I know a thousand other people want to get into this online business, but before I jump in, I want to get a few answers.
Suppose I wanted to open an online t-shirt business... What I would do is wait until I get the orders and then have the shirts mass-produced and shipped to my customers.
Who would I contact that would be able to mass produce the design on the shirts - say 200 to 2,000 at a time - onto various sizes and possible sweatshirts as well, and then be able to ship them individually to each customer?
Would there be one company that can not only mass produce the shirts, but be able to handle the shipping as well? Not to me, but to the customers. If so, who are they and how much do you suppose it would cost for 200 shirts? How much for 2,000 shirts?
If no one knows the estimate of the cost, that's okay, but pointing me in the right direction on how to find a company that can do this would be well appreciated. Thank you.
2006-10-16 00:16:56 · 4 answers · asked by Billy K 2 in Business & Finance ➔ Small Business
I rarely say this but the first two posters gave you great advice. I would also suggest you explore and maybe contact the SBA http://www.sba.gov/ the US Chamber of Commerce http://www.uschamber.com/default and check out the resources at Inc.com http://www.inc.com/ for help. Good Luck!!!
2006-10-16 00:43:43 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Your pricing answers totally depends on shirt color, ink colors, sizes and so much more that it's impossible to give a price point based on what's in your head. Yes, there would be printers that could drop ship to the customers but there's often a fee in that. Imagine the goof ups with an order of 2,000 shirts where you want 2 shirts to this person, 1 to this person, 1 to this person, etc. You are better off handling the distribution yourself and you'll be able to check the quality of the products. Make sure to get samples of the shirts before you mass produce them. You may end up with a cheap tshirt and more returns than sales. You may want to refine your business plan a little to be more specific. As for the vendors, do an online search for "t shirt custom printers" or "t shirts wholesale."
2006-10-16 07:22:42 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Go to http://www.score.org/ to find the nearest SCORE chapter. Contact them to arrange for a free one on one meeting with a SCORE counselor about starting your t shirt business.
SCORE is a nonprofit organization. They provide a public service by offering small business advice and training. .
SCORE's 10,500 volunteers have more than 600 business skills. Volunteers share their wisdom and lessons learned in business. The volunteers are working/retired business owners, executives and corporate leaders.
2006-10-16 07:28:58 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
This is a VERY, VERY difficult business to get into. The only profit comes from selling LARGE quantities of shirts. Very difficult to do.
Check out cafepress.com for an easy way to get started with very little overhead.
2006-10-16 11:35:34 · answer #4 · answered by just me 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋