[filmingbob]

Re: selling t-shirt to distributors

what if you dont have a lot of money... is there other ways to sell T-shirts???

 

[Rodney]

Re: selling t-shirt to distributors

what if you dont have a lot of money... is there other ways to sell T-shirts???

: posts moved from the "Selling to Distributors" thread :

You can use a free service like cafepress/zazzle/spreadshirt to sell t-shirts, but you'll still need some type of budget for advertising your products, otherwise nobody will know about your cool designs.

 

[mannyphesto]

Re: selling t-shirt to distributors

You can use a free service like cafepress/zazzle/spreadshirt to sell t-shirts, but you'll still need some type of budget for advertising your products, otherwise nobody will know about your cool designs.

Rodney, when you say one needs an advertising budget, even when selling on cafepress, et al., do you mean spending money on ad banners on web sites, top google placements, flyers? Or do you mean pay money to cafe press to promote your wares?

 

[Rodney]

Re: selling t-shirt to distributors

Rodney, when you say one needs an advertising budget, even when selling on cafepress, et al., do you mean spending money on ad banners on web sites, top google placements, flyers? Or do you mean pay money to cafe press to promote your wares?

I mean the former. The normal advertising and marketing that it takes to get customers to find you. Banner ads, adwords, magazine ads, flyers, sponsorships, etc.

You don't (and can't) pay CafePress any money to promote your wares.

 

[Adam]

You can also be an affiliate of somebody elses t-shirts, like tshirthell and cafepress store, or sellers on here.

But like Rodney says you need some cash to be able to market those too. Not so much though if you are good with SEO and get rank well.

 

[66shirts]

I've done 2 events, a streetfest and a carshow. They were both free to set up. At those shows I was invited to do a fall festival in Sept for $10 set up fee and another carshow that is free set up. Thses small shows are making me money that will allow to attend bigger ones later.

 

[Scrap-Boy]

....need some cash to be able to market those too. Not so much though if you are good with SEO and get rank well.

ok Adam, how is a newbie entering the Imprint Industry Sector be able to handle the SE visitor volume ? assuming that some miracle worker white hat SEO is able to do it, top 10 serps.

Sure you can hack-away and try to rank top 10.... but there are old authority sites that SE's know well .....so....

Anyone can be a Big Deal on the web, the problem is that if you can not deliver the goods....well, silent night.

As for no budget, there are some resources out there that can help you achieve some of your goals. Here, when we manufacture iron-on transfers for newbies and things click, we give them a few leads, plugs, and sometimes even feature them on our site.

It takes time and lots of plug to get your stuff out there. But when your stuff is cool and unique, you will find that some big-wigs may give it a push in the right direction.

Invest every $cent you can afford on " Creating Demand ", be professional and stick with the peeps in the industry that are for real. This will get you places not a SEO crash course.

....just a thought or 2.

 

[Rodney]

how is a newbie entering the Imprint Industry Sector be able to handle the SE visitor volume ?

I'm not Adam, but if the "newbie" used a service like cafepress, or affiliated with cafepress stores of tshirthell, then they wouldn't have to do much to handle the volume of SE visitors. CafePress does all the customer service, printing, shipping, etc.

It takes time and lots of plug to get your stuff out there. But when your stuff is cool and unique, you will find that some big-wigs may give it a push in the right direction.

Very true

be professional and stick with the peeps in the industry that are for real. This will get you places not a SEO crash course.

Learning the basics of SEO is not a bad thing at all. I would suggest that everyone with a website should know and understand the basics.

Everyone is not going to be an "expert", but by understanding the basics, you'll realize that once people start linking to your site and digging your stuff, you'll get much better results from the various search engines.

SEO isn't the be-all-end-all, but it is one piece of the marketing pie that shouldn't be overlooked. Never overlook pie

 

[Adam]

ok Adam, how is a newbie entering the Imprint Industry Sector be able to handle the SE visitor volume ? assuming that some miracle worker white hat SEO is able to do it, top 10 serps.

I was actually suggesting he do some affiliate marketing to "sell t-shirts", no physical work needed. It's a nice steady income and can help him raise some money for his core business... it certainly helped me in the start.

be professional and stick with the peeps in the industry that are for real. This will get you places not a SEO crash course.

Why not do both? If I had just a high street shop I wouldn't care two hoots about SEO, but if I wanted to also increase my turnover, and enter the big www, I certainly would not overlook it.

 

[shirtguy]

I do lots of county fair, musical festivals and city celebrations that allow me to pay during or after the event. This gets you in the door to make some money. Beware of events that have lots of new vendors. There is a reason for that. Most my events I'm the only shirt seller and that helps. Stay away from flea-markets because they think you will barter with them. Hope this helps.

 

[66shirts]

Hey, shirtguy, That's like what I do also. Do you prprint your shirts or make them at the event? The 2 events I've done, I preprinted. I'd like to take my press wtih me and make them there.

Sorry I don't mean to hijack the thread.

 

[hostingdiva]

You could also list your stuff on free classified websites such as http://craigslist.com

Another way to go would be to approach stores that will take things on consignment so you do not have to pay anything until your product sells. This way you get free advertising for your stuff and will make money at the same time .

 

[Rebelesque]

What's SE and SOE? Never heard of this.

 

[TeeShirtSamurai]

What's SE and SOE? Never heard of this.

SE and SEO are acronyms.

SE - Search Engine
SEO - Search Engine Optimization

 

[skulltshirts]

Search Engines and search engine optimization.

You would do good to find a local store and have your shirts in there on consignment. I have been selling my shirts this way for last couple months. If you have quality shirts and your designs fit in with the store your selling them in, then sales should be good. Unfortantly for me, the store I put my shirts in is not doing to much business, so its going slow for me right now.

 

[Tshirtcrib]

Although cafepress/zazzle/and the rest are good for newbie’s, if you want to stay in the business and make a measurable profit, you have to invest the money, invest the time, and buy a t-shirt press, a website, a little web space, and a lot of advertising space. Although everyone thus far had good ideas about marketing using banners, affiliate programs, and SEO. It is hard to do these things without the green, and when you only receive $2-4 per t-shirt off of cafepress/zazzle/spreadshirt, it is close to impossible to create the demand necessary without either selling a massive amount of shirts, hard of any beginner or going into debt. The catch 22 of it all.

I believe if your heart is into it, put your wallet there too, invest the money, but the press, buy the web space, and work, it's a hard journey, but it has paid off for so many, hopefully soon it will pay off for you as well.

Good Luck.

_______________
Sunny Mathur
www.tshirtcrib.com

 

[Rodney]

Although cafepress/zazzle/and the rest are good for newbie

That's not really correct. There are a lot of high volume sellers at CafePress making good money

There are also a lot of big corporations (Star Trek, Universal Comics, Nogin, March of Dimes, Dilbert) using cafepress.

and when you only receive $2-4 per t-shirt off of cafepress/zazzle/spreadshirt, it is close to impossible to create the demand necessary without either selling a massive amount of shirts

Most products can be marked up more than that. I've sold products at a $5-$10 markup (depending on the product). The margins aren't TOO different when you include webhosting, merchant accounts, etc.

I also sell t-shirts outside of cafepress (screen printed, bought in bulk). While I personally prefer having the control over managing the products, shipping, etc it's not for everyone.

Cafepress/zazzle/spreadshirt/etc are just tools. In the end it comes down to your product and your ability to market that product effectively.

 

[Scrap-Boy]

... hey, why not plug your stuff to t-shirts sales agencys/distributors etc.... in order to get your stuff into a lot of retail (street) stores ? it does not hurt to try.

another idea example:

If you are in LA, go down to the San Pedro Mart ( i think it's still there ) and hook up with some of the buyers there that buy for major retail chains, send them samples etc... who knows, if they buy even 1 style from you, this may mean 500 retail stores will stock it.

 

[kwjelliot]

Stay away from flea-markets because they think you will barter with them.

We sell at one local flea market every weekend, i don't think they are looking to barter just looking for cheap. we keep all of our "flea market" tees priced under $20. most for $10 very few at $15 and them more than a few at $20 and we do pretty good. the flea market pays for itself. but the kicker is that our local flea market takes in on a min. 6K people over a two day weekend and up to 12K during the holidays. we give out thousands of business cards and take way more custom orders then we sell $10 tee shirts. so don't miss the advantages of the flea markets. we are hoping to branch out to other flea markets really soon.

we also use the flea market as a location for business. since we operate out of our home, we can not just put our home address on business cards etc. and we really can not afford a commericial site right this minute, but we are getting close. i will deliver orders if they are within a few mile radius of our home but not many with gas prices climbing. so we generally have them pick orders up from us on saturdays at the flea market.

 

[StitchShoppe]

In our area, Flea markets suck. They depress me when I walk around and see printed and embroidered tees in the $3 to $5 dollar range. For the most part what I see is stuff that looks amatuerish and cheap. The sad part is some consumers equate this experience with the actual value of a quality product.
I did "one" five years ago and left feeling like a carney with a sideshow