# Strategies on pre-order selling



## Jdayent

i am about to launch a t-shirt line and my manufacturer has a 24 unit minimum per sku#. i wanted to find a strategy that allows me know what sizes people want b4 I pay for them to be made. i thought about pre-orders with marketing hype for initial launch, but what about on a ongoing basis (not just new design releases)? does that work or should i just bit the bullet and pay for the inventory and hope all sizes male/female sell?

if i create enough hype to get pre-orders but only 10 come in out of the 24 needed to place order, how much time should those 10 people wait to get their paid for shirts? cause i would at that point pay the difference for the remaining 14 shirts and have them in inventory.


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## cookiesa

Have you considered getting the printer to print you up Plastisol transfers? That way you can order the 24 or whatever. You will need a heat press (or access to one, someoen local may be willing to do the pressing for a minimal fee)

Then you can get away with either on time ordering of the garments you need, depending on the supplier and press the designs to the required size/colour/style as you need.


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## Binary01

do the transfers and test the market. i tried to guesstimate when i started in 2007 and ended up giving away half my stock because of sizes.

each area will be different also what ever 'style/music/trend' will matter too.

emo=tighter
hip hop=loose
rock=average fit
hipster=tighter

etc


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## theprintshop

what about a direct to garment printer like a t-JET? that will solve the problem


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## jkruse

Have a definite date for when the items are shipping and if you don't get enough orders for the print I would give everyone a refund or at least ask them if they are interested in waiting longer.

Preorders are good when your starting out but once you have the money to print the shirts I would suggest on not doing preorders. 

Also I have found that silk-screening is the best quality of shirt and I wouldn't do t-jet or plastisol transfers.


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## cookiesa

Plastisol transfers are screen printing


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## jkruse

Then why are they called plastisol transfers and not screen printing smarty pants.


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## cookiesa

Because the plastisol (same ink used for plastisol screen printing) is screen printed on to a special release paper (the same way it would be screened on to a Tee) then partially dried.

This can then be heat pressed on to a Tee shirt. It is the same as screen printing only instead of screening it on to the tee directly it is screened on to the paper to be later pressed (eg becomes a "transfer")

This way you can just hold X number of the transfers ready to press to which ever garment you need as the orders come in. The end product is the same as a screen print because that is exactly what it is... and what it uses as opposed to an inkjet or laser style transfer which is a digital print not a screen print.

Now perhaps you would like to explain your statement "Also I have found that silk-screening is the best quality of shirt and I wouldn't do t-jet or plastisol transfers." when you clearly have no idea what a t-jet or a plastisol transfer is?

(To save you the next "smarty pants" question a T-Jet is actually a direct to garment printer and not a transfer at all. And has the same sort of feel as waterbased screen print, (most screen printing is done with plastisol not waterbased and actually has more of a "feel" than the T-Jet would). 

Perhaps do some research next time


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## jkruse

"Because the plastisol (same ink used for plastisol screen printing) is screen printed ..."

alright I've got you up until this point, you are right they are exactly the same.



"...on to a special release paper (the same way it would be screened on to a Tee) then partially dried. This can then be heat pressed on to a Tee shirt."

and they are different hence why they have different names for them.


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## cookiesa

End result being the same. It is effectively a plastisol screen print and would suit the original posters needs quite well. Notice you left the T-Jet alone this time.....

perhaps you should stick with what you know, site design. You have some good looking designs.

my final comment on this jon "better to be thought of a fool than to open your mouth and prove it"


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## PrintMonkey

Jdayent said:


> i am about to launch a t-shirt line and my manufacturer has a 24 unit minimum per sku#. i wanted to find a strategy that allows me know what sizes people want b4 I pay for them to be made. i thought about pre-orders with marketing hype for initial launch, but what about on a ongoing basis (not just new design releases)? does that work or should i just bit the bullet and pay for the inventory and hope all sizes male/female sell?
> 
> if i create enough hype to get pre-orders but only 10 come in out of the 24 needed to place order, how much time should those 10 people wait to get their paid for shirts? cause i would at that point pay the difference for the remaining 14 shirts and have them in inventory.


How are you marketing/selling?
Online, or face to face?
For online sales I do pre-orders a lot through online forums that fit my target market. I don't SPAM the forums, I follow the rules. I'll post a ship date and stick to it. If there is not enough pre-orders, I can always refund everyone (never had to do this). Just say there was a problem with production.
In your case where you are new at this people do not know who you are. So you might only get a few pre-orders. But I would still fill the orders cause someone might (you can ask) post up their shirt and say how good it is. This will get more orders for you.

Face to face sales you will need to bite the bullet and print the shirts. Most people when it comes to tees are impulse buyers. Need to find events close to you (200 miles radius) that again fit your target market. This is a great way to get fast feedback on your shirts, cause you can ask the person the question "why are you not buying".


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## gaseousclay

to play the devil's advocate, I would avoid doing pre-orders, especially if you're a new company with no established customer base. if I came across a website I never heard of before and saw they were doing pre-orders I would immediately think, "these guys have no money and are trying to get enough orders for a minimum t-shirt order." but I guess it varies from person to person and of course on the quality of the design. I might pre-order a shirt from an unknown company if the design was cool enough and if they listed a specific ship-by date, but not from someone who gives no indication when they're gonna ship your t-shirt to you.


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## cookiesa

Gaseousclay makes some good points, I think you really should speak with your screen printer as to their ability to produce Plastisol Transfers for you. You can then meet their 24 minimum with small outlay, outlay a small amount on a collection of sizes/garments you intend to offer (generally think larger sizes for "male" designs, smaller sizes for "female" designs.) Then you need a heat press or access to one.

Order comes in you take your blank, press the design pack and send (can be same day) Customer doesn't need to know the process you use to achieve this (eg you don't need to tell them you have x number of larges in such and such a design sitting there, you just make them to order)

For this to work you will also need to look in to a couple of things... Blank supplies, what are the minimums and how long to get them (do they keep them in stock or ship from a warehouse?) Do you have a backup for blanks if you need one or two in a hurry? How long does it take the screen printer to fill your order if you need more?


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## Hero316

I use the screen print to transfer method and it works great. I use a company called Artbrands out of Columbus Ohio and they are great to work with on customs. I generally try and print multiple designs at a time to save money. In general, each transfer costs me less than $0.50 and the quality is excellent. This way I can offer multiple shirt colors as well as sizes and styles for each design as I don't make the shirt until the order is placed. The quality is just like direct screen printing! I also use S&S Activewear as my garment supplier. If you order online there are no minimums and you get case pricing on single garment orders. I'm one shipping day away from one of their warehouses. This method allows me to basically have a Just In Time inventory system.


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## jshade

This is great advice for pre-ordering. Thanks guys.


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## emaugust

Just a few thoughts... first off, whoever brought up size charts - the blank manufacturer will have them on their site. You shouldnt need to even be registered to look up shirt size charts. 

Second, Whoever mentioned the T-Jet.. this guy is talking about pre-orders and holding off printing a run until there are enough pre-orders while the customer waits.. I am going to guess there is not bankroll for a T-Jet. This is also a bad idea for someone who isn;t going to be printing almost daily.

I would recommend heat transfers as you will have to pay for the designs but your shirt inventory would be fluid... but I am also a DIYer.

Anyhow, as far as pre-order go, what I would do for a new line is something like this:

Grab all your potential designs. Set up some kind of vote or poll to see what people like or what they would buy. Whichever one wins, get the transfers for that design first. The good part about this is you can get moving on ordering the designs before the poll is over - towards the middle to end you will have a good idea what is going to win. You will also be able to get some traffic and eyeballs on your site before you have product. Finally, the majority of visitors or at least the greatest minority of visitors will hopefully feel at least somewhat invested in the design they voted for. It's a good way to get people involved.


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## ishredbanez

So getting your own transfers... Well, that does require having your own machine, though its cheaper? I thought it was (close) to the same as having a company do it. Is the quality for transfers still good? Or not as good as if a company with good/(great) gear did it?

Also for pre-orders, what about having a sale/discount/bonus for pre-orders?
I would also mention I've heard of a 1:2:2:1 size ratio. 1 Sm, 1 med, 1 lrg, 1 xl, but the run my friend and i did with our clothing wasn't like this.

And what about that whole child's garment test-for-lead law or what have you?


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## ThreadBusiness

From a new brand marketing point of view, pre-orders can be a great way to hype your brand. Start revealing "sneak peaks" of the designs on your social media sites, ask for comments and start discussions. Then announce you are offering discounted pre-orders. It can help build a lot of excitement.


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## jolenes

Hi guys,
I thought to share my thoughts and seek your help. I am about to launch my brand with my customized tees (with zippers etc. and NOT blank shirts + print on them) but I don't want to spend cca. £2-3k to order tees out of two reasons:
- I don't want to end up broke since I have NO CLUE yet how it will sell
- I don't know what I will sell more (what design, what size, what colour).
So I thought of a "pre odrer" option. Can anyone maybe advise how exactly that works, what are DOs and DON'Ts et cetera? 

As far as I understand it goes like this:
1. you put it on the website it is a pre order option and they will have to wait for it 2-3 weeks
2. after a week or two, you contact your supplier to orer XYZ orders 
3. you get them and ship them?

Kindly advise, thanks.


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## cookiesa

jolenes said:


> Hi guys,
> I thought to share my thoughts and seek your help. I am about to launch my brand with my customized tees (with zippers etc. and NOT blank shirts + print on them) but I don't want to spend cca. £2-3k to order tees out of two reasons:
> - I don't want to end up broke since I have NO CLUE yet how it will sell
> - I don't know what I will sell more (what design, what size, what colour).
> So I thought of a "pre odrer" option. Can anyone maybe advise how exactly that works, what are DOs and DON'Ts et cetera?
> 
> As far as I understand it goes like this:
> 1. you put it on the website it is a pre order option and they will have to wait for it 2-3 weeks
> 2. after a week or two, you contact your supplier to orer XYZ orders
> 3. you get them and ship them?
> 
> Kindly advise, thanks.


That's the basic but there are several variations.

Do you intend to use social media? A good way is maybe run a voting competition, this will give you some indication of which designs may be popular.

There are also several things to consider, firstly your 2-3 weeks is very optimistic if you aren't printing yourself. You need to consider what the lead time is from your printer, often 2-3 weeks, sometimes longer (at times 6 weeks is not unusual)

So you need to add that to your "cut off" date for pre orders. How will this sit with your intended market? Generally younger generations will not wait that long. How will you handle payments and delivery?

Does your printer have minimum quantaties? Are there penalty prices for smaller runs?

These are just a few considerations


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## jolenes

Yes I'll def use social media! But still - if I put my photos on IG, that doesn't mean that people would actually buy it + that won't tell me what size is the most wanted. 

I won't print shirts but design them for a mass production. So I thought to put designs on my website and make a preorder option. After I'd have few orders, I'd order around 300 shirts. But anyway, that would not work out I guess...

Thanks for your advice though!


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