[Jonesy13]

I am in the very beginning stages of starting my own t-shirt company on the side, but am new to the industry and need guidance.

As of now, I have many designs in mind, mostly from photographs I have taken and want to print them on specific styles of shirts that I've researched, but need advice on what steps to take from here.

I have no interest in printing the actual t-shirts myself and therefore am looking for advice from you all as to what route I should take to get my shirts made. Any feedback is welcome and will help tremendously!!!

In the end, I hope to sell my shirts online as well as in local stores.

Thanks!!

 

[wormil]

Best thing to do is have some line sheets made (search the forum) and go sell some shirts, this will tell you everything you need to know. Then you can contact some printers and say... here are my designs I need printed and this is how many I need. This way you're not wasting anyone's time, including your own.

 

[SBEMedia]

You can set-up various affiliate accounts with sites like Zazzle, Cafe Press, Spreadshirt and others

 

[CUSTOM UK]

Hi Katelyn. The first logical step is to do a little market research into where you are actually going to sell your product. You need to know who your target market is, where they will purchase, typical sales prices and anticipated demand. Once you have that knowledge you can plan ahead a lot more accurately.

If you are anticipating selling in any reasonable volume, then your local screen printer might be the person to chat with. If you only expect to sell the occasional tee in the short term, then a fulfillment service like those suggested above, might be the way to go.

 

[ReThink Clothing]

I would just search around this forum for a lot of amazing information. Also I would look into what type of printing you want to do since they are from photographs, if it is full quality image it is probably going to be DTG or Heat transfer

 

[Jonesy13]

Thanks so much for all the info. I definitely have to research the different processes in making my shirts. I like shirts that look as if the design is actually a part of the shirt...like Ed Hardy or Affliction...not sure what that's called? This forum is definitely a great place to answer many of my questions!

 

[Solmu]

I love the fact that there's like four different "what you must do is..." responses. If you get the impression there's no one way to go about this, you'd be right (not that that invalidates the fact that some methods are better than others).

I like shirts that look as if the design is actually a part of the shirt...like Ed Hardy or Affliction...not sure what that's called?

They're generally screenprinted, either with discharge or waterbased inks (or discharge waterbased inks).

 

[Jrs4life1]

Like you, I am starting my own T shirt Business. I want to do the T shirt, mugs and caps. Im not sure if I should do the printing press or screen printing and I really dont know much about screen printing. I have a lot of people that are waiting for me to start so they can order from me instead of going to the people they are going to now and save a few bucks. I wish you all the luck in the world and hope your Business is successful!