# Do I need tags



## Nino (Nov 9, 2006)

As a brand new t-shirt line do you think I need hang tags If Im selling directly to the consumer through my website.


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## RisingBlue7 (Oct 8, 2006)

Nino said:


> As a brand new t-shirt line do you think I need hang tags If Im selling directly to the consumer through my website.



For brand awareness purposes, HECK YA! Hangtags are important, they identify your logo and line identity. How you position and where you put the hangtag catches the prospective consumer's eye, not to mention other consumers. As they say in marketing, MORE BRANDING, MORE BRANDING, LOTS OF BRANDING!


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## Jasonda (Aug 16, 2006)

Nino said:


> As a brand new t-shirt line do you think I need hang tags If Im selling directly to the consumer through my website.


In my opinion, no. You really only need hang tags if you are selling wholesale to retailers.

Hang tags get cut off and discarded almost immediately. There are a lot of other ways to "brand" your product that are going to last a little longer. Stickers are great. You should check out this thread for an example of a tee company that has done some excellent branding.

http://www.t-shirtforums.com/showthread.php?t=7784


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

Nino said:


> As a brand new t-shirt line do you think I need hang tags If Im selling directly to the consumer through my website.


Absolutely not - as a brand new line, a well established line, or anything in between. Hangtags for online sales is absurd. Definitely only a retail thing.


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## funtimesx (Apr 9, 2006)

Solmu said:


> Absolutely not - as a brand new line, a well established line, or anything in between. Hangtags for online sales is absurd. Definitely only a retail thing.


I was of the same opinion until recently one of my wholesale customers started selling through eBay - she lists my products as "Brand New Without Tags". I do wonder whether or not this turns people off? But I don't think I'd hang tag the stuff bought directly through my online store.


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## RisingBlue7 (Oct 8, 2006)

I guess it isn't necessary if you're going to sell online. I think it depends on the hangtag. I'm just use to the retail market that's why. I designed a hangtag which is somewhat appealing to the eye. Let's just say, its not your "standard" hangtag. In any event, whatever floats your boat...


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## guest5779 (Aug 8, 2006)

I'm going to have them. They'll cost me .02 a piece, why not? They'll pay for themselves if only one customer remembers the brand name and makes another purchase / refers a customer.


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## RisingBlue7 (Oct 8, 2006)

empyre_01d2 said:


> I'm going to have them. They'll cost me .02 a piece, why not? They'll pay for themselves if only one customer remembers the brand name and makes another purchase / refers a customer.


Wow, that's great 0.2! Mine came out to $.50 a piece for 1000 hangtags. I have a few hangtags from garments that I have kept only because it was a tag that was very unique and I used a few ideas to design my own. One of them looked like a giant vintage postage stamp with distressed edges, borders and had an iron grommet. It had background images of people who lived way back in the English colonial days. It looked like a memo card.


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## BluePhantom (Oct 25, 2006)

RisingBlue7 said:


> Wow, that's great 0.2! Mine came out to $.50 a piece for 1000 hangtags. I have a few hangtags from garments that I have kept only because it was a tag that was very unique and I used a few ideas to design my own. One of them looked like a giant vintage postage stamp with distressed edges, borders and had an iron grommet. It had background images of people who lived way back in the English colonial days. It looked like a memo card.


Hi, I'm Interested In Buying Hand Tags Aswell, I Just Have No Idea Where I Can Find Them. If It's Not Too Much To Ask, Could Any Of You Please Tell Me Where I Can Get My Tags Made?


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## RisingBlue7 (Oct 8, 2006)

BluePhantom said:


> Hi, I'm Interested In Buying Hand Tags Aswell, I Just Have No Idea Where I Can Find Them. If It's Not Too Much To Ask, Could Any Of You Please Tell Me Where I Can Get My Tags Made?


Here are a few from Los Angeles.

I used PCB Label.

www.pcblabel.com 
www.abblabels.com 
www.rogeneration.com


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## zagadka (Jul 6, 2006)

i always think the more branding you can do, the better.

maybe i'm just a weirdo, but if i buy something with a hangtag that i think is really cool, i keep them. i don't do anything with them, but i use them as inspiration. i have paul frank and tons of juicy couture stuffed into my stuff drawer.

so, i say yes. the more you can do to establish an identity for yourself, the better. we put hangtags on the shirts we sell online...


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## RisingBlue7 (Oct 8, 2006)

zagadka said:


> i always think the more branding you can do, the better.
> 
> maybe i'm just a weirdo, but if i buy something with a hangtag that i think is really cool, i keep them. i don't do anything with them, but i use them as inspiration. i have paul frank and tons of juicy couture stuffed into my stuff drawer.
> 
> so, i say yes. the more you can do to establish an identity for yourself, the better. we put hangtags on the shirts we sell online...


Yep, that's what I was saying earlier...I would do it only because the hangtag I have is quite unique...and yes, I too have kept a few hangtags I thought were super cool... again...what ever floats your boat  I don't think its absurd...


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## BluePhantom (Oct 25, 2006)

RisingBlue7 said:


> Here are a few from Los Angeles.
> 
> I used PCB Label.
> 
> ...


Thank You Very Much. It Turns Out I'm Only 15 Minutes Away From "PCB Label Company"


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## Labels (Jun 20, 2006)

Don't forget to try other companies as well for quotes ....... many charge set up fees and plate charges....... juts saying


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## RisingBlue7 (Oct 8, 2006)

BluePhantom said:


> Thank You Very Much. It Turns Out I'm Only 15 Minutes Away From "PCB Label Company"



Oh that's great...they did a superb job on my garment labels and hangtags...


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## BluePhantom (Oct 25, 2006)

Labels said:


> Don't forget to try other companies as well for quotes ....... many charge set up fees and plate charges....... juts saying


Thank You For Your Advice. I Will Definitely Look Around.


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## Nino (Nov 9, 2006)

Thanks fo rthe great advice...I knew it wouldnt be neccessary to have hang tags I just thought people would associate my brand with quality if I provided them with the same things the larger companys offered. At .02 cents a tag I can afford them but if I cant get it at that price I'lll wait until we sell our first million. Thanks again everyone.


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## monkeylantern (Oct 16, 2005)

I am pro-hang tags, even on-line, and especially if you're in the quality fashion market (by which I mean Oddica-style). It adds brand value. You can't deny that.

Yes, their purpose is retail. But why not give an on-line product the veneer of retail quality?


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## RisingBlue7 (Oct 8, 2006)

monkeylantern said:


> I am pro-hang tags, even on-line, and especially if you're in the quality fashion market (by which I mean Oddica-style). It adds brand value. You can't deny that.
> 
> Yes, their purpose is retail. But why not give an on-line product the veneer of retail quality?


Right on!


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## Vtec44 (Apr 24, 2006)

monkeylantern said:


> I am pro-hang tags, even on-line, and especially if you're in the quality fashion market (by which I mean Oddica-style). It adds brand value. You can't deny that.
> 
> Yes, their purpose is retail. But why not give an on-line product the veneer of retail quality?


I share the same view!


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## Buechee (Dec 22, 2005)

I would like tags, but I'm not at that level yet. But I would like to add, does retail have to be in a store? Or are we online retailers? 

Just something to think about while you wonder if you should use tags or not.


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## guest5779 (Aug 8, 2006)

RisingBlue7 said:


> Wow, that's great 0.2! Mine came out to $.50 a piece for 1000 hangtags. I have a few hangtags from garments that I have kept only because it was a tag that was very unique and I used a few ideas to design my own. One of them looked like a giant vintage postage stamp with distressed edges, borders and had an iron grommet. It had background images of people who lived way back in the English colonial days. It looked like a memo card.


Well at that price, they won't be anything fancy. I'm just going to use the business card trick, as it should be more than efficent enough for what I need. But this depends on your market of course.


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## Jasonda (Aug 16, 2006)

Buechee said:


> I would like tags, but I'm not at that level yet. But I would like to add, does retail have to be in a store? Or are we online retailers?
> 
> Just something to think about while you wonder if you should use tags or not.


Selling online and selling in a store are both considered "retail".

The reason clothes have a hang tag in the store is to inform the customer of the price, brand, size, and other info, and also have a space for the bar code. Therefore the main purpose of a tag is to give the customer enough information in order to decide if they want to buy the shirt or not, and it also assists the merchant by providing the bar code to complete the sale and keep track of inventory.

If you are selling online, ALL of those things are taken care of by the website itself. Therefore the tag serves no real, useful purpose other than "branding", and that's only going to last for as long as it takes your customers to find the scissors and cut it off.

I know some of you save hang tags, but most people don't. In my opinion there are more creative ways to "brand" your shirts that are sold via the internet. It's a lot more practical to give your customers something that they will keep, rather than throw away. For example, if you send something such as a sticker, a button, or a pen, which serves some useful purpose, your customer is more likely to hang on to it, and it will continue to showcase your brand as long as the object is in use.


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## Rodney (Nov 3, 2004)

As a consumer, I'm not a big fan of hang tags. Just adds more work for me trying to wear my cool t-shirt that I just bought.

As a t-shirt merchant, I'm still not the biggest fan of them. I don't think they are *necessary* for a new _startup_ company. I think there are better ways to spend that hangtag money (like on marketing/advertising/promotion).

If you've got the cashflow to do it all, then go for it. But if you are slowly trying to grow your business, then I think I'd spend the hangtag money elsewhere.


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## Nino (Nov 9, 2006)

Hey, Rodney 

thanks for the good advice. We wanted our customers to regards us as one of the "big boys" so we thought we could make a sacrifice to add tags. But your right, the money could be spent else where.


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## guest5779 (Aug 8, 2006)

Jasonda said:


> Selling online and selling in a store are both considered "retail".
> 
> The reason clothes have a hang tag in the store is to inform the customer of the price, brand, size, and other info, and also have a space for the bar code. Therefore the main purpose of a tag is to give the customer enough information in order to decide if they want to buy the shirt or not, and it also assists the merchant by providing the bar code to complete the sale and keep track of inventory.
> 
> ...


Yes, but as I already stated, one or two successful retentions (repeat customers) due to your hangtags or combination thereof will more than cover the cost.

It's what, $40 for 1000 business cards? Plus maybe $20 for a tagging gun and hole punch? At most...


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

empyre_01d2 said:


> Yes, but as I already stated, one or two successful retentions (repeat customers) due to your hangtags or combination thereof will more than cover the cost.


*shrug* Depends on the customer. To me it just makes you look foolish, so it's not going to create a good impression.

As a customer it doesn't say "professional" to me, but rather "I decreased my margins for no good reason, wasted environmental resources, and don't know enough to know the difference between online sales and selling in a physical store".

Each customer will react differently - obviously from some of the reactions here some will appreciate it as one of those little touches/signs of quality.


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## monkeylantern (Oct 16, 2005)

Solmu said:


> *shrug* Depends on the customer. To me it just makes you look foolish, so it's not going to create a good impression.
> 
> As a customer it doesn't say "professional" to me, but rather "I decreased my margins for no good reason, wasted environmental resources, and don't know enough to know the difference between online sales and selling in a physical store".
> 
> Each customer will react differently - obviously from some of the reactions here some will appreciate it as one of those little touches/signs of quality.


If you buy from any major online clothes company that also has a major bricks and mortar set-up, you will get tags.

Buy something from Gap (not that you'd want to, obviously)

They use the same stock, tagged and all.

Bagged and tagged suggests you sell in retail. Which, if you're any good, you should.

I like popping new clothes, as I believe does 50 cent. That's where our similarities end.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

monkeylantern said:


> Bagged and tagged suggests you sell in retail. Which, if you're any good, you should.


True and true, but smaller outfits can afford to differentiate (i.e. they're not so large and streamlined that the online product has to be the same as the offline).

Anyway, this is obviously just one of those things that will create a different impression with different customers.


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## Twinge (Apr 26, 2005)

I would tend to agree with Solmu more on this one; a hang tag on something I bought online wouldn't really look like quality to me -- it would just look odd more than anything.


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## BluePhantom (Oct 25, 2006)

monkeylantern said:


> If you buy from any major online clothes company that also has a major bricks and mortar set-up, you will get tags.
> 
> Buy something from Gap (not that you'd want to, obviously)
> 
> ...


Or A Quote From Jay-Z Song

"Jay-Z be poppin tags
Leavin the mall with heavy bags"


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## MAU-12 (Oct 26, 2006)

Sorry, but If I bought a shirt from an online store and it came with a hang tag, I would think that to be fairly retarded. The reason most people buy online is for the whole "custom" experience, they want a shirt you CAN'T get at the mall, so that all their friends will ask them "Hey where did you get that shirt!" Putting a hang tag on would completely ruin that vibe, making it feel dime a dozen instead of unique.
A well designed sticker is an astronomically better idea... I've bought shirts on line and they threw in a couple stickers.. I slapped them on my guitar case. One of my buddies came over looked at one of the particular stickers, asked what brand it was... Couple of weeks later he's wearing one of their shirts... Coincidence?


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## Nino (Nov 9, 2006)

MAU-12 said:


> Sorry, but If I bought a shirt from an online store and it came with a hang tag, I would think that to be fairly retarded. The reason most people buy online is for the whole "custom" experience, they want a shirt you CAN'T get at the mall, so that all their friends will ask them "Hey where did you get that shirt!" Putting a hang tag on would completely ruin that vibe, making it feel dime a dozen instead of unique.
> A well designed sticker is an astronomically better idea... I've bought shirts on line and they threw in a couple stickers.. I slapped them on my guitar case. One of my buddies came over looked at one of the particular stickers, asked what brand it was... Couple of weeks later he's wearing one of their shirts... Coincidence?


 
I must say I like the sticker Idea much better. I personally love the feeling of buying something brand new in the store then going home and poping the tag on it. For some people, poping the tag after an online purchase might be important but the for the majority it might not matter. But the idea of putting a tag on your clothes gives it a real sense of professionalism. It makes someone feel like they boutan offical item instead of a bootleg. With all that said most people are just going to pop it and throw it away.


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## edcruz (Nov 13, 2006)

i usually use tags as bookmark and i collect them just for fun. ^_^


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## funtimesx (Apr 9, 2006)

I just wanted to come back and update (and ask for some more advice! ).

I've just delivered my very first order to this store! 24 shirts, in an even spread of sizes - I'm utterly stoked, hopefully this will be the start of something big! 

What I was asked to do:
- I was asked to pay for an initial run of advertising in their monthly newsletter to kick-start the product. I'm of the understanding that whether or not I choose to keep up that advertising after the initial run is up to me.
- They're not bar code friendly, and would therefore prefer that I swing tag the stock so that they have somewhere to put their code label and pricing stickers.
- They've taken all the stock on normal wholesale nett 30 terms, not consignment, which I'm thrilled about.

So, next question...

For this initial order, I just pinned the tags to the shirts using small safety pins. I'm wondering if I would be better off buying a tagging gun - has anyone used one? How much easier/quicker is it? I'm also largely looking at the "husband factor" here - ideally I'd like him to be able to help me fill orders and he kind of baulked at the idea of using the safety pins, so I'm wondering how he'd go with a tagging gun.

Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Kath


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

funtimesx said:


> For this initial order, I just pinned the tags to the shirts using small safety pins. I'm wondering if I would be better off buying a tagging gun


I think so. The small safety pin method can look fine (better even, depending on the circumstances), but it's not as efficient.



funtimesx said:


> has anyone used one? How much easier/quicker is it?


Very easy, very quick. 



funtimesx said:


> I'm also largely looking at the "husband factor" here - ideally I'd like him to be able to help me fill orders and he kind of baulked at the idea of using the safety pins, so I'm wondering how he'd go with a tagging gun.


Even dolts can learn to use them 



funtimesx said:


> Any thoughts?


Cheap on eBay, easy to use.


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## funtimesx (Apr 9, 2006)

Thanks Solmu, I think I will just "bite the bullet" and get a gun - there's a guy on eBay ATM selling them for about $15AUD including shipping and it includes 1500 barbs, so I'm thinking that looks good .


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

funtimesx said:


> there's a guy on eBay ATM selling them for about $15AUD including shipping and it includes 1500 barbs, so I'm thinking that looks good .


Yup, that's about right. They range a bit in price on eBay, but they're mostly very cheap - much cheaper there than elsewhere though (often for the exact same equipment). I think mine took something like four or five days to arrive from Hong Kong... they can be much slower if you get a bad break, but in general I think it's a pretty safe way to go.


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## Marcwest (Dec 8, 2006)

BluePhantom said:


> Or A Quote From Jay-Z Song
> 
> "Jay-Z be poppin tags
> Leavin the mall with heavy bags"


yea, but they are buying out the store...not online. 

Me, myself, i don't know, i don't think we are going to come out with hangtags at the moment, we just don't have the cash generated to do so, but if i did, i probably would use hang tags. Im more focused on screen printed tags, inside the shirt.


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## newguy (Dec 2, 2006)

Ok so if you want to use hang tags but have tagless shirts, where is the best place to use a safety pin or would it be better to use a tagging gun?


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## funtimesx (Apr 9, 2006)

newguy - mine are tagless, I've been pinning to the collar. But these are onesies - I would say you'd probably tag the side seam on a tagless adult t-shirt.


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## Jasonda (Aug 16, 2006)

newguy said:


> Ok so if you want to use hang tags but have tagless shirts, where is the best place to use a safety pin or would it be better to use a tagging gun?


Through the back of the shirt collar, through the seam under the left sleeve where the sleeve meets the body, or through the inside seam on the left sleeve near the cuff (long sleeved).

Tagging guns are not very expensive, but on the other hand small safety pins are usually fine if you don't want to buy a gun.


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## newguy (Dec 2, 2006)

Cool! Thanks!


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