Any advice for Print on Demand (POD) Merch sales?

[Stub Mandrel]

We are looking for a possible 'print on demand' solution for band t-shirts etc. I'm always surprised that my other band manages to shift a steady trickle of t-shirts and CDS.

In the first instance it is likely to be just friends and family, so more interested in avoiding up-front and ongoing costs than making a profit. But ideally it will be something we can point our fans at if they want to buy anything.

 

We have a few potential designs that would all work as t-shirts, but could also potentially go on mugs, keychains etc. so one of those sites that will put a logo on anything you want would be ideal.

After not costing us anything, the main concern is they shouldn't be too pricey for purchasers, decent quality (e.g. Gildan) and reliable.

So has anyone done this successfully, and who did you use?

[odysseus]

I design stuff on Canva then hawk my shizzle on Redbubble. I found it very easy to use when uploading your designs, choosing which products you want your designs on etc. There are YouTube vids, of course, which will run you through how to do it quickly and effectively.  I've had hoodies and tees and been happy with the price and quality.  I can't speak for other sites though...

[uk_lefty]

7 hours ago, Stub Mandrel said:

We are looking for a possible 'print on demand' solution for band t-shirts etc. I'm always surprised that my other band manages to shift a steady trickle of t-shirts and CDS.

In the first instance it is likely to be just friends and family, so more interested in avoiding up-front and ongoing costs than making a profit. But ideally it will be something we can point our fans at if they want to buy anything.

 

We have a few potential designs that would all work as t-shirts, but could also potentially go on mugs, keychains etc. so one of those sites that will put a logo on anything you want would be ideal.

After not costing us anything, the main concern is they shouldn't be too pricey for purchasers, decent quality (e.g. Gildan) and reliable.

So has anyone done this successfully, and who did you use?

I tried on Amazon, results were underwhelming and often difficult to get a whole design into the template. I would avoid those. Sorry I can't be more help but I may have saved you £4 on a trucker cap with a logo so small it can't be seen.

[BigRedX]

We've recently ditched PoD T-shirts in favour of getting 100 screen printed front and back with the band logo on the front and one of two different designs on the back (so 50 of each design). Overall cost was just under £700 and they have been selling steadily since we got them 2 months ago. If we'd gone for 100 shirts with just a single design printed on the front it would have been less than £600. We expect to make our money back easily within 12 months.

 

IME print on demand T-Shirts suffer form the same problem as bands who don't have CDs and/or vinyl for sale at gigs but instead point you towards a web page where you can stream or download the music, in that the take up is considerably less than sales of actual product punters can buy there and then. I speak from experience as a punter when having seen a band that I liked enough to want to buy their CD I discovered that they didn't have any for sale, but they were giving out cards with a QR code and URL for their Bandcamp site. The following day when the enthusiasm of the gig and the the couple of beers I'd had, had worn off the music didn't seem as exciting and consequently I didn't buy anything. I wouldn't even have bothered getting a card for a PoD T-shirt but I might have bought one at the gig if the design was good enough.

 

Even when we were doing PoD T-shirts we had to have some of each design on the merch table so that punters could actually see what they were going to get and we sold way more of these "samples" than we have for people who ordered them on-line after the gig. If sales of the new T-shirts go as well at the next two gigs as they have been, we'll have sold more of these in under three months than we have in almost 3 years of selling PoD.

 

TL;DR PoD might have no set up cost but you won't sell many T-shirts either.

Edited November 22 by BigRedX

[Stub Mandrel]

2 minutes ago, BigRedX said:

We've recently ditched PoD T-shirts in favour of getting 100 screen printed front and back with the band logo on the front and one of two different designs on the back (so 50 of each design). Overall cost was just under £700 and they have been selling steadily since we got them 2 months ago. If we'd gone for 100 shirts with just a single design printed on the front it would have been less than £600. We expect to make our money back easily within 12 months.

 

IME print on demand T-Shirts suffer form the same problem as bands who don't have CDs and/or vinyl for sale at gigs but instead point you towards a web page where you can stream or download the music, in that the take up is considerably less than sales of actual product punters can buy there and then. I speak from experience as a punter when having seen a band that I liked enough to want to buy their CD I discovered that they didn't have any for sale, but they were giving out cards with a QR code and URL for their Bandcamp site. The following day when the enthusiasm of the gig and the the couple of beers I'd had, had worn off the music didn't seem as exciting and consequently I didn't buy anything. I wouldn't even have bothered getting a card for a PoD T-shirt but I might have bought one at the gig if the design was good enough.

 

Even when we were doing PoD T-shirts we had to have some of each design on the merch table so that punters could actually see what they were going to get and we sold way more of these "samples" than we have for people who ordered them on-line after the gig. If sales of the new T-shirts go as well at the next two gigs as they have been, we'll have sold more of these in under three months than we have in almost 3 years of selling PoD.

 

A fair observation, but as a cover band we are more likely to sell as many in a year as you do at one gig