How to Create & Sell a T-Shirt
Consider your T-shirt a canvas and you the artist. You'll want to create something eye-catching, aesthetic and/or memorable. Your design must speak to consumers and touch them in ways that are relevant or sentimental. Beyond that, your T-shirt must be available to the public. For that, you'll have to either reach the public in person--such as selling your shirts at a booth at fairs and conventions--or via the Internet, where you can set up your own website or sell through established sites like eBay.
Things You'll Need
- T-shirt
- (Optionally:)
- Adobe Photoshop (or similar application)
- Fabric Paint
- Iron-on Transfer Paper for Printers
- Iron-on Letters
- Sew-on Embellishments such as Gemstones or Ribbons
Instructions
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Creating Your T-Shirt
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Choose a T-shirt style. T-shirts come in a variety of styles and colors. Are you targeting a female audience? You might consider one of the many T-shirts made for women--the baby doll, tank, spaghetti straps, etc.
Think about the color of the shirt. While colors are eye-catching, they can also clash or drown out each other. Make sure the colors you choose--for the T-shirt itself, any printed message and the colors in any image--will work together to create the mega-image of your canvas. You want your shirt color to complement or contrast with the planned design. Remember that pink letters may not show up well on a pink shirt--if the two pinks are too similar. Or hot pink letters on a pale pink shirt could be just right for your target buyer. -
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Plan your message. Have something to "say" to the world. An effective message says it in a memorable way. Consider slogans that have survived the ages, simple word combinations that most everyone has heard. As the T-shirt designer, it is your job to create new slogans, adages or catchy phrases. Short is usually better as it is more easily remembered. However, even a longer message can be memorable if it flows and has rhythm or rhyme.
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Use iron-on letters, or print the words (and image if desired) on an iron-on transfer. If you're going to print your slogan, try out different fonts. When choosing a font, remember that readability counts. But so does appearance. Choose a font that adds a layer of depth to your message. If the message is, for example, "Work drives me crazy," then the font might be scrawled or crazy-looking, and yet still legible. Ideally, you will create your design in an application program (such as Photoshop) and then take your jpg image to a T-shirt print shop that can use silk-screening techniques to print the design directly onto the shirt. However, printing the design on an iron-on transfer first can give you an idea of how the finished product will look. Consider it a cheap, test-run stage.
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Consider art--if desired. Draw/design the art to express emotions. Which emotion do you wish to invoke? Identify the elements in the image that naturally invoke the desired response and then emphasize those elements. Are you seeking to create a sense of beauty or fright in those who see your design? The key is to understand the pieces of the artwork and build upon them.
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Position the art (if desired) and text (if used) so that one does not distract from the other. Art can be behind the text--if the art itself is not too busy. Art can be above or below the text. This works especially well with oblong-shaped art so that the art essentially underlines or sits above the line of text. Your art might also run along the side of the T-shirt, even crossing from front to back.
Scan and import your art images onto your file if you are using Photoshop or a similar application. Incorporating art can enhance your message. Or use art by itself if the visual is the message you wish to convey. -
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Alternatively, you may hand-paint your design directly onto the T-shirt. Hand-painted designs will, of course, take more time and you'll only be able to produce one shirt at a time. However, if each is a unique work of art, the shirts may sell at higher prices, potentially making it worth the extra effort.
You can offer a combination as well: iron-on letters spelling out your message with hand-painted swirls around the words and over the shirt. In this respect, the painting is merely a few quick embellishments. As such, the technique could be applied to any design--even afterward to one that was first silk-screen printed.
Sew on additional embellishments if you like. Buttons or charms or a ribbon trim can be sewn onto the shirt, perhaps forming a frame around the message and/or image. Buttons or do-dads could be sewn on in a scattered formation as well.
Selling Your Shirt
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Do research. Look at what is marketed in your local shops. Search T-shirt sites on the internet. Determine who is most likely to buy your shirt. Does it appeal to teenagers? Will it strike a resonance with a more middle-aged crowd? Has it metrosexual appeal? Redneck appeal? To sell your shirt to the public, you must first know who your public is.
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Test market your shirt. Having identified local shops that sell the sort of shirt you have created, contact the shop owners. Many small, privately owned shops will sell items on consignment. Even though that means the shop owner will take some of your profit, it also means you have a place to sell your shirts without any of the associated fees of keeping a shop. As well, you will not have to be there to sell your product.
Likewise, contact T-shirt websites to see if you can market your shirts on consignment with them.
Sell your shirts on eBay to gauge the interest and price you can get. -
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(Optionally) Sell directly to the public yourself. For this you will need to set up a business. For that, you will need a tax number. (See the resource below for more information.) As well, you will most likely need a sales and use tax permit. You will need to consider any relevant state, city and county taxes. Do an Internet search to find out exactly what form you will need to fill out. Most likely, you can fill out the form online. If not, the search info will tell you where to get the necessary permit. If you prefer not applying over the Internet, most city and state forms can be found at your city courthouse. To find tax permit info, try doing a search on: Your State Name+sales+use+tax+permit. For example: Texas sales use tax permit. (See the reference below for what Texas requires.)
In most states, a simple tax number and sales use and tax permit is all you will need. However, it will be your responsibility to keep records of all collected sales tax and make the appropriate reports. You may be able to do a single yearly tax report, especially if you do not collect much in the way of taxes--e.g., you have a very small business. Otherwise, you may be expected to make quarterly or possibly monthly tax reports. This will depend on your state requirements and the size of your business.
Remember that taxes are not set state-wide. Be sure you know your city's sales tax rate to collect the proper amount. As well, find out whether your state charges a sales tax for any sale your company makes, or only on those sales made within the state. -
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(Optionally) Rent a cart in the mall, once you are set up with all the proper tax paperwork. A cart will require a much lower investment than opening your own store. Although you can staff the cart only when it suits you, you should make every effort to operate your cart during the mall's peak traffic hours.
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(Optionally) Take your shirts to the right crowd. If your shirt (or shirts) appeal to a specific interest crowd, find out when and where that "crowd" comes together. For instance, if your shirts are artistically appealing or have a particular arts-and-crafts, homey look to them, watch for art-and-craft fairs where you can set up a booth. If your shirt would appeal to people who love science fiction, hunt out their conventions and get a table as a dealer. See if your area has any sort of monthly flea market where you can set up your wares. Also consider Renaissance fairs.
Conventions, flea markets and fairs occur most every weekend of the year someplace. Find out where they are locally or within a reasonable driving distance. Simple Internet searches should provide you many options, or opportunities to go sell your shirts. Try searching with: A city name+science fiction+convention. Or try: City Name+art+crafts+fair. -
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(Optionally) Hire a webmaster to set up a website for selling your shirts. He should make sure your site will be found by all the major search engines. Likewise, you want your webmaster to get as many links to your site as possible from other similar sites, from friend sites, from anywhere. You want your website on directory listings. Your web business cannot flourish if no one finds it.
Make sure you know for certain when you need to charge sales tax. Certainly a sale made to someone in your state will have to pay sales tax. But find out if sales made to customers out-of-state require sales tax. If you have a tax permit, you should already know this information. And whether selling shirts in person or on line, you will still need a tax number and sales use and tax permit.
Don't forget shipping and handling charges. For this, consider the cost of your shipping materials--box or large envelope, any packing materials you may use, and postage. For postage calculations, most businesses use a fixed scale based on the total purchase amount. Since a higher purchase would indicate more T-shirts, it is safe to assume the weight of the package will go up. The easiest way to be accurate and not overpriced is to prepare several packages--one with one shirt, another with two shirts, one with three, etc. and take these to whichever postal service you intend to use. Have them weigh the shirts for postage costs. Since postage also depends on where the shirt is going, have them select whatever zip code would be the most expensive. Then, because you could get overseas orders, ask the clerk how much it would cost to ship your T-shirts overseas. Once you have a reasonable idea of the maximum expected postage, devise a postage table for your website--for US orders and for overseas orders based on number of T-shirts ordered.
Whoever sets up your website should be able to incorporate everything required for customers to order and pay for their shirts online. As well, your webmaster will register your website domain name for you and set up a separate email account for customer questions, along with doing anything else you may need.
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