# To Give or Not to Give away t-shirts to try to land a retail account?



## penny (Oct 23, 2008)

I have a question I would like to get feedback on. I have some shirt designs for girls that I have shown and get great feedback on. I'm ready to print them and would like to know if it is advisable to give say 25 to 50 away with the idea that the local skate shop is where they can purchase additional tee shirts. I want some visibility and I'm willing to take a chance. Any thoughts? I would appreciate any information!

Thanks!!!!


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## marcelolopez (Jul 16, 2007)

*Re: To Give or Not to Give*

If you are willing to take the chance, go head. It will be part of your advertising expenses.
Good luck


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## penny (Oct 23, 2008)

*Re: To Give or Not to Give*

Thank you for your reply. I'm excited to join this forum of seasoned tee entrepreneurs.


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## marcelolopez (Jul 16, 2007)

*Re: To Give or Not to Give*



penny said:


> Thank you for your reply.


You are very welcome


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

*Re: To Give or Not to Give*

I agree with Marcello  If you are willing to give them away and people like them, it could be a bennifit. Remember that if you write them off for advertising deductions, you can only write off the cost, not what you would sell them for.


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## penny (Oct 23, 2008)

*Re: To Give or Not to Give*

Thank you for the valuable info. I didn't know what I could write off as an advertising expense. I will make a note of it.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

yes you can write off the cost for advertisment, but only the cost that you invested to make it.


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## marcelolopez (Jul 16, 2007)

sunnydayz said:


> yes you can write off the cost for advertisment, but only the cost that you invested to make it.


Thank you for clarify it, I wasn't aware of it


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## SuperPro (Apr 17, 2009)

If this shop wants your designs they should be willing to at least take them on consignment. 

Why are you going to lose when you don't have to?

If they're not willing to take them on consignment, I would not do the deal. 

If you decide to put your shirts in the store do everything you can to merchandise and showcase them as much as they allow you.

Jess


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## penny (Oct 23, 2008)

Hi Jess,

Thanks for your reply. I agree about the store taking them on consignment. I was using the give away method to stimulate action within the pre-teen girl group who have no idea I exist. If they wear it at school and get asked "where did you get that cool shirt" they will reply I got it free and you can't buy this one but other cool designs are available at.....! What do you think?

Penny


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## SuperPro (Apr 17, 2009)

What do I think? 

When I was in school no one ever asked me where I got my cool shirt,and I never asked someone where they got the cool shirt they were wearing. 

I think the most excitement and brand building happens when the shirt is actually being given away. If your at an event with your target market and you are giving away some designs to a crowd, I believe that works, and it's worked for me. 

Our company would do promo events at retailers and throw out designs right there in front of the store.

The other piece is the obvious, have shirts ready to buy in the store well merchandised.

Here is the tricky more expensive part. Have someone influencial giving out the shirts. We made sure our sponsored riders where at the store giving out the free stuff, and wearing it. 7-8 of them would be there and our sales rep for that store was there as well.

We would also have one of the bands we sponsored play for free if they were available, and they were wearing our brand too. Then a couple of our staff was there to keep things organized and help set up etc... 

Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd.

We did much more then these events to build and sell shirts, but we took advantage of them and even put them on at our key retailers. Once your on the shelves of your key most influencial retailers in your industry the others start to follow.

This type of marketing does work and I would do it all the way or not do it at all. 

I hope this helps.


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## penny (Oct 23, 2008)

Jess,

Thanks you so very much for the information. It appears to me that you are selling a line marketed to males. My line is exclusively females/teens. I think girls differ in they are interested in what their peers are wearing and do ask where they got that cool shirt. I'm not trying to force the issue I'm trying to analyse the market and a creative way to introduce a new local line. 

What do you think about stickers in addition to the hang tags? I will certainly take into consideration your recommendation about having the merchandise available in the store prior to the give away.

You've made me think ever more...thanks!!!


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## CUSTOM UK (Jun 28, 2008)

Most recipients of a free t-shirt, are more likely to be interested in the fact that it is a free item, rather than any admiration for the design or the product itself. You could stick up a sign saying free grass clippings and people would queue.

Basic rules of marketing come into play here. You need to select your target group more far more closely than by just gender. Why will they buy your shirt? When will they buy your shirt? How will you attract follow up sales?


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

You know I was thinking about what my daughter liked as a teen (and by the way she did buy the same stuff her friends were wearing  ), and she loved when her clothes would come with little freebies such as stickers, pens and pencils. Girls love office supplies such as pens and pencils, little tablets of paper. She still laughs about how much she still enjoys this stuff. 

Maybe you could get the store to take your shirts on consignment, and have little freebies such as the mentioned items above (printed with your logo) as freebies. The place that comes to my mind that my daughter loved the most was delia's, which is a very popular skate type wear still. That was what her friends and her all wore, that and hot topic. I would look at how they market and see if there is anything they are doing that could help you. Here is there site dELiAs > apparel > graphic tees. Looking at their site can also give you a good idea of what teen girls are liking right now  Hope this helps.


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## sunnydayz (Jun 22, 2007)

I was just looking at Delia's site, and they actually have some great advice for targeting the teen audience. Here is a link to that part of the site Teen Marketing, In-School Media, Custom Events, Sampling, Research Teenager. It tells about targeting your teen market. Pretty cool, I didn't even know this info was on there  Thanks for asking this question, and in researching it, I found some pretty good info  I think it can be a great resource. The way i found this info about advertising for teens was from a link on the bottom of their store site.


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## SuperPro (Apr 17, 2009)

I never mentioned the gender of our line. FYI: We sold Male and Female apparel. 

Ofcourse some people buy the brand when someone sees someone else wearing it. We sponsored athletes for just that reason. I don't disagree that people buy what others are wearing, I agree with you.

Your question was about giving shirts away for free to it sounds like (students) and I don't think that's enough to create others to start buying your designs or brand. Your going to invest into 50 shirts to give away for free and I don't think you'll see a return marketing this way. 

If you are going to do that try to give them to the Girls that work at the store and maybe even some girls sponsored by the store (if they don't have a clothing sponsor). I think this would help you out more then just giving them to people at the highschool.

Hope I'm helping you out.

Sincerely, 

Jess


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## penny (Oct 23, 2008)

Thanks, it really helps to examine all points of interest and get feedback with different opinions. I like your idea about giving to the girls that work at the store. I seem to be narrow minded about sponsorship in regards to girls. I see the skate market as male dominant. Perhaps the athletic side would be an avenue to pursue. Thanks for all your great ideas!

Penny


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## Random Obj (Jan 11, 2009)

Be careful with giving away tees. Be use the store is "worthy" before you give it away. I have had a few places contact me for a "sample" but many of them are just asking for any free that they can get from you. I even had one guy from Spain request a tee (even send me his address) without even having a conversation with me LOL!


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## penny (Oct 23, 2008)

BobbieLee, 
Thank you very much! I visited the websites you suggested. The teen marketing website was terrific. Delias apparel was also interesting not to mention huge! You are quite knowledgable. I also like your website cute items!

Penny


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## HGE (Mar 3, 2009)

I like to print my logo and contact info on the back of shirts I give away(about 4x4in). It's free so 99% of people don't care that it is on the back. I look at it as double bonus, if they don't say where they got the shirt from someone can see my info/logo right on the back and for those who do say where it is from then the contact info is right there.
2 more pennies in the pot, clink clink...
Good Luck!


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

penny said:


> pre-teen girl group [...] they will reply I got it free and you can't buy this one but other cool designs are available at.....! What do you think?


I think you're confusing pre-teen girls with morning tv hosts.


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