you have a limited budget and you don't know how much you're going to sell. but i'll work on it.
thanks a lot! if i have forgotten anything else, please let me know. i have a few weeks to pull everything together.
I have been in apparel retailing for a long time. If I ever bought from someone who sold the exact same thing in a flea market I would be out of there quickly, as in stop payment, send goods back, etc. You would have to go into that market with a completely differnt offering as far as label and prints.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hippopotamus
Hi Guys,
I just started an infant t-shirt line - its a tiny business but I'm pushing to make it full-time. In order to make more profits I have been toying with the idea of selling my tees at local fleamarkets but fear that this might "devalue" the product image in the eyes of a retailer. Do you agree?
Also, if I did sell to a retailer and decided to sell at a fleamarket as well (at the same market price), do you think this will turn retailers off the tees? Should I choose one or the other and can I do both?
If I was selling to someone with that kind of attitude I would want my things back. I probably have more invested in my flea market setup than a lot of retail stores do. I sell only first quality items and do not set prices any lower than the likes of Wal-Mart or Target or some of the brands like Steve & Barry's. In fact my prices are higher in some cases, but so is the quality. So tell me what is it that makes me less of a retailer than the stores that are in a regular retail store. Is it the fact that I only open 3 days a week vs 5 days or is it that some people just have an attitude?
Just reading about the Flea Market/Retail Format..personally I do both, it does take time to establish yourself in both places, but for the money I spend at the FM, I make between 600-800 a weekend, now I have that 7 miles down the road I am also in the mall, I don't change my prices, just people tends to shop both places, and a few goes to both. They know I charge a fair price for what they are getting, so I dont worry about one person seeing another. So 4 yrs later, I am still at the FM and also have two mall stores. It takes time, if you treat people right, charge a fair price they will continue to do business with you. I tell you something my prices have changed 100 % , when I kept hearing people say..."Is that all " over and over, I knew I was to low. So I raised my prices...listen to people they will tell you where you are. Don't compete with someone, give something better in product and in your sales presentation.
some of the flea markets are really more like festivals and street fairs. here in new york, a lot of them are like floating malls and you can buy all types of things--high end, too--at them. there are a lot indie designers and stuff at these street fairs.
would these types of "flea markets" also be retail store poison? i mean, if the market isn't just old stuff and the quality is really good, then do people really care? i'm just asking.
Re: Fleamarkets vs. Retailers 
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