[johnsmith]

I notice a lot of t-shirts do not have websites name on them, but lets say for the first 2 or 3 shirts you design on the back of the shirt you put a small 2 inch by 4 inch sign with your website on it.

Or maybe the picture on the front of the t is a kid on a skateboard and his shirt has the name of your site, could this affect sales??

 

[Solmu]

If you disclose it up front it will likely cost you some sales, if you don't disclose it you could (rightly) get people returning your product.

On the other hand with your URL and/or company name making its way out there you are also likely to gain some sales.

The ratio of lost sales to gained sales is going to depend on a lot of different factors including your target audience and your designs (i.e. whether the url fits in, or sticks out like a sore thumb).

Unfortunately there's no hard and fast rule on whether or not it's a good idea. It will cost you some sales, but there's every reason to believe it will also gain you some. I don't believe there's any reliable way to predict which will be greater.

 

[DickTees.net]

A 2x4 company logo "stamp" on the back of a shirt seems rather large to me. I'd probably be disappointed if I didn't know before hand you were trying to turn me into a walking advertisement.

 

[TSHIRTHUB]

I bury a copyright into the image on the shirts....has our url and it's not too obvious. However - if people ask where they got the shirt it's right on the design they're looking at!

Mike

 

[Rodney]

I think it also depends on how you present the company name/logo. If you're just putting a text website address, it'll look too much like an ad.

But if you stylize the logo, it can look like just another cool t-shirt brand.

 

[TROskell]

Hi

I agree, some people will buy clothes purely for the name on the t-shirt, this is normally when the brand is already big, but I think a discreet logo is ok.

 

[SpacemanFL]

People talk about concerns that you will make customers into billboards if you include your logo with a design. I think this may be overstated. How many times do you see people wearing a shirt that is nothing but an ad for a company. The name of a bar or restaurant. How about the shirts with nothing but "NIKE" in huge letters. Why someone wears that is beyond me.

I thinkmost here are talking about a small logo in addition to a design or slogan. I have TheSarcasmShop.Com in two-tone lettering on the lower right sleeve. It is only 3/4" x 3". I have sold a few hundresd shirts and have had no returns or negative comments about it. I have had several people say that they like the idea.

 

[TSHIRTHUB]

Right. I personally don't like the idea of a logo on the shirts, but I'm new to this game so I could be way off. I think if I were to build a brand that's carried in stores nationwide (Urban Outfitters, etc.) or were selling a very high volume of shirts then my name is already established.... (i.e. bustedtees, tshirthell, etc) At that point people know the company name and it could be seen as a fashionable to have a 'tshirthub' tshirt, so a logo could be widely accepted, possibly desired.

I put a plain text copyright on my design which serves as a warning "hey - this is my design - don't copy" and also as a calling card in case someone asks where they got it. It's very low profile (usually countours part of the image in small font). I intentionally refrain from putting a logo the back of the neckline or sleeve because I think it can be a turnoff - and it adds cost. Also - I'm catering to a vintage market so people don't expect 'corporate' stuff like logo's etc.

Another option would be private labeling your shirts with the logo right on the tag of the shirt....we'll save that discussion for another string though.

 

[DickTees.net]

People talk about concerns that you will make customers into billboards if you include your logo with a design. I think this may be overstated. How many times do you see people wearing a shirt that is nothing but an ad for a company. The name of a bar or restaurant. How about the shirts with nothing but "NIKE" in huge letters. Why someone wears that is beyond me.

When people buy a Nike shirt they are buying it for the logo and name/brand recoginition. If I buy a shirt from Threadless (or whatever the case may be) I WOULD NOT want their logo taking up any space on the exterior of the the item unless it was a shirt specifically marketed as a "company logo" item.

 

[Twinge]

Dick is right. I personally tend to avoid shirts with the company logo on them myself as well; it might not always make me not buy a shirt, but it is defnitely a factor.

 

[Major_Grooves]

I have been considering this myself.

Could you not have two versions of every t-shirt: one that is logo free and one that has your url somewhere (discreetly) on it but is 5% cheaper.

 

[Rodney]

I have been considering this myself.

Could you not have two versions of every t-shirt: one that is logo free and one that has your url somewhere (discreetly) on it but is 5% cheaper.

I think that would make too much of the idea that your brand is on the t-shirt.

People wear brands all the time on their clothing (tennis shoes, jeans, etc). I don't see why a t-shirt should be any different (if done tastefully)

 

[mm11981]

I won't put it on the actual t-shirt, I would put it on the tag. I recenlty saw two different brands of t-shirts in a trendy high end store, and both put their website right on the tag under their logo. That's what i'm going to do too.

 

[RAHchills]

When I get everything together, I'm planning to put my url on the tags of my shirt. As far as the "brand name" on the T-shirt I think it really depends on your target market. As an example, if you're making vintage looking T-shirts, then why would you put your brand name on them? Nobody is doing it currently because nobody did it in the 70s/80s.

But brand names can be really important in markets catering to other demographics. Examples being Hip Hop fashion, Surf wear, Skate wear, etc. I've seen plenty of "T-shirt Company" websites where all of their shirts are dedicated to their brand's name. Although I think its important to make people aware of your brand, as an upstart with zero brand recognition you also have to offer them something that nobody else does... your original designs.

I've been checking out these guys because I think that they strike a balance between their brand and their unique designs that I will try to emulate:

http://www.dustybrand.com/

All that being said, I'm choosing to create a stylish logo to promote brand awareness on the back neckline of my shirts. I think it will add to the value of the shirt while promoting my "brand" so that I may penetrate my target market and hopefully steal some sales away from the competition.

 

[honeyflip]

Interesting topic. There's obviously a certain amount of subjective taste in this, but I don't think pushing the brand/url/company name is best case scenario unless you've gotten to the point of a Nike/etc where the brand is the thing that people are buying as opposed to a shirt that is valued purely for a non-brand design. Myself, I tend to not buy shirts that have brands on them. If I'm going to be a billboard, I should get paid for it and not the other way around.

Question: is this simply a trade-off in terms of a) not having the brand on your shirts and therefore appealing to a wider buying demographic (ie., not pissing some potential customers off) vs b) having the brand on your shirts and therefore appealing to a narrower buying demographic but at the same time getting some walking billboards out there and subsequently achieving wider long-term exposure, etc...?

 

[monkeylantern]

Shirts with urls printed on them look too much like freebies to me.

My site is on my label. You'll get more sales, I think, from word of mouth than someone seeing your name slashed across a shirt in the street.

 

[skibum]

I don't really like the idea of a company logo printed on a shirt, unless it's disclosed upfront and you have a good reason to print your logo. In my personal opinion, I really doubt many people seeing a logo on a shirt are going to logon to their computer to find your website. Most likely they'll forget the name of your company and your URL before they get to a computer. You're probably better off taking the extra sales form not having the logo and spending those dollars on internet advertising where it's easy to turn leads into customers (because the people are already at your website)

 

[identityburn]

On our shirts we "hide" the logo in the design usually. We don't put our url or anything in the design though. It's turned out pretty good and we've actually gotten a lot of compliments on it. We really only are doing it for branding purposes to mark our designs.

I've also been looking into relabeling, but it's been around 70 cents a shirt, does that sound reasonable?

 

[addiktd2yoo]

The brand name and logo on the shirt, I don't mind. If it's nicely done and it looks like a design itself, then its ok with me. But I think the URL is going too far. As someone said, "sounds like freebies" is exactly what i think is it. Like a url would make it seem like a promo shirt instead of something you buy

 

[Barry]

I notice a lot of t-shirts do not have websites name on them, but lets say for the first 2 or 3 shirts you design on the back of the shirt you put a small 2 inch by 4 inch sign with your website on it.

Or maybe the picture on the front of the t is a kid on a skateboard and his shirt has the name of your site, could this affect sales??

On my shirts I have the web site address right on the front, and have only had two people say anything about it , but inly one did not buy a shirt because of it, and the orher did, but I also sell to a differant type of market