# Starting an online tshirt selling business



## jebrun (Dec 7, 2011)

I am interested in selling tshirts solely online. I know nothing about starting a business, however, and wonder how much is different from doing something online and out of your home than when you open a shop and sell from there. Is an ecommerce site like Volution or Magento the way to go for this, or is it as easy as getting a domain name, finding a way to process orders, payments and delivery, and going from there?

I know people who sell things on ebay are not all business owners, so what is the difference between them and what I want to do?

Thanks in advance,

Jebrun


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## gruntstyle (Aug 11, 2009)

My company does this right now and although you might get a little more traffic on eBay or amazon, you shouldmt expect to get a whole lot of sales. I developed and run our own commerce site so we don't have to pay anyone else. Its a little more work at te beginning but definitely worth it. We use an open source cart that doesn't cost a dime and looks better han some of the other paid services. 

What you must know that just because you have an online store it doesn't ean people will from around the world will just stumble upon it and buy your product. You have a lot of work to do to market it any way you can. it's a lot of ground work involved. It took me two years to get to the point where we are now, but well worth it in the long run.


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## Mabuzi (Jul 3, 2007)

Marketing. This is the most important part. You can have the greatest designs and great website but if there is no story the consumer can buy into you will have a problem.

There are thousands of designers out there who think their work is brillaint, I have printed some of those great designs, but have seen the wheels come of when there has few sales.

Marketing!!!


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## Theprintbar (Nov 13, 2010)

Hey there, take a look at stores like deconetwork... If you aren't going to make your own printed t shirts initially then it may be a great way to get into the business without spending a cent... You can focus on marketing your product: facebook... Giving people like bands and dj's your tees to wear... Once sales get high enough start printing your own t shirts... But you should always have a system, plan and steps to get where you want


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## brenden (Dec 11, 2008)

Marketing is a big part of a business!

First of all what market are you targeting? Are you selling your own t-shirt designs or are you starting a 'design your own' t-shirt business?

T-shirt designs is a tough market. You need to find you niche and great designs that have awesome appeal. That's tough and as Mabuzi said designers come and go. I tip I heard once was don't ask your friends if your designs are good. They will always say yes and give you false hope 

The custom printed t-shirt business is easier from my experience and working directly with hundreds of clients. Our most successful stores in DecoNetwork are the design your own type businesses, after all that's what DecoNetwork is designed for. But also the market is larger and you can cast your sales net wider.

The biggest mistake people make with starting an online business is they think globally and forget local.

According to Google 97% of their searches for businesses are what they call "local searches". This is where someone types a service plus city. i.e. "t shirt printing sydney".

Even though people turn to the WWW (World Wide Web) to find something, the vast, vast majority still look local. I call it LPL (Local People Looking).

So think LOCAL with all your efforts. Think Google Places, consider local in your SEO, and inform local businesses. They will be your main source of income and customers abroad will be a bonus.

I'll be holding some webinars on this topic in the new year so feel free to register at our blog blog.deconetwork.com to be notified when the next webinars are scheduled.

Good luck with your adventures!


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