designing t-shirts for teespring

6 years ago

I'm surprised that a course on selling T-Shirts didn't cover how to obtain images and graphics - what else did it leave out? Anyway, you needn't spend a fortune on a licence if you don't want to.

There are loads of free or cheap-to-licence stock image sites and the list is growing daily. Two of the better ones are:

https://pixabay.com

https://unsplash.com

Always check the licence and commercial use restrictions (if any) of each image beforehand.

But bear in mind that for a creative and popular T-Shirt, the image is probably less important than the idea. Come up with a great idea, and you'll find it easier to get graphics to match.

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mrayoub9 6 years ago

Thank you very much Frank.
The course did not cover everything about legal policies related to the use of external resources like images and fonts, but it has included everything else.
Shutterstock was covered but using only the monthly subscription to use images, but when I contacted the website about the possibility of doing it, they told me the images are not for commercial use unless if I have an enhanced license.
Thank you again for the helpful tips and resources. I did not want to spend money on images since the beginning and focus more on Ads to get sales.
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Jeffery

6 years ago

Originally Posted by Frank Donovan

I'm surprised that a course on selling T-Shirts didn't cover how to obtain images and graphics - what else did it leave out? Anyway, you needn't spend a fortune on a licence if you don't want to.

There are loads of free or cheap-to-licence stock image sites and the list is growing daily. Two of the better ones are:

https://pixabay.com

https://unsplash.com

Always check the licence and commercial use restrictions (if any) of each image beforehand.

But bear in mind that for a creative and popular T-Shirt, the image is probably less important than the idea. Come up with a great idea, and you'll find it easier to get graphics to match.

^ This ^

Any company can hire excellent graphics artists - dime a dozen. Hiring a creative mind is very difficult - top dollar!

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BloggerDeen

6 years ago

I would say for t shirt start from scratch and avoid using these stock images services. They will actually cost you more than if you start from scratch. And many even have restrictions on number of shirts you can print on, I know pretty crazy that they even limit that. So my suggestion will be to build your design from scratch and also orignal idea. I am not legal authority so do your own research too. And I can't blame you for confusion as copyright laws are actually more confusing when it comes to selling shirts.

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mrayoub9 6 years ago

Thank you Deen. I really appreciate your advice and agree with you.
I got the course more than a week and it was providing a lot of information but it has ignored many important stuff about the copyright and legal policies. The law is very strict in here and I think I will do what you told me. I will try to make my own quotes and if I can need a simple image I might get it from pixabay.
My intention was only taking quotes from social media websites, but I was not sure if that is okay or against copyright especially when the author of a quote is not identified.
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writeaway

6 years ago

You can do what many other POD (print on demand) entrepreneurs do to get intellectual property they can use... they crowdsource

Just make sure the terms regarding rights are clear

You wouldn't want to get a bestseller going only to get sued out of the profits

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mrayoub9 6 years ago

Thank you writeaway. I have not thought of this before. It could be costly for the beginning, but I think it would save a lot of time compared with doing everything by myself. I have intention to invest little at the beginning just to find a profitable niche, then I will try to invest more.
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klixion

6 years ago

If you're serious about getting in the Tshirt business, get in touch with a local screen printing shop. The quality of shirts will be much better and cheaper than teespring which is most likely DTG printing. You should try to get the shirts and printing for less than $6 a shirt to sell for $24 retail and $12 wholesale. With the prices on teespring, you won't make much and won't be able to grow your brand.

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mrayoub9

6 years ago

Thank you Klixion. You are totally right and doing it your way would be more profitable and good for the long run. The only issue is the amount of time needed to take care of handling the orders and doing everything. I did start with teespring just as a beginner because it does everything, but if I can make enough profit to quit job and start my own business, I will definitely follow your advice.

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klixion

6 years ago

Originally Posted by mrayoub9

Thank you Klixion. You are totally right and doing it your way would be more profitable and good for the long run. The only issue is the amount of time needed to take care of handling the orders and doing everything. I did start with teespring just as a beginner because it does everything, but if I can make enough profit to quit job and start my own business, I will definitely follow your advice.

You're welcome. You can setup a FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) store and have them handle everything including shipping and returns. Get a trademark immediately after getting your shirts printed if you start your own brand. Good luck!

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ItsDubC

6 years ago

A while back I was actually interested in POD and from what I remember, the general guideline for becoming profitable using Teespring over your own ecommerce store was to cast as wide of a net as possible.

In other words, just crank out hundreds and hundreds of designs and keep doing it. Each design becomes its own tiny passive income source for you as long as it's evergreen. Teespring will do a pretty good job of advertising your designs after you've made a certain number of sales, but to get those initial sales you might want to use social media to create some buzz.

Also for POD, aim to create designs that elicit an emotional response because POD products are generally nice-to-haves, not need-to-haves. An approach that works is to create designs that cater to a proud audience, such as moms of soldiers or police wives.

As for the images, a lot of images in stock form simply won't print well on a shirt. You might consider hiring someone on Fiverr to convert that image to a better print design.

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mrayoub9 6 years ago

Than k you ItsDubC. The use of social media is necessary and my plan is to invest an amount of money on many different niches. As you said, POD products are generally nice-to-have and the design should include a message targeting an audience proud of its values, its jobs, or even its hobbies. My primary focus is going to be on Facebook Ads and then I will try other platforms.
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writeaway

6 years ago

When it comes to finding IDEAS, use social media and snipe for trends

Don't fall for the whole "build it and they will come" trap... that mindset is not only expensive but also LETHAL. It leads to shattered dreams.

Follow existing markets instead of trying to make a new one