# Are you making any money selling rhinestone t-shirts



## wc33144 (Dec 8, 2007)

Are you making any money selling your own rhinestone t-shirts designs?


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## veedub3 (Mar 29, 2007)

Yes! Yes! Yes!
They are all custom as I do not have a machine and they have to be hand set but I am getting alot of orders for rhinestones. The order I am working on now is a jean jacket for a lady biker. I am looking at the Roland Engraver / DAS but haven't made a decision yet as this would allow me to crank things up. Right now it is very time consuming setting by hand.

Katrina


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## flirteegirl (Apr 10, 2007)

Yes, rhinestones are hot right now. Also, sequin is in. I remember them being in several years ago, then crystals were in. It's like a cycle! So, keep designing.


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## proworlded (Oct 3, 2006)

'Making money' is a relative term. What are your expectations? Rhinestones are one of the hottest categories in the business right now.


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## dan-ann (Oct 25, 2007)

I am making a lot of money on crystals. My designs are exlcusive and I too also set by hand.


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## brentonchad (Aug 24, 2007)

what is the average price point on the Rhinestones t-shirts? Or is this all across the board?


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

You are right Chad...the price point is all over the board. I do mostly custom designs...or designs by request and either sell the template or the completed design. The cost really depends on three things....the cost of the garment/item you are placing them on/the number of stones in your design/and the type rhinestones used. The Swaroski rhinestones are very high but are great quality. I mostly use Korean stones which are available in several qualities so you need to buy small amounts until you find the source you like. You can find these at wholesale prices that are pretty good.

How much you make depends on your markup...I find that the addition of rhinestones increases the perceived value more than the actual increase in cost. and yes you can make money with Rhinestone designs, whether you have designs made for you, do the designs yourself or keep stock designs onhand.


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## torodesigns (Jun 24, 2007)

There is a big demand out there . . . what we have done is market to the local elementary, middle and high schools . . . when we did that they told their friends and now I can't keep up with it. Going to have to higher someone else.


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## brentonchad (Aug 24, 2007)

What did you exaclty market? Custom rhinestone shirts? School shirts with rhinestone accents? Also what method did you use? I ask because we primarily create school spiritwear and I did not see that market as being a target for these types of apparel. 

I am probably not thinking out of the box enough but I was looking at the craft stores and boutiques to market the rhinestone products.


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## veedub3 (Mar 29, 2007)

The shirts kinda market themselves. For example.... My 6 year old grand niece was spending the weekend with me a few weeks back and she went with me to the shop. Once she seen the rhinestones she danced all over the place. I took an x-small raglan and put her name across the front in rhinestones and she told the world. She went to school on Monday and I received a call from my niece saying that a few people wanted to order one for there child. I made up a quick order form and sent it to school with my grand niece the next day, I soon had 46 orders for rhinestone shirts. All orders were just shirts with their kids name on them. But they pretty much marketed themselves.

Also want to touch on when you find a supplier that you like, stick with them. I ordered 3mm rhinestones from three different suppliers and the actual measurements were all over the place. By sticking with the same supplier, you can pretty much guarantee the size is consistent.

Katrina


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## torodesigns (Jun 24, 2007)

What we did is create a custom rhinestone shirt for the teachers and sold like hot cakes. Then folded over into the kids wanting them. When it hit the high schools then it really went crazy . . with cheer squads . . . pep squads . . parents of football players . . . you get the hint. 

We do some custom stuff for some boutiques . . one idea you can do is get a logo from your neighborhood school and get the template made for it and watch them sell. $1.00 for the stones . . . 2.00 or 3.oo for the shirt . . .sell for 20 to 25 . . cha ching.


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

I agree, I agree , I agree. Rhinestones make money. I do mainly custom requests too, but I also do "special stock designs" that I sell on my website. These are designs I like to think you can pick up a 100 of from places like Dazzling Designs, etc. (no offense). I find the more unique a design is, the better it sells. I too, went to the schools. KIDS LOVE BLING!!! My son goes to a Christian school and unfortunately, they don't have much in the way of sports teams, so school spirit was lacking. I provided the school with a package of "spirit" items, book socks, t-shirts, sweat shirts, as an alternative fund-raiser, pick me up, and it went wild. I incorporated some christian art along with the school mascot (I was shocked they had one and no teams). I designed the order sheets so that they collected the money first, and then I prepared the items, so they did not have to come out of pocket and be worried about selling the items. Now I have pretty much every Christian school in that area asking to participate.  I'll recover my investment in my DAS system before the end of this month!!!


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## Natitown (Apr 17, 2006)

torodesigns said:


> What we did is create a custom rhinestone shirt for the teachers and sold like hot cakes. Then folded over into the kids wanting them. When it hit the high schools then it really went crazy . . with cheer squads . . . pep squads . . parents of football players . . . you get the hint.
> 
> We do some custom stuff for some boutiques . . one idea you can do is get a logo from your neighborhood school and get the template made for it and watch them sell. $1.00 for the stones . . . 2.00 or 3.oo for the shirt . . .sell for 20 to 25 . . cha ching.


Where do you get the template made?


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## dan-ann (Oct 25, 2007)

I would also be interested in having some templetes made


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

veedub3 said:


> The shirts kinda market themselves. For example.... My 6 year old grand niece was spending the weekend with me a few weeks back and she went with me to the shop. Once she seen the rhinestones she danced all over the place. I took an x-small raglan and put her name across the front in rhinestones and she told the world. She went to school on Monday and I received a call from my niece saying that a few people wanted to order one for there child. I made up a quick order form and sent it to school with my grand niece the next day, I soon had 46 orders for rhinestone shirts. All orders were just shirts with their kids name on them. But they pretty much marketed themselves.
> 
> Also want to touch on when you find a supplier that you like, stick with them. I ordered 3mm rhinestones from three different suppliers and the actual measurements were all over the place. By sticking with the same supplier, you can pretty much guarantee the size is consistent.
> 
> Katrina


That is awesome! Katrina, what brand of raglan did you use? What colors? I think I would want to use this same shirt, since it seems to be an awesome blank with r-stones, 46 orders without doing anything? That's awesome. 

Thanks for the tip on the r-stones being different sizes. 

:tipthank:


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Natitown said:


> Where do you get the template made?


 
Here are some threads on rhinestone templates:
T-Shirt Forums Search Results


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

I use the DAS stone stencil system to make my templates. See samples of attached pictures. There are several others who participate in the Forum who use DAS and R-wear, I believe.


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## tshirtnewbie69 (Dec 20, 2008)

allhamps said:


> I use the DAS stone stencil system to make my templates. See samples of attached pictures. There are several others who participate in the Forum who use DAS and R-wear, I believe.


Can you make multiple color designs? I am still trying to figure out which machine to buy BUT I hate being limited to one color. thanks for any help.


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

You can do multiple colors with DAS. However, the more colors and the more intricate the details, the harder it gets. For simple, multiple color designs, I cut each color in a separate template and then piece together. I've done this for 2-3 color designs and 2-3 different size stones in one design. It's not the only method I've seen mentioned, but it works for me. For more detailed colors and/or a lot of detail, I still do hand placement.


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## tshirtnewbie69 (Dec 20, 2008)

Thanks. I asked that in another thread.

I appreciate the feedback. I am going to purchase the DAS and I am unsure what equipment I need. I want to get everything ready soon. I am excited but nervous to learn so much. I am a quick learner though.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

allhamps said:


> Now I have pretty much every Christian school in that area asking to participate.  I'll recover my investment in my DAS system before the end of this month!!!


Thanks for all that info. May I ask how long you've owned the DAS to see how long it took for the return on investment? Thanks alot!


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## tshirtnewbie69 (Dec 20, 2008)

Girlzndollz said:


> Thanks for all that info. May I ask how long you've owned the DAS to see how long it took for the return on investment? Thanks alot!


Great question. I'd love to know that too since I got a great deal from someone for one of those robotic transfer machines. I don't know what to do. Do I go for it? I'm not sure...


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

how long to get return on investment...that is a tough question...depends on your market...and your marketing...are you doing designs for sale or template...If you sell one template a week...it will take a long time...but 10 a week...well you do the math...capital cost is about 6K...with shipping and all that...so figure what you are going to charge and then figure how many you think you can sell..that will give you the answer. There is no one answer for all....


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## allhamps (Mar 15, 2007)

Charles is right. I got my DAS in November, the 14th, I think. I think I was lucky and sort of in the right place at the right time with the school thing. It was something I had wanted to propose to my son's school for a while, but did not have the resources to put it all together. Receiving my DAS system gave me that opportunity, and it just took off after that. I am sure that is the ONLY reason I'm going to recoup my investment so quickly. I took a look at my sales since DAS. I do see an increase, mainly because I am able to turn around samples/simulations of custom quotes faster, which turns into orders (or not) faster, and I was able to cash in on some rush Obama orders. Basically, DAS has helped me to increase my income because I have been able to decrease my production time and thus add in a few more orders. I am putting together a few more "special" marketing presentations, but realistically, I wouldn't expect to recover a $5,000 investment in 30 days. If I don't do anything special, based on what I've seen outside of the school thing, it would have been more like 9-12 months.


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## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

allhamps said:


> ... I got my DAS in November, the 14th, I think...


Thank you for sharing. I was actually asking you specifically. I appreciated your story about how you were doing business, what was happening for you. 

I live in an area that I could see a possibility for at least a slight chance to be somewhat successful following your business model. I have been connected to two Catholic schools in the area, both lacking any bling spirit wear and we have a good handful of elementary schools locally, all in one district at that. Sell one, you'll bag three in a short time. PTO, that's where it's at to me.

Anyway, since you had mentioned you'd be closing out your investment costs by month's end, I was wondering how long of a span you were meaning. You're answer is amazing. I wish you continued good luck, and sustained business. That is a great bit of success... congrats to you, and thank you again for sharing your success story (secrets... ).

The other posts were full of great advice for someone wondering that Q in general (ROI). 

Thanks, all. Have a great day.


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## novanutcase (Aug 6, 2008)

Luckily, I work fairly deep in the industry so my suppliers set up all my templates and I approve.

Anything bling seems to be moving off the shelf at a fairly brisk pace but the curve is getting shorter and shorter as the shelves get stocked faster and faster with this type of product.
Even though my straight discharge prints are still moving I'm finding a lot of my majors are ordering more foil and rhinestone prints. I just got done manufacturing around 3000 units in both foil and rhinestone for my small boutique clients and have projected orders from some of my majors and the bulk of the orders are foil and stones. I'm trying to collect at least 30,000 units in orders by January 15 for March 30 deliveries. Hopefully this stupid economy won't keep buyers from ordering.

John


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## miamirhinestone (Mar 10, 2009)

The rhinestone industry is on the move I have been doing this for 3 years now making templates and transfers and all I can say is I love Bling This has been a great oppetunity for me and my wife just wish I had more hours in the day


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## new2tshirts (Nov 18, 2008)

veedub3 said:


> The shirts kinda market themselves. For example.... My 6 year old grand niece was spending the weekend with me a few weeks back and she went with me to the shop. Once she seen the rhinestones she danced all over the place. I took an x-small raglan and put her name across the front in rhinestones and she told the world. She went to school on Monday and I received a call from my niece saying that a few people wanted to order one for there child. I made up a quick order form and sent it to school with my grand niece the next day, I soon had 46 orders for rhinestone shirts. All orders were just shirts with their kids name on them. But they pretty much marketed themselves.
> 
> Also want to touch on when you find a supplier that you like, stick with them. I ordered 3mm rhinestones from three different suppliers and the actual measurements were all over the place. By sticking with the same supplier, you can pretty much guarantee the size is consistent.
> 
> Katrina


Does anyone know a supplier for the actual crystal heat transfers? (not just a template) I'm just starting out, so I want to start without much investment. I want to find a company to do the transfers for me until I can see if there's a market for it in my area.

Thanks.


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## veedub3 (Mar 29, 2007)

new2tshirts said:


> Does anyone know a supplier for the actual crystal heat transfers? (not just a template) I'm just starting out, so I want to start without much investment. I want to find a company to do the transfers for me until I can see if there's a market for it in my area.
> 
> Thanks.



Check out SandyJo, MonkeyMeME on the forums. Here is her site.
Home

Also search in the Rhinestone decoration section you will find others.

Katrina


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

Lori,

It is probably best to post a thread in the referrals section of the forum. That way people can respond and offer their products without breaking the self promotion rules we have here at T-shirt forums. Here is a link to that section http://www.t-shirtforums.com/referrals-recommendations/. You can just start a new thread there telling how many transfers you need, what type of designs, and where you are located. Members who know someone or are able to provide them their selves can answer there  Hope this helps.


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