The thing with selling t-shirts online is that anyone can get started with it. You have minimum investment, a realistic business plan, and you are kind of set.
And with that comes increasing competition. Thousands of other businesses offer the same product as yours. So, how do you ensure that you thrive in the industry and make more profit?
If you are looking for the best way to sell t-shirts online and be successful, this is the only guide you need.
While there are various ways that help you make money selling t-shirts online, few really work.
This post discusses 7 strategies on how to make money selling t-shirts online. These are easily implementable, and will help you build a successful t-shirt empire!
A quick outline of how to make money selling t-shirts online:
- Create Trendy Designs That Shoppers Can’t Help but Purchase From YOU
- Bulk Orders Are Big Money. Partner With Corporates, NGOs, and Such
- Influencer Merch is the Next Big Thing. Start Selling Merchandise for High Profits
- Make Money with Print on Demand Without Spending a Dime on Inventory
- With Merch by Amazon, Earn Every Time a T-shirt Gets Sold
- Earn More by Selling Directly Through Social Media
- Customizable T-shirts Are a Game Changer. It’s Time to Equip Your Store with a Designer Tool
1. Create Trendy Designs That Shoppers Can’t Help but Purchase From YOU
T-shirt designs can make or break your business. No matter how good the quality of a t-shirt is, if designs are not on point, it becomes challenging to convince shoppers to buy from your brand.
If you want to make money selling t-shirts online, it’s time to turn t-shirt designs from drab to fab.
The designs you offer might be great. But are they relevant to what your customers are demanding?
Suppose you are currently selling Harry Potter tees. Well, they are classic. But there is so much more that is happening.
You would want to include other fandoms. Maybe Star Wars, anime, DC, and more. Finding trendy designs is a task. You’ll have to put your researcher’s hat on.
Where And How to Find Trending Designs
When selling t-shirts online, some of the best places to look for trending designs are Instagram, Pinterest, Merch by Amazon, etc.
Make the most of hashtags to find trending design ideas. For instance, I searched for #christmastshirts on Instagram and these were the results.
(Find trending t-shirt design on social media)
Choosing what to sell depends on who your target market is. If I continue with the Christmas t-shirt example, you can either choose to sell t-shirts with just quotes, or Christmas-related graphics.
If you are wondering how to make and sell t-shirts, the key to success is to focus on a niche. That will help you create and sell t-shirts that your target audience is actually interested in buying.
You can decide on a niche based on either the age of customers or their needs. Suppose you sell t-shirts with Christmas designs, then your niche based on age will be t-shirts for teenagers between ages 14-18.
Attract more shoppers to your online store with amazing customizable t-shirts. Find out how a T-shirt Design Tool can help your business.
The Easy Way to Find Best Designs
Finding trending designs is not as easy as it sounds. To ease the process, here are the top three categories that you can look for to create and sell t-shirts online.
One is to focus on evergreen topics like sports, jokes, hobbies, family, travel. Within these categories, there are sub-categories. For example, sports include niche ideas like cycling, football, yoga & mindfulness, etc. Hobby niches are designs targeting book lovers, plant lovers, gamers, etc.
The second is to consider seasonal topics like Christmas, Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and so on.
And the third is to hop on the latest trends. A simple Google search will give you hundreds of ideas on designs that are popular. The most common ones include bold statements, hand-drawn designs, doodle artwork, repetitive text, etc.
Once you prepare a list of potential t-shirt designs that you wish to create, the next step is to validate the market demand.
There’s no point in spending time and resources on creating designs that people are not currently looking for.
Tools like Google Trends will help you analyze the popularity of different queries.
Once you add 4-5 ideas, you will be able to compare the search volume for each and then make an informed decision.
Turn T-shirt Designs into Ready to Sell Templates
You might have thousands of different designs but every shopper coming to your store has unique needs. Someone might want to change the background or add text.
By creating ready templates, you can enable shoppers to unleash their creativity and make eye-catching products. As per their requirements, they can choose a template, and further customize t-shirts.
Things like a T-shirt Design Tool come with powerful features like template manager, artwork manager, etc. that make customization quick and easy.
- Preloaded Templates – Once you assign templates to different products, they will be available on the front-end of the tool. Pre-loaded templates are templates that will be loaded by default whenever the customer opens the product for customization.
- Pre-loaded Cliparts – Customers can explore their creative side and create unique t-shirt designs using this feature. They can choose from 1000+ clipart designs and add multiple illustrations to their tees.
- Artwork Manager – Using this feature, you can create and import predefined artwork for customers to apply on images. That will save their time and effort in creating a design from scratch. Plus, with minimum customization, they can proceed with the final purchase.
Explore all the cutting-edge features of our T-shirt Design Tool. See for yourself how the tool simplifies the process of selling customizable t-shirts.
2. Bulk Orders Are Big Money. Partner With Corporates, NGOs, and Such.
Taking up B2B bulk orders is one of the fastest and easiest answers to how to make money selling t-shirts online. By tapping into the growing market of B2B, you can reach more buyers and increase sales.
The current B2B eCommerce trends suggest that the industry is rapidly growing.
In 2022, the global B2B eCommerce market size can reach USD 7.907 trillion. It is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.7% from 2022 to 2030.
As profitable as it seems, the biggest challenge entrepreneurs face is to decide whom to sell to. The scope of B2B is not limited to corporations. Here are the most popular industries you can target.
Top 4 Industries That Demand Custom T-shirts
T-shirts are for every occasion. Startups need branded merchandise to promote their company. Nonprofits want custom fundraising tees to raise awareness about the cause. Then there are tees with brand logos that work as uniforms. Here are a few ways you can approach different industries to create and sell t-shirts online.
A. Sports and Fitness
When it comes to making money selling t-shirts online, custom team gear is a popular choice. You can partner with sports organizations and teams to help them sell customized sports apparel. You can even work with fitness coaches and influencers to create and sell their merchandise.
B. NGOs & Hospitality Sector
Another scope of selling t-shirts online is to target charitable organizations and fundraisers. They are always in need of t-shirts for various events. Apart from NGOs, partnering with event managing companies, hotels, etc. is also a good idea to make money selling t-shirts online.
C. Businesses Ranging from Startups to Large Corporations
Started in the early 1950s in Miami when a few resort owners decorated their t-shirts with resort names and logos, this has now become an effective advertising strategy.
Many startups and large corporations are opting for custom t-shirts with their logos, as they can create a lot of impressions for them on social media as well as in real life.
D. Education Institutes
Celebrating #backtoschool has become a popular concept. It’s the right time to create and sell t-shirts online for schools and universities. Some of the most common ideas include first-day at school t-shirts, uniforms with logos, school sports tees, club t-shirts, and so on.
You can offer personalized t-shirts as uniforms in different industries using a Uniform Design Tool. Learn more about it.
Manage Orders Like a Pro With Product Design Tool
Selling in the B2B segment is way different than B2C. The process of B2B selling is more complicated.
There are multiple stakeholders involved in the decision-making process. Finalizing every process right from choosing a design to where you need to place it on the product takes time.
Unless all the concerned authorities are not on the same page, the pre-press process continues thus resulting in delayed order fulfilment.
Additionally, brand consistency is an important factor in selling t-shirts to other business entities. You have to be very particular about choosing colors and graphics that match the brand identity of your clients.
A Product Designer Tool eases your job by not just enabling customization, but it automates the entire process including pricing, print-ready files, adding names and numbers for bulk orders, etc.
Features That Ease the Process of Selling Custom T-shirts
- Name & Number Import – Using this feature, your customers can import a bunch of names and numbers to t-shirts. Additionally, if they want to preview each product, they can easily do so using the preview feature.
- Dynamic and Live Pricing – The tool offers you a dynamic and live pricing system. With dynamic pricing, you can decide on the price for each customization. You can charge shoppers for every feature they use. Plus, live pricing enables you to give your customers a complete bifurcation of their design customization.
- Print-ready Files – This is a crucial feature that helps to automate all the pre-press activities. You can generate a print-ready file and quicken the process of artwork proofing, rescue errors, and increase speed.
Get a detailed understanding of how the T-shirt Designer Tool works by taking a personalized demo.
3. Influencer Merch is the Next Big Thing. Start Selling Merchandise for High Profits
If you are looking for ways to give a boost to your online business with an additional source of income, then influencer merch is the answer.
Influencer merchandise has become a huge thing and it is not going to end anytime soon. As long as social media prevails, content creators shall keep rising and so will influencer merch stores.
There are thousands of influencers selling their merchandise in various categories including apparel, beauty, etc. For instance, Zach King, a popular internet personality has a merch studio that sells tees, tops, sweaters cards, etc.
This brings great opportunities for business owners because these influencers and content creators look for ways to outsource all the aspects of creating and selling merchandise online.
Companies that work with influencers design, manufacture, and sell branded merchandise from t-shirts and hoodies to other accessories.
A pool of influencers and their massive fan following. Imagine how catering to this huge industry can be a treasure trove for your business! Here are a few success stories that will inspire you.
Ideas in Action
Fanjoy 30x Their Sales Partnering with Social Stars
Fanjoy is one of the early entrants in the creator economy. Chris Vaccarino, the founder, and CEO of Fanjoy, started the company by selling t-shirts for his brother’s band in 2014.
In 2017, the company really took off when it partnered with digital creators for selling t-shirts and sweatshirts. The company powers more than 100 creators including TikTok stars and YouTubers. With its innovative approach and influencer collaborations, the company has not only seen a surge in sales but has also helped creators grow TikTok followers organically, solidifying its position as a leader in the digital marketing landscape.
Fanjoy started with Print-on-demand that allowed them to test different product ideas without investing a lot in inventory. As the company scaled in 2017, so did its sales (by 30 times).
“We were at a point where we were doing $150,000 in sales per day” – Chris Vaccarino.
MerchLab Offers a Top-of-the-Line Solution for Creators
MerchLabs is popular among athletes, influencers, entertainers, etc. who do not want to take the pain of handling their branded merchandise.
It is a complete merch solution for social influencers that do not just help create merch, but it provides an eCommerce platform that social stars can use to sell their products.
Not just that, they also take care of the fulfilment and marketing aspects. All one needs to do is apply to the platform and receive an invitation to join.
Over 160 brands, influencers, organizations, and artists trust MerchLabs with their merch and digital presence.
These are a few of innumerable examples of how companies are getting insanely successful in this sector. If you already have a running business, you can expand the opportunities by turning your online store into an influencer merch studio.
Further, you can enable product customization as a unique factor. You can even enable end-customers to add a personal touch to the branded merchandise they are purchasing.
To know more about T-shirt Customization Tool, get in touch with our experts who will give you a detailed understanding of how the tool works.
4. Earn More with Print on Demand Without Spending a Dime on Inventory
Print on Demand allows you to sell t-shirts online without handling the process of inventory management. The print-on-demand service provider will take care of everything from printing to shipping.
One of the biggest advantages of this model is that you can test different product ideas. Since you won’t be holding any inventory, you can experiment with products without much risk.
With so many options at your disposal, it might be tricky to choose the best POD provider. There is Printful, Printify, Zazzle, and a lot more. Detailed research will help you pick the best fulfilment company.
PrintXpand enables you to easily integrate a T-shirt Design Tool with a print-on-demand platform. That way you will be able to sell customizable t-shirts and attract more shoppers.
Check out the link below to know more about third-party integrations.
5. With Merch by Amazon, Earn Every Time a T-shirt Gets Sold
Just like Printful, Merch by Amazon is another Print-on-demand service that you can leverage to sell t-shirts online. The only advantage is you get to reach thousands of shoppers given Amazon’s traffic.
Originally created for video game developers to sell tees, the platform now allows anyone to list and sell their products.
You do not have to pay upfront cost. Once the platform approves your request, you can start uploading designs and sell them. Amazon pays you monthly royalties.
6. Make Money by Selling Directly Through Social Media
If you already have a social media business profile and are not selling there, you are missing out on a major source of revenue.
Selling on social media is not a new concept. After the launch of Facebook Marketplace and Instagram Shop, businesses have started leveraging social media to sell their products online. They also have started using customer service tools to take their social media customer service to the next level benefits of podcasting.
With 3.6 billion active social media users, there is hardly a chance to not succeed. For beginners’ here’s how you can start selling on social media.
Set Up an Instagram Shop
Instagram Shop enables you to curate a list of shoppable products that customers can directly access through your Instagram profile.
The ‘View Shop’ button that you see, that’s where your potential customers will be able to browse and buy your collection.
Nearly 81% of users use Instagram to research products. Also, 1 in 2 people has used Instagram to discover new brands. Enabling the shop feature will make the buying process easier and quicker.
Once you enable this feature on your business account, you can even start tagging products on your feed posts, stories, reels, etc.
However, just setting up an Instagram shop is not enough. Content strategy plays a critical role in Instagram’s success. Great photography with captions that make a user want to at least check out your website does half the job.
Set Up Shop Section on Your Facebook Page
Facebook Shop enables users to sell products through chat features of Messenger, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
To start selling on Facebook, you first need to set up an account with Facebook’s Commerce Manager. There you will be able to customize your storefront and create a collection.
7. Customizable T-shirts Are a Game Changer. It’s Time to Equip Your Store with a Designer Tool
In the last few years, the custom t-shirt industry has grown tremendously. And it’s likely to remain so. During 2022-2030, the global custom t-shirt printing market is expected to reach USD 9.18 billion, exhibiting a CAGR of 9.9%.
If you have an online t-shirt business, now is the right time to take a step further and enable customization on your online store.
The first and foremost thing you will need is a T-shirt Design Tool that is easily integrable on your online store irrespective of the eCommerce platform it is built on.
The tool by PrintXpand works efficiently with all popular eCommerce platforms including Magento, Shopify, WooCommerce, PrestaShop, etc.
When it comes to having a tool that makes customization easy, PrintXpand is unrivaled.
Our focus on building a tool with an intuitive interface ensures that your customers do not face any struggle when customizing their products.
Such ease of use is crucial in improving customer engagement, and ultimately closing more deals.
Level up your online business with our feature-rich and intuitive T-shirt Design Tool to let shoppers customize your offerings.
For more than 14 years, we have been helping businesses in the eCommerce and printing industry make the most of product customization.
We have closely worked with t-shirt business owners to successfully implement T-shirt Design Tool. Today, they enjoy higher customer engagement, reduced manual process, and increased sales. This could be a case for you, and you are just one click away!
To explore all the cutting-edge features of the tool, and how you can get started, click the link below. We will help you get a detailed understanding of how the tool works as per your business logic.
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