How I Started Selling T-Shirts in 30 Days

I begin to start creating t-shirts to sell online - out of the curiosity of how print on demand works.

I wonder how would the designs I create look like on a real product. Like a T-shirt.

There’s also this feeling to design what I would like to wear on a daily basis.

That is how I begin with the designing T-shirts journey - as one of my projects.

And when I get to sell them and make a few dollars with the designs I create,

It’s always good to see success when I get a sale.

Then I continue to work on what kind of designs do people want to wear.

To make my designs get more traction and people able to find them online.

so here I want to share with you what I’ve learnt to make and sell them,

and you can do the same in 2024.

My Tips to Start Selling T-Shirts Online

Here are what I did to start making new sales on T-shirts I create:

1) Use a Keyword Research Tool to Search Designs in Demand

You want to be making designs that has a demand, which means people actively search for it.

A keyword tool can give you data on it.

Look for the ones with high search volume and low competition.

Or generally when you search them in the marketplace, these designs have a lower number of results.

This makes sure your designs are searchable by buyers online.

Find a keyword research tool that generate ideas and give you statistics on keywords that are:

• High search volume
• Low competition

2) Go to Etsy and Find the Best Selling Designs

On Etsy there are thousands of t-shirts being sold each day with POD.

From there you can find the popular t-shirt designs as an inspiration to make your own.

When you learn from what others are creating, you can get a foot in to know what designs are currently selling.‍

What kind of designs do people like to wear.

Is it their passion, hobbies, or a funny meme.

These are potential ideas you can find out on the platform.

They hold statistics like the amount of sales or reviews that people buy the shirt for.

This is how you can start making better designs that appeal to the specific customer.

3) Make your own unique designs on those topic (eg: funny shirt)

When a customer can relate well to the design, they will buy it to wear on a shirt.

So do your best to make designs that look appealing and is relatable to your specific customer in that field.

That is how your design can stand out from dozens of artist and the algorithm.

Another note, make sure your designs are getting searchable in the marketplace too.

If not, contact the marketplace team support to kindly ask them for a request.

You can get to know if your designs are appearing on the platform by doing this:

• type the exact keyword you used when publish the design
• hitting “Newest” at the design section.
• you find your shirt design from the “Newest section” after few minutes

We’ll cover about the keyword part next.

4) Add good keywords in the designs

Keywords are useful to let people find your designs.

Of course, with the relatable and relevant keyword - do best to represent the design you sell.

I usually add 15 keywords into each designs, but sometimes i add lesser and only aim for the relevant keyword.

This can boost your ranks in searches when adding relevant keywords only.

For example:

• You’re doing a cat design, don’t put a dog keyword (it’s totally irrelevant to the design).

This can cause the design to rank lower in search pages after months.

As the algorithm will deem it as not ideal and appealing to the customer base.

It is important to put these relevant tags as keywords for a new design.

So that a customer get to find what design they want, and you can land on the moon with your design that fits their needs.

5) Quantity and quality of artwork both matters (50/50)

I felt like usually the quality of an artwork or graphic design makes it sells more.

But it isn’t always the case. Sometimes there are funny or special designs that looked simple, but still hold the attention of people.

Some graphic design work that I put into hours didn’t make any sales. And sits in silence.

So I think sticking with create for both types are needed, where your designs should be simple and appealing to look at. But it doesn’t mean it has to take those long hours, to create just one theme.

For example:

• You can try adding vintage textures to designs to make them look more appealing.
• But don’t spend on hours to make a design that you can’t replicate easily later.

Making a simple design can get you started better, realistically.

When you are still testing out what designs get sales, work on the technical skills to apply on your designs is equally important to get more sales.

Remember more appealing designs, means more eyes.

That equals to more people want to wear them on a shirt. Whether that’s their hobby or passion.

You can double down to work on the designs that sells later, to get more chances of being chosen in the marketplace.

6) Start with a simple design

Make the design and provide the right keywords.

Don’t over complicate with the designing process.

A simple graphic design works better than the intricate one.

7) Avoid selling branded designs

There are rules to follow when you want to sell on these platforms.

One of the reminders is to avoid selling in big branded icons or logos that has trademarks.

This helps to ensure your shop can run on the platform with no issue on later stages.

Reading the handy guide on their platform is just as important for any update and rules that apply when selling a t-shirt or other products.

I hope you find these tips helpful to start selling your first T-shirt in 30 days through POD marketplace.

It has helped me to do the same from experience.

Many trials and errors are needed to make designs that sell.

Instead of thinking about how hard it is to sell one, start with the tips above to experiment with your new T-shirt shop.

You will find new success in earning a sale from that design you make months ago.

This is how I would start selling T-shirts in 30 Days during 2024.

here is where you can make an account and start selling t-shirts too.

Let me get back to designing!

- Zenn