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Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

So im thinking of selling tshirts on ebay with custom quotes on them... im sure people sell them already, what are they called though?

What would people search to find them? since their not branded...

Also I have tried customised tshirts.. but that just shows a list of printing companies for tshirts.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Personalised t-shirts?

Unless you have a large printing operation you going to find it difficult to match the others. Loads are fruits of loom t-shirts so you a decent supplier of those too.

Quotes as in movie, celebrity quotes or quotes from history etc. Normally people search the quote they are after.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

people may search for novelty t shirts. Funny t shirts. Inspirational quotes etc Or if you're doing movie quotes the name of the films etc

I's be wary of breaching intellectual property rights,.depending on what area you're looking at.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

If you're thinking of selling tshirts / other accessories with the likes of big names TV shows on the front and other very big names of films, give up. Doesn't last long and many people have ended up on this forum due to that.

People will have printed these themselves so yes, it would need to be your own printing operation which I would assume cost a lot of money.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

We got fruit of the loom tshirts just over £1 each plain unprinted various colours company got around copyright by adding their own name to the front of the fruit of the loom name, freely available supplier online

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Copyright isn't an issue for fruit of the loom... they are sold to be printed on.

It's what gets printed on them that's the issue.

The other issue is, if you look on ebay, you will see 2 types of sellers.

The ones who keep everything legit, nothing that could be considered breach of copyright at all, and the others who print anything to make £££.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Pretty sweet Rosie.

As for category...perhaps clothing custom or along those lines

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Thanks for everyone for your contribution and responses...

I was thinking more along the lines of making my own quotes and getting a company to print them on a shirt... see how it goes, trial it out basically. Not copying anybody elses material, will be 100% original.

Also my worry is, if I come up with the quote and someone decides they like the quote, and starts to print it on their t-shirts and starts selling them, how would I prevent that from happening? - how would I obtain a copyright on such item, since its basically a quote or saying...

Thanks.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Thats your other problem.

As soon as it starts selling well (which, I am sorry to say is hugely unlikely) others will start printing.

You can knock a vinyl printed t-shirt out for well under £3 in 2-3 minutes if your making alot of the same thing.

The only quotes that ever sell well are from celebrities and tv shows that have the advertising and the loyalty of it's fans.

Some guy randomly printing quotes on t-shirts hasn't got a chance in my opinion.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Need to apply to eBay VERO program and be the recognised rights holder to prevent copying.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Copyrighting involves registration of the product with the UK Trademark board...I am not familiar with the process but I am sure you can search and apply for it.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

What type of orginal quote are you going to create?

Are you going to have the funds for obtaining copyright?

It is not cheap.

:juggle:

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

The whole Custom T-Shirt thing has been tried and tested by several past members, not sure if they were 100% successful but remember that even In-Direct cost also have to be factored into your price of the item.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

I agree with blueuk on most of the points, although I have done t-shirt printing myself, vinyl and colour printing, vinyl is much better if you are skilled and competent in that area.

There are lots of stuff you can print on a t-shirt that isn't copyright, be prepared to put a lot of effort into the designing of ideas and slow sales, the more you have on the more you might find a good seller.

Cash flow is an issue as you need to replace the t-shirt stock and sizes when you sell, some places have minimum order costs or you have to pay £8 postage, pre-printing isn't always ideal as you might be left with stock that doesn't sell.

I have a machine that will nearly full automate the t-shirt printing process apart from the final press on the t-shirt, it's people with top of the range machines like me that you will be competing with, and the machine I use isn't cheap to buy.

Best thing to do is work out your profit margins - t-shirt cost, vinyl/ink cost, packaging, postage, fee's... then work out what t-shirts like your are selling for, £7.99, £8.99 free postage? Can you make money on that? If so, then give it a go if you can afford it. It all hinges on how good and popular your designs are.

Good luck!

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Thanks again for all your contributions... I will go ahead with this, I dont expect to become a multi-millionaire from it, nor make a living just from this one idea, but I feel you have to start somewhere right? and if it works, it works, if it doesnt, well you move on. Its not like the investment is so large I will have to sell a limb... So thanks for your help, will definitely take it on board.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Right back at you rsot!!

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

I'm liking the recent suggestions along the lines of pound shop items that look to be worth quite a lot more the pound they cost to buy as a fair starting point, been checking out the amount of job lots and bankrupt/wholsale stock of baby/toddler clothes selling like there is no tomorrow on eBay at the moment, seems to be a sudden rush on them as long as they are in good enough condition, hardly any been without bids on them recently

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Waste of money, waste of time. Traffic is down from 110M to 60M. eBay is a dying platform.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

True but not, global economics says something different.
Online shopping is the strongest market ever and its just growing and growing bigger.

But the shopping habits have changed and customers want more sites, that why ebay have ebay.de ebay.co.uk and so on. I sell on ioffer and sales going slow but in total the sales keep a steady way up the sales diagram on my computer.

For the topic:Play if you have some good design i might end up buying some so 1 potential customer right here :) good luck with this project.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Keep us all updated on your progress, play. Good luck with your venture.

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Ive bookmarked this thread so I dont forget to update you, so see ya'll in a few months... Thanks for all the support!

Re: Selling custom t-shirts on ebay
 

Best of luck Play - free sample t-shirt :FF: