Yet another online t-shirt shop?

1 points by stef25 ↗ HN
I've teamed up with a great designer who has been making his own t-shirts for quite a while but has no knowledge of the web.

The product is already taken care of: dozens of great designs that he's been selling successfully in market stalls, the t-shirt quality is good and the finished products sells in bulk for 4USD a piece.

What sets us apart?

- Designs: obviously this is subjective but myself and friends that wear them get compliments, "where did you buy it?", etc. The designs sit in a niche between threadless and expensive brand name shirts.

- Price: The low bulk price allows us to offer serious discounts. Buy 2 get one free, promo codes offered after every sale, more promo codes if you tweet / share on FB, etc. Standard shipping is free world wide.

- Social: Initially sell 10 models for men and 10 for women. Then we'd launch a "groupon style competition", showing 5 possible designs that may be made next, asking people to vote for their favorite. If theirs wins, they get to buy the shirt at 50% off. Voting and results get disseminated on Twitter & FB.

- Packaging: Because of the low bulk price we can afford to splash out on nice packaging to make users feel appreciated.

- Support: 30 day no question returns. My partner is in Asia so we can answer emails within the hour, 24/7.

The goal is to set up a break-even business initially. All proceeds go in to advertising. I'm a web developer, girlfriend is a rock star designer / photographer; the website, design and product/model shots will only cost us our time.

Thoughts?

2 comments

[ 3.7 ms ] story [ 16.6 ms ] thread
There are so many t-shirt shops it's hard to make a mark. I have two words for you: Geurilla marketing. Check out the this week in startups episodes where Jason and Tyler talk about their custom shirts- geurilla advertising at it's best.
Is this on blip.tv? Couldn't find the episode you mention.