OUR TOP PRIORITIES FOR PRINTING AND SELLING T-SHIRTS IN OUR RETAIL SHOP

For anyone starting a clothing brand it is important to understand that just creating a design is only a very, VERY small portion of the job roles you are about to take on board. 

If you want to see your clothing in physical, brick and mortar retail stores, you need to consider the full process from designing your shirts to printing and merchandising professionally. You need to give your customers a reason to purchase and install a sense of trust so they keep coming back for more.

As professional screen printers and streetwear shop owners, here are our top priorities when designing new collections for our retail shop.

RULE ONE : THE DESIGN

The design is always going to be your first priority. If your design is not good, no one will purchase. It’s that simple.

At Squeegee & Ink, while we both have degrees in illustration and graphic design, neither of us practice our skills on a regular basis. With this in mind, we prefer to collaborate with professional artists. When you open your business up to a collaboration you are also introducing a new audience to purchase your work.

Our most recent collaboration was with Matt Potts. Check out his work @mattpottstattoo

RULE TWO :  THE PRINT METHOD

In general, your design will determin the print method. However, we consider screen printing to be the most premium method of printing t-shirts. If your purchasing in bulk, then screen printing is often the cheapest method… If you want to play around with design and colour options, then you could try screen printing these yourself.

We have lots of online courses teaching you how to screen print from scratch. We also provide ‘pre-exposed screens’ which are screen printing screens with your image already burnt in place saving you the hassle of purchasing expensive equipment.

PRE-EXPOSED SCREENS

View course here: https://www.squeegeeandink.co.uk/product/how-to-start-screen-printing-your-own-t-shirt-designs/

RULE THREE : THE FINISHING TOUCHES

If you want your garments to be sold in a professional retail space, you need to provide products that fit within the industry standards. For example, a branded inside neck label is essential.

We like to use ‘Ultra Colour Transfers’ for our inside neck labels. We find them to be durable, easy to apply and they generally don’t show through the garment making them perfect for extra logo placements.

You can get discounted ‘Ultra Colour Transfers’ directly from Stahls’ using our discount code: SQUEEGEE

https://custom.targettransfers.com/create/UltraColour-Heat-Transfers?c=6162313

RULE FOUR : THE MERCHANDISING

The importance of merchandising is often overlooked. In our shop we prioritise some collections by creating a visually appealing display which encourages the customer to pay more attention. Once you have grabbed the customers attention, then you’re likely to make the sale.

We hand screen print all of our POS around the shop because it fits in with our brand aesthetic and it is quick and easy to achieve.

RULE FIVE : THE SELLING POINT (INCLUDING PRICE)

You need a unique selling point (USP) for your t-shirts. Your customer needs a reason to purchase your t-shirt over someone elses. Our USP’s are:

• Limited edition t-shirts. Once the t-shirt has sold out, we wont be printing anymore of that design.
• Designed by a local artist.
• We plant 1 tree for every t-shirt sold.
• All of our t-shirts are 100% organic cotton and are sustainable and ethically sourced

Once you have your USP, you can price your garment accordingly. We charge £25 per t-shirt or 2 for £40. Our prices are fairly cheap in comparison to other small brands. This is because we know who are customers are and we want them to be able to afford our products.

If you are selling your products wholesale to a retail shop, you will need to consider halving your prices so the shop can make profit too. Although your prices are cheaper, you will be selling in bulk which allows you to start working on your next design quicker.

RULE SIX : THE MARKETING

Think about who you are marketing too and how you are going to get your products in their hands. Whoever your customer is, you will need to create some great product shots to advertise your new designs. Reach out to your customers, send them emails, contact them on social media and start selling your t-shirts!

Check out our latest YouTube video:

We show you how we collaberate with artists, screen print their designs on t-shirts and then sell them in our shop. 

PLEASE SUPPORT OUR BLOG!
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We fund our blog and YouTube channel by selling our Blind Maggot t-shirts. Please help and support us by purchasing a shirt. As a thank you, we are giving all of our squeegee viewers £10 off our limited edition t-shirts!

GET £10 OFF LIMITED EDITION T-SHIRTS  DISCOUNT CODE : SQUEEGEE

Check out all of the designs here and keep watching our YouTube channel to find out how we printed them: https://www.blindmaggot.co.uk/collections/limited-edition

> BUY A SHIRT HERE <

TIKTOK
@blind_maggot https://tinyurl.com/pc79vzdj
@squeegee_ink https://tinyurl.com/5cmnsw4b