# Question for Online T-shirt sellers



## grafikal (Jan 29, 2008)

i'm planning to set-up a website selling my t-shirt line of about 30 men designs and 30 women designs. i need to know how sales are for you online sellers?
Is it worth it?


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## tim3560 (Jan 7, 2007)

grafikal said:


> i'm planning to set-up a website selling my t-shirt line of about 30 men designs and 30 women designs. i need to know how sales are for you online sellers?
> Is it worth it?


It's all about the work you put into your site. If you constantly update your designs, SEO, and marketing strategy, you can definitely make money. Cafepress claims that several of their members make over $100,000 dollars a year. So yes, if you work hard and your designs are good, it can definitely be worth it.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

grafikal said:


> i'm planning to set-up a website selling my t-shirt line of about 30 men designs and 30 women designs. i need to know how sales are for you online sellers?
> Is it worth it?


Some make 0 and some make millions.

It's impossible for us to tell you how well you will do.

Concentrate on marketing and promotion for your new line.

You can have the best designs in the world, but without advertising/marketing, they will sit on the shelf.

If budgets are a concern, I would consider reducing the number of designs to put more money in your ad budget.


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## IntegralApparel (Jan 18, 2008)

To answer your question, I started selling my tees and designs soley online. I have not spend 1 penny on advertising and sell a couple shirts a day, or anywhere from 90-200 shirts a month and thats not bulk orders. I spend a significant amount of time trying FREE methods of getting my site seen and listed on google and yahoo. 
I thought it was as easy as set up site, upload the links to yahoo and google and be done with it, but I easily spend 2-3 hrs a day setting up my site for SEO and etc. 
I think the goal is just be a common name for example snorgtees and busted tees, but once you find the right niche market the rewards are endless. I mean I sell funny and gamer tees, and to search those terms in google I might be competing with over 1,000,000 sites, where as someone selling sad puppy dog tees, might have a smaller field to compete on.

just my .06 cents


Good luck on the hunt


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## mrtom (Feb 6, 2008)

Well, first you have to really look at your designs and ask yourself if this doesn't just appeal to you but to other people. Possibly ask your friends if they'd buy one of the shirts too. Also make sure your designs are unique and stand out.


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## bill721 (Apr 13, 2008)

I have a idea for a full line of tee-shirts I know absolutly nothing thats why joined this forum I work at disneyworld and I see these tee-shirts flying off the shelves at 20 to 30 bucks a crack. Is it better to have them made up or make them yourself and what is the cost to do either one. We have a motorhome and travel the country and go to alot of motorhome conventions and plan to do selling there and other places such as the internet. thanks Bill 721


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## tim3560 (Jan 7, 2007)

bill721 said:


> I have a idea for a full line of tee-shirts I know absolutly nothing thats why joined this forum I work at disneyworld and I see these tee-shirts flying off the shelves at 20 to 30 bucks a crack. Is it better to have them made up or make them yourself and what is the cost to do either one. We have a motorhome and travel the country and go to alot of motorhome conventions and plan to do selling there and other places such as the internet. thanks Bill 721


You have to realize that Disneyland is not only selling t-shirts, they're selling a once in a lifetime experience. People are willing to buy the shirts because they don't know when if they'll ever make it back. You'll make more if you do it yourself, but there's a large learning curve, expensive equipment, and screening a large order will take a lot of time out of your day. In my case, I outsource so that I can spend more time on designing. I'd rather spend an extra $2 - $3 per shirt and have someone else do it to free up more time in my day.


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## Wringer Tee (Mar 5, 2008)

My two cents, you need a good web-base regardless of how you will sell your shirts. Website and a web-store are inexpesive and a great way to get you product out to the masses. I also like that with my site I have total control. I can make is look anyway I want. I can have a 15% spring sale if I want. Once the site is up you can tweak and change it as the market changes. 

However, with you own site there is a greated time investment. SEO is a job into it's self. You will need to balance these against each other to see what works best for you. 

Best of luck.


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## peteVA (Nov 11, 2007)

I sell web hosting, specializing in shopping cart type sites. I can tell you that across the board, not just tees or just mp3 & 4s, or DVDs, or whatever, about 25% of my clients give up within the first 90 days. Others email me they are making sales within the first couple of days.

The difference isn't design of the sites, some are "plain Jane, out of the box" and others have custom all over them. The difference is the devotion of either / or time and money.

You can buy traffic, or you can get free traffic by optimizing your site, or you can do both. But you have to do something to kick-start your business, or you will soon lose interest and move on to something else.

Wringer Tee is right on the money. 

There is one other area that hasn't been mentioned and that is "niche marketing". Spend your time on forums and blogs and write article for specific target audiences. Anything from cheer teams to Rhodesian Ridgeback owners clubs. Find a couple of areas that your designs will mesh with and spend some time each day contributing to those communities. And mention your tees in your signatures and in replies where they blend into the conversation.

Don't spam. Never start a thread selling. But if someone asks, go for it. 

Same with newsletters. All areas of interest have their own blogs and newsletters. Write some articals and have a link in your signature.

Cost is time. 

But it does take an investment either way. The thought of "put up a website and they will come" is way off base. It just doesn't happen that way. 
.


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## Wringer Tee (Mar 5, 2008)

Well said PeteVA. I spend one solid day a week connecting with the blogging community. Some bloggers and I have a great relationship, I have never connected with some, but I keep trying because bloggers are a great way to get your product to the masses and keep up with trends.


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## pantheon (Apr 15, 2008)

I think the real question here is whether or not you are willing to put in the time and effort. You can't just ask a forum if it's "worth it to go online," because you'll get a wide range of answers, from people who've failed and people who've succeeded. In my opinion, if you feel that you can do well selling online, and you can drive customers to your site, take the plunge. In fact, you can get a few shopping cart systems for free and only pay a fee when you make a sale. So, you'll have almost no overhead at all. That sounds like it'd be a good testing ground for you to start on.


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