Branding Your T-Shirt Business

Creating a brand identity is one of the most important aspects of Read more

Myspace Marketing (for Your Clothing Line)

Social networks are great tools for promotion to many small businesses. Myspace Read more

Good Customer Service

When selling t-shirts online, a major thing that determines your Read more

Selling T-Shirts At Events

One of the best ways to promote your clothing line is to attend Read more

UPCs Barcodes and RN#, Oh My

Alot of people coming into the t-shirt industry have tons of questions on what is refered to as the ‘businessy’ side of t-shirt selling and struggle with things like UPCs, barcodes and RN numbers. To make life a little easier, we’re gonna guide you through some research, with the help of some UPC, barcode and RN resource websites.

To understand these tricky little terms, know what they actually are first:

UPC

Universal Product Codes appear as lines of varying widths representing the series of numbers commonly shown below the bars. Barcode scanners, as you will know them from your favorite retailers, read the bars and convert them back to the 12-digit UPC number that they represent. This number is then looked up within the retailer’s inventory system to find the corresponding product name and price that you provided them with when you signed your agreement for them to carry your product . In short, the UPC is a 12-digit unique code for your product represented by scannable bars.

RN NUMBER Number assigned to clothing manufacturers for labeling garments. The RN number allows the manufacturer of a certain brand to be determined. It is issued by the FTC to U.S. businesses that manufacture, import, distribute, or sell products covered by the Textile, Wool, and Fur Acts. Businesses can use this number on product labels in lieu of the company name.Information on obtaining RN numbers is available from the Federal Trade Commission.

BAR CODE A printed series of parallel bars or lines of varying width that is used for entering data into a computer system. The bars are typically black on a white background, and their width and quantity vary according to application. The bars are used to represent the binary digits 0 and 1, sequences of which in turn can represent numbers from 0 to 9 and be processed by a digital computer. The presence or absence of a bar of a particular width in a particular position in a sequence is read by the computer as either a 0 or 1. Most such codes use bars of only two different widths (thick and thin), though some codes employ four widths. The numbers represented by a bar code are also printed out at its base. A UPC is an example of a bar code.

Now that you’ve got them defined, and even narrowed down to only two terms that you actually need to know (UPC and RN Number) let’s take a look at their uses in the clothing industry.

You are required to label covered products to show the name or identifying number of a U.S. business responsible for manufacturing or marketing the product or the name of a foreign manufacturer. Therefore, you may use your company business name on the label instead of an RN. The business name is the full name that appears on business documents, such as purchase orders and invoices. It is not a trademark, brand, or designer name (unless that is also the name under which the company conducts business). Alternatively, the goods may be labeled with the RN or business name of the company that is buying the goods from you – such as a distributor or retailer. If you are acquiring the finished products from a U.S. manufacturer, importer, or distributor, they can remain labeled with the RN or business name of that company. RN numbers are available only to businesses residing in the U.S. However, imported goods can be labeled with the name of their foreign manufacturer. Your RN number or your company name belongs on the tags and labels of your t-shirts.

The UPC code is assigned to each of your product styles. Not every individual t-shirt you have in stock, but each different kind of t-shirt. For example, a black t-shirt with the word KING on it would have a different UPC from a blue t-shirt with the word QUEEN on it, but the same UPC as all the otehr black t-shirts with the word KING on them.

FOR MORE ON UPCs CHECK OUT UPCCODES.NET

FOR MORE ON RN NUMBERS CHECK OUT FTC.GOV T-ShirtMagazine.com = T-Shirt Madness

Article Source: Moustapha Camara EzineArticles.com

T-Shirt Packaging

A major factor in the t-shirt selling business is presentation. Presentation of your designs, presentation of your website or storefront, presentation of your promotional images etc, etc, etc! To make the sale and keep ‘em comin’, you really gotta get this presentation thing down and impress the hell outta your customers and potential buyers. That being said, impressive presentation of your t-shirts upon delivery is something to consider.

Here’s why:

Not many other online shops are using custom packaging.

Your shop can stand out by being one of the few.

Cool packaging will make a customer say “Hey, this shop is so frickin’ awesome! Even their packaging is cool!

Don’t underestimate the power of packaging. Customers are highly likely to spread the word about the interesting packaging of the t-shirts they order.

Let’s take a look at the various packaging options available to you.

Generic Plastic Bags

Custom Plastic Bags

Generic Apparel Boxes

Custom Apparel Boxes

Whatever mailer the product will fit in

Custom Mailer

Pouches

Jars

Other

According to a poll conducted on a t-shirt forum, most people just use the generic plastic bags or whatever mailer the product will fit in. It’s no surprise that barely anybody uses unusual packaging or customization to set their product apart. It’s simply overlooked.

Examples of great packaging are Johnny Cupcakes and Oddica. On one instance, Johnny Cupcakes t-shirts came packaged in cake mix boxes, something that fits the theme of his company. Be creative when coming up with packaging for your t-shirts.

So keep in mind that presentation does a lot for marketing to your customers. It’s fun and cool, and your shop could definitely use the individuality a unique package gives. Remember, impressive packaging can go a long way! T-ShirtMagazine.com = T-Shirt Madness!

Article Source: Moustapha Camara EzineArticles.com

How to Prepare a Line Sheet

When approaching retailers you’ll need, among a few other things, a line sheet to show what your line has to offer. A line sheet is one sheet of paper that shows all your t-shirt designs and info on buying them wholesale. This can also come in the form of a catalog.

What goes into your line sheet? A number of things:

Images of all the t-shirts your line consists of. Line sheets are usually seasonal, so you’d only show the t-shirts you’ve created for the upcoming season. Most line sheets show drawn/ computer generated depictions of the t-shirt line, not photographs, because this makes the design clearer. A photo may badly represent your t-shirt designs if the camera happened to suck. Show all important views of yout t-shirt. For example, if you have graphics on the front and back, show both sides. If there are small details in your graphic show a close up of the detail. Represent your designs the best that you can.

Style names and numbers. You can use a mix of numbers, a mix of letters, or a combination of both. Make your styles number easy to remember, for you and the buyer. Coming up with style numbers can be tricky, but using a forumla can make it easy. Some companies use a number from 1-9 to represent things like fabric, color, design, and size, and put them in a select order.

Prices. List the wholesale prices of your t-shirts. Remember, your wholesale price is usually doubled by the retailer to come up with the retail price. Make your wholesale price half of what you expect the t-shirts to retail for. It should be easy to find the prices for your t-shirts, so design the layout of the sheet correspondingly.

Color and fabric information. List what kind of fabric each t-shirt is made of and the quality of the fabric, etc. An example is ‘Made of 100% ringspun cotton.’ Also show the colors each shirt is availible in. If a design is available in more than one color, show the design on each color t-shirt.

Season. The season of the collection needs to be clearly stated. Summer, Winter, Spring, or Fall.

Delivery dates and order cut off dates. You must also state delivery dates and order cut-off dates. This info needs to be at the top of the line sheet. Order cut-off date, start ship and complete ship dates are included here.

Order minimums List your order minimum, which is basically the smallest number of t-shirts a retailer can purchase from you. You can list a minimum per t-shirt design as well as a minimum total order. For example, 5 pcs per design, $250 per total order.

Company and/or sales rep contact information. This is really important. List this clearly in an easy to find place or you probably won’t be getting any call backs.

Order form. Include an order form listing each style name/number as well as prices in an orderly fashion. Make space to allow the retailer to mark off size and amount, as well as shipping info. Take a look at other companies’ catalogs to see an example of this. Make the order proccess as easy and painless as possible.

This should give you a start. Use these pointers and you’ll be on your way to making an excellent linesheet or catalog. T-ShirtMagazine.com – T-Shirt Madness

Article Source: Moustapha Camara EzineArticles.com

Seven Legal Tips For The Tee Shirt Business

When starting a t-shirt business you might come across confusing legal issues. The legalities of business can’t be over looked. A lot of the legal info you find while conducting your research might seem confusing, so we’re gonna break some of it down so it’s easier to understand. Make sure you know your stuff before you get into legal trouble!

Copyright and trademarks- A copyright is the right to copy and gives the copyright holder the right to be credited for the work, to determine who may adapt the work to other forms, financially benefit from it, and other related rights. A trademark is a type of intellectual property, and typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements. You should copyright your t-shirt designs and trademark your label name to protect them legally. But, don’t worry about copyright and trademark too early. Until your work is being widely purchased or distributed, copyright may not even be necessary to launch your t-shirt business.

Images from the internet- Don’t use ‘em without permission. Images from the internet are copyright, unless you took them, in which case you own the copyright. There are ways of beating the system though: If you use a basic, generic picture, for example, one of a dog, you’d probably get away with it in some cases. Is there is nothing peculiar about the picture you use and it looks like something you could very well have taken, most likely the copyright holder won’t really be able to distinguish the image and wouldn’t waste time trying to hunt you down. On the other hand if you use a picture that’s very specific or complex, for example, a picture of a white pit-bull with black spots wearing a football helmet, you’ll get caught easily.

Famous quotes- When using quotes in t-shirt designs you should quote the person who originally said it. Don’t pretend like you made it up. Just give them their credit, even if it’s in super tiny print. You definitely wouldn’t like it if you said something funny one day and saw it on a bunch of t-shirts the next, without any recognition for it.

Popular characters- Never use them unless you have a license to do so. Just make up your own characters or get someone else to. Simple as that. Using popular characters in an attempt to sell quick is just plain lazy and uncreative.

Writing and signing contracts- Learn the ins and outs of contracts before writing or signing them or you’ll get screwed. Also, don’t sign a contract for anything until you’ve weighed out the options of having the contract signed or not, as well as how you’d feel about your decision to sign when a few months go by. Find some sample contracts online or in books so you get an idea of how they should be formatted.

Parodying familiar figures and icons- It’s allowed thanks to the right to parody. Just don’t get too crazy with it. When your parodying becomes overly offensive you may get attacked and or kidnapped by the entourage of figure you’re parodying. Just beware.

Political figures- In most cases they can be used. It’s no wonder there are so many political t-shirts on the market. The only situation you wouldn’t be safe using them is if you find a famous photo of a political figure. The photo would most likely be recognized as x photographer’s famous photo, so you’d be in hot water. In addition to political figures you can also use flags, coat of arms, and national symbols.

WHAT LEGAL ISSUES ARE YOU COMING ACROSS? T-ShirtMagazine.com = T-Shirt Madness

Article Source: Moustapha Camara EzineArticles.com

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