Discuss the fun task of marketing a t-shirt shop. Where to advertise, local marketing tips, word of mouth, press releases, search engine marketing, keyword advertising, magazines, etc.
I've been working on a new line of shirts, Kafkacotton, and we're going to launch in a week with an Etsy store. This forum has been an amazing place for information - thanks everybody.
Anyway, a big part of my marketing effort is going to be a road trip to promote Kafkacotton on college campuses. Our niche is, "Great books. On your chest." I'll be dressing up as our cockroach mascot and collecting email addresses for a drawing of some free shirts. I'll also be using Facebook and Youtube to amplify any buzz we receive. I'm expecting some print PR as well since our line donates 5% of our proceeds to fighting illiteracy.
Do you recommend any states (or better yet, cities) that I should be sure to hit?
Shirt.woot has a cool "Woots by State" map for each of the designs they print. It tells you which states the sales came from (for example: need up to date help with keywords for site for SEO purpose)..... but I'm not sure if this is useful information.
If you're interested, feel free to follow the journey via our blog or facebook page.
I'll be dressing up as our cockroach mascot and collecting email addresses for a drawing of some free shirts.
Well, that will attract the ladies.
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Do you recommend any states (or better yet, cities) that I should be sure to hit?
Based on your target market, a more important question is where are the largest colleges. Overall state sales are not as important if you are targeting the college crowd. ALL college communities buy t-shirts.
What is the average tshirt price... a college kid would spend ?
I would say it depends on the college location, and the brand popularity. I am in Atlanta, and the High School Kids are wearing Ed Hardy, Sean John, Bebe, Juicy couture, Fubu, Roca Wear, Akoo, and a host of others that are well more than $18.
But for a no name start up brand, with kids these days it's hard to say. If they like the style and design they will pay your price.
It amazes me how these kids come up with that kind of money without jobs.
If your design is similar to what is Hot, they will pay your price, but if it is just a line of funny t-shirts, good luck getting $10 out of them.
There is a big difference between what kids wear and what kids spend.
Many high school and college kids have their clothes bought by their parents, so that is not a good indicator as to what they would spend their own money on. Sure, when their parents are paying the bill they want Ed Hardy and Juicy Couture. But when they are spending their own money, it's hard to say for sure. Some will spend well over $18 for a t-shirt, but some certainly will not. I think the average college kid would spend the equivalent of a Hollister tee... $18.
Your opinion is noted and I wasn't disputing it, but where I am from things are different. Parents are not the ones buying the expensive clothing. Parents aren't sending their kids to them Mall with hundred dollar bills to spend on whatever they want. Hang out in a mall here on a Saturday and watch all the money that comes out of these kids pockets it's mind boggling.
As for college students, I just graduated College four years ago and most would spend their entire student center paycheck, pell grant, and other monies on clothes and the latest shoe, and trust it was not Holister. That brand is not hip enough for kids where I am from which brings me back to it depends on the location of the college.
i'm in an affluent area of long island. i see kids at the mall, same as you describe, pulling out cash, credit cards, you name it. no chance these kids are spending their own money, though. where could it possibly come from? around here, it's usually a trust fund or some crazy $100 a week allowance for washing their parent's bmw and mercedes.
you make a good point about college kids spending their last dime on the latest tee or shoe. they are all about the trends. my hollister comment was simply about that being "average."
so if kids in your area don't get money from their parents and they don't have jobs, where do they get it from? steal it? dealing drugs? printing counterfeits? either way, that's not 'average,' in fact, it actually skews the average. so that's probably not the target market that comixartist had in mind when he posted the question.
Come to Michigan - you can hit the U of M (Ann Arbor), Eastern (Ypsilanti), MSU (Lansing), and Wayne State (Detroit). U of M and Wayne have Schools of Library Science. It definitely sounds like a brand that would appeal to my fellow librarians.
Thanks for the replies. Here's another question: "What will make a person pay $20.00 to $60.00 for a t-shirt?" What special things can a designer do or incorporate in that t-shirt? Thank you.
"What will make a person pay $20.00 to $60.00 for a t-shirt?"
Branding... When people see celebrities and athletes wearing a brand, they will pay big money to wear it too.
Power of retail... When people see a shirt in a high-end store, they will be willing to pay a high-end price.
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Originally Posted by comixartist01
What special things can a designer do or incorporate in that t-shirt?
You can try attaching $100 bills to your shirts. I'm sure people will pay $60 for that.
But seriously, I don't think you can do anything to "design a $60 shirt." Because it's not the design people are paying for. That price point is achieved by successful branding and marketing.
And distribution is a huge factor too. If you have the channels to get your shirts in high-end stores, the price point goes up immediately based on the reputation of the store. The power of retail plays a huge part in what people are willing to pay.
One thing is for sure. If you are charging top notch prices for a tee, it better be a top quality garment to begin with. It must be soft and look nice, even before you add your graphic. This will help when you charge the higher prices..
Thanks Tim and Pat. You guys are both right. I love this site. ***I have been walking around and finding that Affliction is charging 60.00 for a shirt at Macy's. I also see other company's charge 32.00 but their fabric is not as high quality. Does anyone know of a good fabric/blank that gets better with age? I have a wolverine shirt and its been with me for 10plus years and its one of my most fav shirts because the black just faded right and the garment is as tough as nails. So...
***Does anyone know of a good fabric/blank that gets better with age? I like the Sean John and Affliction feel.
Plus.
***Does anyone know where Sean John prints their shirts? The quality of their inks are fantastic. 3 years and still looks great.
I have been walking around and finding that Affliction is charging 60.00 for a shirt at Macy's.
See, that's the perfect storm right there. Affliction had a huge marketing budget, top level MMA fighters wearing their shirts on tv and retail distribution like Macy's, Nordstrom, Metropark, etc. Put all that together and you have $60 t-shirts.
There's no doubt that other people/companies can do high level artwork, use high quality blank and use high quality printing. But that doesn't mean they can sell a $60 t-shirt.
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Originally Posted by comixartist01
Does anyone know of a good fabric/blank that gets better with age? I like the Sean John and Affliction feel.
Affliction shirts are great quality, but because they are so thin, I'm not sure they will fit into the "gets better with age" category. You can get Affliction style shirts at Bare Apparel.
To get the durability you're looking for, I think you want a heavier weight t-shirt that is made of ring spun cotton. That will give you a soft feel, but still have some durability to it. JS Apparel has some nice blanks that are really soft but slightly heavier than Bare.
I remember reading a post a little while back (it may have even been posted by someone at Bare Apparel) that explained what 30 Singles, 40 Singles, etc meant. Basically, the higher the number, the tighter the weave, which creates a softer, thinner shirt. Maybe you can search that thread and see if that helps you find the fabric/blank you're looking for.
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Originally Posted by comixartist01
Does anyone know where Sean John prints their shirts? The quality of their inks are fantastic. 3 years and still looks great.
Probably overseas. I'm sure there are domestic printers using the same or similar quality inks. They are probably water based inks. Many printers offer that now, it's very popular for retail brands. Just ask some local prinshops, I'm sure you'll find someone using water based inks.
What US states buy the most shirts? 
