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.
ive read sooo many other posts about selling to stores, BUT i havent found alot of info about what im actually trying to do. im a super very small buizz but my pops is kind enough to give me alot of money n help. soo my questions are--
1. is it easier to sell to local stores, such as mom n pop stores, stores that are small and dont have chains.
2. is it a good idea to make my order of shirts (a little over 200) along with a couple of my hand made designs, and go to these small local stores and give them a small amount of each of the designs (10 designs) for FREE along with small index card sized informational pamphlets of my shirts to give away to every customer who buys one of my shirts, and if the customers reactions are good then they may contact me to actually buy a larger amount.
im only planing on going to a MAX of 3 stores by next summer im not worried about the "free" thing being a waist of money i still have an other job and i have a saved amount of money for this plan. plus i think that letting them have the shirts for free as a trial try out is a sign that im willing and trust worthey for the retailer.
OH and HEY!! feel free to throw as much of your opinoins and ideas give me as much info and input as u can.
2. is it a good idea to make my order of shirts (a little over 200) along with a couple of my hand made designs, and go to these small local stores and give them a small amount of each of the designs (10 designs) for FREE along with small index card sized informational pamphlets of my shirts to give away to every customer who buys one of my shirts, and if the customers reactions are good then they may contact me to actually buy a larger amount.
Doesn't sound like a good idea to me to give away free designs.
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1. is it easier to sell to local stores, such as mom n pop stores, stores that are small and dont have chains.
alright so i should do number 2 but actually sell it to em, only thing is that i really dont know how to sell it to them you know like so far i would just go and say "may i speak to the owner" ect. ect. and set up an apointment and like just tell them about the shirts n what not
alright so i should do number 2 but actually sell it to em, only thing is that i really dont know how to sell it to them you know like so far i would just go and say "may i speak to the owner" ect. ect. and set up an apointment and like just tell them about the shirts n what not
I would definately not give them away for free if you want to be taken seriously as a business person. I can see giving them a sample so they can see what it actually looks like on a shirt and all but giving more than that is not a smart idea. You could approach the owner and offer either the purchase of the shirts or doing a consignment deal with them. Alot of times stores are more willing to carry your product if they do not have to purchase it but can make money on them if they sell by consignment. Hope this helps
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Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
If you search the threads you should be able to find some info on it. Basically it is where you make an agreement for them to sell them in their store and you give them a certain percentage for selling your product for you. It is a very effective way to get your products into stores when you are first starting out with little risk to you or the store owner. Then if your products sell good you can always make a new arrangement later for your product to be purchased at wholesale by the store owners. hope this helps.
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Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
Selling to stores... 100% new to this! 
