How to Start an Online T- Shirt Business
There are many successful online T-shirt companies that cater to different niches in the marketplace, but there is always room for more competition. Whether you want to sell funny tees, T-shirts for special occasions, or shirts that showcase your own creative artwork, you can find a market for your designs. You can launch a lucrative online T-shirt business with just a bit of planning.
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Instructions
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Decide whether to print your own T-shirts or use a print-on-demand (POD) company. Going with a POD company is much less expensive. The company will ship your orders for you, and you can order as few as one T-shirt at a time. However, printing your own shirts is more profitable.
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Choose a niche, or target market. Possible niches: T-shirts with humorous sayings, T-shirts for sports teams and youth groups, T-shirts for moms, baby and toddler T-shirts, trendy graphic T-shirts.
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Pick a name for your T-shirt business that reflects your target market and secure a DBA (Doing Business As, or assumed name certificate) from your county clerk. If you are selling baby T-shirts, for example, a name such as "Sprouts Tees" would work well.
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Buy a domain name from a company such as Register or Go Daddy. If printing your own shirts, decide which e-commerce platform to use, such as Big Cartel, Etsy, 1000 Markets, or Core Commerce.
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If you want to use a print-on-demand T-shirt company, choose which one. A few options include Zazzle, SpreadShirt, CafePress, and Uber Shirt.
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Study the image upload guidelines for your chosen POD company and create images that meet the company's specifications. Use a graphics program such as Adobe Photoshop or Paint Shop Pro. If you are printing your own shirts, ensure you have enough ink and blank tees. You can buy them from a company such as Jiffy Shirts, Blank Shirts, Got Apparel, or Cheapes Tees.
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Tips & Warnings
You may want to hire a freelance graphic or print designer if you have little to no experience with making graphics. You should expect to pay $60 to $95 per design, more if you want exclusive rights to the images.
