[lost-my-shirt]

Hi folks!
Haven't even made made first shirt yet so I need to help. My heat press is on the way and I'm going to start with black and white Hotmark 70 thermal vinyl. I plan to work into color transfers soon. My last purchase is the most confusing due to all the choices.

What is better to sell and has the best demand, 100% cotton or a 50/50 blend? From what I have read so far, 50/50 offers the best color selection and is in higher buyer demand but will not take hold the ink from color transfers as well. Thoughts?

If you have worked with various brands, what brand and model shirt do you recommend? Gildan, Jerzees, Hanes, Port & Comp.... Is there really any difference? What has the best results for my wallet and lack of customer complaints?

Since I am starting out I have chosen to limit my selection due to budget and to keep it simple. Since I plan to market to adults I plan on carrying M L XL and XL2 with black, white, light grey and navy blue to start. Does this sound good to you?

The best pricing I have found for shirts is http://blankshirts.com. Is there better? I know shipping does cost but I am blown away that 1000 shirts will cost over $300 to ship.

When I move into buying pre-made transfers what advice do you have? I have really only found http://www.proworldinc.com to supply these and they seem to have a huge selection. Any other companies out there? Do you folks print your own?

Any advice you folks could provide would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Rob

 

[Adam]

100% cotton t-shirts I find have the highest demand, when I switched from 50/50s my sales increased.

I have never experienced having less of a choice with 100% cotton tees, I find it the other way around.

My company www.bulktees.com offers free shipping in the UK for orders over £250 - I would have thought you could find a similar company in the US.

I wouldn't neglect stocking small size t-shirts, these are one of my best sellers.

I find B&C to be the best brand for me. Jerzees are good too, but B&C offer a wide range of t-shirts and are of fantastic quality. Gildan are good quality t-shirts and are the most reasonable in price.

I print all my own transfers onto a transparent transfer paper which allows me to print on colours.


Adam

 

[Elleth Faewen]

I would recommend going with a medium-light blue as one of your color choices too so that you have a girl-friendly color in there to choose from.

 

[foxvox]

Hi Elleth,

How cool that you're setting up your own business for this! ;-) Someday I'll get there myself - I mostly use cafepress.com right now.

As far as t-shirts go, I prefer the 100% cotton myself, BUT... I've noticed that some 100% cotton t-shirts just don't stay as soft as others. For instance, the Hanes Beefy-Ts seem to do really well - stay soft after many washings. But the Hanes Authentic Tagless, while 100% cotton, seem to get a bit more rigid and wrinkly in my experience. On the flipside, I've gotten a black 50/50 Jerzee t-shirt that's stayed rather soft and kept very black as well. (Isn't that helpful? *grin*)

Anyway - good luck with your enterprise - keep us posted!


Kristen

 

[tortus32]

That's really cool! How much does a heat press cost?
Do you print designs and iron them on, so to speak?

Bill

 

[Twinge]

Hi folks!
Haven't even made made first shirt yet so I need to help. My heat press is on the way and I'm going to start with black and white Hotmark 70 thermal vinyl. I plan to work into color transfers soon. My last purchase is the most confusing due to all the choices.

What type of heat press did you go with?

What is better to sell and has the best demand, 100% cotton or a 50/50 blend? From what I have read so far, 50/50 offers the best color selection and is in higher buyer demand but will not take hold the ink from color transfers as well. Thoughts?

100% Cotton. There are _plenty_ of colors available.

If you have worked with various brands, what brand and model shirt do you recommend? Gildan, Jerzees, Hanes, Port & Comp.... Is there really any difference? What has the best results for my wallet and lack of customer complaints?

Gildan. Everyone I've checked with says Gildan is definately the best for T-shirt Transfers. Probably go with either the lightweight (and slightly cheaper) 5000 or the heavier, 6.1oz 2000 models. I'd say the heavier ones, but many have used the lighter ones without problems.

Since I am starting out I have chosen to limit my selection due to budget and to keep it simple. Since I plan to market to adults I plan on carrying M L XL and XL2 with black, white, light grey and navy blue to start. Does this sound good to you?

You'll probably sell more smalls than 2XLs, but I can't say for sure. If you find a local wholesaler, you can get shirts you need in person or shipped faster than cross-country.

The best pricing I have found for shirts is http://blankshirts.com. Is there better? I know shipping does cost but I am blown away that 1000 shirts will cost over $300 to ship.

That's the best place you can get without a sales tax license. Register your business and buy a state sales tax license (should be pretty cheap), and then try other wholesalers such as www.ssactivewear.com (25+ cents cheaper per shirt than blankshirts.com)

When I move into buying pre-made transfers what advice do you have? I have really only found http://www.proworldinc.com to supply these and they seem to have a huge selection. Any other companies out there? Do you folks print your own?

I haven't personally used them, but http://www.acetransco.com/ is another highly recommended for that. If you want to print your own transfers with an ink jet printer, you'll need some sort of pigmented ink (such as the Epson Durabrite inks) and some quality transfer paper such as the Transjet II (which can be bought at http://personalizedsupplies.com/transferpaper.htm)