Sign in to follow this  
cbs1963

Most popular t-shirt colors

Recommended Posts

If you could only stock a few t-shirt colors which colors would you have?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Guest fivestar

I'd say it depends on if you're involved with your local schools.  Then whatever your school colors are then I'd definitely stock them along with white, black and sport grey.  It really depends on the market you cater too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

i mainly carry black (for my coworkers) orange (for a racecar I sponser) ash gray (for myself)....when I order any of these colors I always order a couple other colors I dont normally carry

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you want to stock mostly what you think customers would order from you, I agree with the above:  black, white, gray, blue, and local school colors.

If you wanted to print your own shirts and sell them from your own shop, my friend has a pretty locally popular tattoo shop.  He sells a ton of shirts printed with his logos.  He usually has black and royal blue for men, and pink tank tops for women.  The only problem with keeping the same colors is that it looks like the same stuff all the time.  I know his stock rotates because I help him, but a regular customer might think it's always the same shirts.  If it was me, I would throw in short runs of other colors just to catch people's attention.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Why stock shirts?  You'll just end up with too many of a size you don't need and not enough of the sizes you do.  Find a supplier with next day shipping.

I occasionally buy a few extras to bump up to case pricing if it's gray, white or black.  I also screenprint, though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I have been thinking this too.  I don't have the space or money for many shirts.  Take orders then order shirts, keeping a few on hand for quickies.  I like that idea.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

We've done it this way for years.  Order the shirts on an as needed basis.  When you get an order, order a few extra's of each size. (your bound to mess some up anyway (especially on large orders... I'm in the middle of a 1000 piece order right now)).  After a while you don't make as many mistakes and your inventory grows.  Just my 2 cents. :P

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I agree with jheyne, unless you have a store front and want them to sell, just make it a habit of ordering a couple extra here and there. Your stock on hand will eventually grow. Ive even heard of some printers charging the customer. On an order of say 1000 shirts they allow for a 3% scrap rate so they charege the customers for the extra. If they dont scrap any then they get to keep the extra. If the customer will only pay for 1000 then they are told that any scrap will given to them but are not guaranteed to be "sellable". It works for some, other customers refuse this practice.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

White, Black, Grey, Red, Blue

I really only keep enough in stock for smaller orders (12 or less). I order my shirts and get them in 2 days. When I order I just get 1 or 2 more shirts of each size and factor those shirts into the cost of the job. You'll end up not using most of those extras and can add them to your inventory, but they will already have been paid for by other jobs you did so any other jobs you do with those extra shirts is pure goodness. Im doing an order for 155 shirts now and ordered somewhere around 180 shirts for it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

being new we were recommended to carry black, white, gray and pink as the majority of the 700 shirts we bought. We added a few of red, green, fuchsia and cardinal for specific reasons and maybe 5 each. What killed me was the price jump from white to color and anything above XL is practically $2 more. We bought from jiffyshirts.com, if anyone has better suggestions where to buy, better price and so on, let us know please we're not apposed to trying something different. Currently we buy 100% preshrunk cotton Gildan shirts.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You are going to see the price jump on colors and bigger sizes at about anywhere you look.

I use Sanmar beasue I get next day ground delivery. Their prices are very reasonable and they have great marketing tools you can use on their website.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think Gray, Black, White, Safety Colors, and whatever your local school colors are.  All shirt prices are going up due to price increase in cotton.  I agree with what many others have said, I try to always order a few extra of each size we are printing on for mistakes......eventually you don't make as many mistakes unless you are just having a bad day!!!  S&S, Sanmar, Broder Bros. and Alpha seem to be good distributors for us......I agree with the next day ground or find a place you can do a local pickup.  Good Luck and Happy Printing!!!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Everytime I order tees for a larger ticket,  I order 1 extra shirt in each size and absorb it into that job.  They really add up over time and it feels good to use those garments on smaller orders.  They almost feel "free" and you really build a variety of inventory. 

The colors i sell the most of are probably black, red, ash, and royal because of the local high school colors. 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Good point Daisy.

  I buy one extra per size in case I make a mistake. However, in many cases I have extras from not making those mistakes as often.

Also, I don't charge the customer for that. If I did I would have to or should give them a discount or send them the extra t-shirts.

The other day I finished printing a front design on t-shirts, and decided to print on an extra sample sweatshirt. I was trying to coat a new screen at the same time, and forgot I had the flash dryer on the t-shirt. I was planning on wearing it when I went home to make my wife and daughter laugh.

Anyways, I scorched the sweatshirt. Left it too long, and since it sits higher then a t-shirt it was closer to the heating element. Aaugh!

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Normally I prefer to ware blue jeans and good T shirt on Jeans or normal pan with T shirts.I have currently 6 T shirts in different colour and design.Normally I like to ware white-blue colour T shirt to wear.I also like white T shirt on blue pant it look nice.Thanks

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you want to stock mostly what you think customers would order from you, I agree with the above:  black, white, gray, blue, and local school colors.

If you wanted to print your own shirts and sell them from your own shop, my friend has a pretty locally popular tattoo shop.  He sells a ton of shirts printed with his logos.  He usually has black and royal blue for men, and pink tank tops for women.  The only problem with keeping the same colors is that it looks like the same stuff all the time.  I know his stock rotates because I help him, but a regular customer might think it's always the same shirts.  If it was me, I would throw in short runs of other colors just to catch people's attention.

i agree 100%

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I take my orders and run downtown LA and pickup what I need. I screenprint , heat transfer & sublimation. I do A quote and get the deposit (what the shirts cost plus Xtra) then I make the shirts. I just did 40 black shirts for the bar I DJ at. Now I got some oneoff I got lined up and some custom slogans Im doing. I brought a some silkscreens on craiglist and they guy gave me like 100 shirts. 1st think he said was dont stock no more than 1 dozen T-Shirts at a time. he was like I had these shirts for 2 years and didnt finish doing my clothing line. He said take over the name and logo.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I don't do much grey but if you change it to red my list matches the one above

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this