I love a good t-shirt. Working from home, I wear a t-shirt pretty much every day year-round. When I need to leave to run an errand or play disc golf (or go indoor rock climbing in the before times), I like when a t-shirt holds up to the rigors of the public eye.
In fact, I see the t-shirt as a universal product. They’re offered by publishers, individuals, entertainment brands, YouTube creators, artists, etc. Sometimes they’re great shirts I wear for years; other times they’re uncomfortable, ill-fitted, and rubbery, and I hardly wear them at all as a result.
If you’re going to sell t-shirts (or give them away), I have some thoughts about how to make shirts people will actually wear.
While you won’t find t-shirts on the Stonemaier Games webstore, we’ve made hundreds of them for Ambassadors and Champions, and we’ve authorized a number of third-party accessories creators to make t-shirts inspired by our brands. Here’s what I’ve learned:
- Material. My favorite material is Bella + Canvas (the Scythe t-shirts from Meeples Crossing use this material), with Anvil Tri-Blend a close second. Both feel soft on your skin and look great.
- Fit. I greatly prefer fitted t-shirts. A bonus of fitted tees is that they actually work well as unisex shirts.
- Design with subtly. This is highly subjective, but I like my nerdy t-shirts to be designed in such a way that they are aesthetically pleasing without shouting, “I love Battlestar Galactica!” For me, that often means a clean or vintage style with little to no text (though there are exceptions). LudoCherry does this really well.
- Blended printing. To avoid that rubbery feeling of an image stamped on the front of a shirt, select a blended print option. This integrates the printing into the material itself. The Stonemaier vineyard shirt from Meeplesource uses this technique.
- Sizing chart. Every type of shirt fits differently, so offer a sizing chart to help customers.
- Consider local printers. While I currently work with the excellent Trust Printshop in Texas, we used a local printer for a while, and they did a great job. You don’t need to buy from a big online printer to make quality, reasonably priced t-shirts.
- Request a sample (or two). Shirt colors can appear very different on the computer screen than in person, so if you’re able to request a few paid samples–especially if they include your design–it can really help with the final decision.
- Accept preorders and buy in bulk. There are certainly other methods, but you’ll get the best prices if you buy in bulk, especially if you’re using the printing method I recommend above. Whenever we make a shirt for Ambassadors or Champions, we accept preorders for a few days (guaranteeing we have the exact sizes in the correct quantities) and then place an order with Trust Printshop immediately afterwards. They ship the shirts to our US fulfillment center, from which we ship cartons to our fulfillment centers in Canada, the UK, and Australia, and then to the end consumer. The entire process takes 4-5 weeks.
What’s one of your favorite t-shirts, and what elements of it do you like so much?
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18 Comments on “If You’re Going to Sell T-Shirts…”
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Thank you, Jamey. I’ve flirted with the idea of printing t-shirts for our company before and quality was always my number one concern. Thank you for the jumpstart on knowing what t-shirt criteria we should look for!
Hi Jamey!
Just a not-so-relevant question. Am I making a wrong assumption if I think the t-shirt you are wearing in the picture includes the website logos of forthcoming Stonemaier releases?
Keep up the great work!
That assumption is correct! :)
I’m a 99% of the time t-shirt wearer as well. The only reason I skipped out on the Champion t-shirt is that in my experience, a lot of branded shirts seem to end up being a cheap, flimsy shirt that begins to fray, shrink, and/or lose color within a few wears. Now knowing that you like high quality t-thirts this much means I’m ready for the next batch of Stonemaier shirts!
Is tri-blend really the material of choice for people in this hobby?
I have a couple SM shirts and while I do like the fit and the tri-blend material, I see (at conventions) way more people wearing cotton shirts versus tri-blend shirts so I wonder if you’ve ever tested this – cotton vs. tri-blend – for your shirts?
I think tri-blend feels significantly better than cotton. I think you’ve probably seen more 100% cotton shirts because the people who have made t-shirts have sacrificed quality to save a few dollars. :)
Funny that you bring up this topic. I’ve been admiring the orange T-shirt you often wear with the Stonemaier logo and wondering if you ever sell them. Then I thought I heard you mention in one of your videos that T-shirts had been sold to Champions. So when I recently became a Champion I thought I would find some new magic button on the website store where I could buy a T-shirt. But alas, unless I’m just not looking in the right place, I found no such thing. You mention in the article that you have made T-shirts for Champions and Ambassadors, so I guess I’m wondering, is there some place I’m missing, or is this something that you put on offer only on certain occasions? And if you only offer such things on occasion, perhaps in honor of this post, you should consider putting some more up for sale!!
Thanks John! The orange shirts are for Stonemaier Ambassadors. We make them in bulk twice a year, and we only make what our Ambassadors ask us to make for them–that’s why it’s not listed on the website on an ongoing basis. We do something similar with a special Champion shirt we make once a year (a tradition that started last year; the next iteration of it will be announced to Champions very soon!).
Ok, cool, can’t wait to see what they look like.
Thanks for the reply. Love Scythe, Tapestry and Wingspan, and I’m planning to purchase some of your older games in the near future, when its safer to invite friends over for a game night.
I’ve been really enjoying your videos during this time. Thanks for all you are doing!
I think your point about local printers is one I’d highlight. We worked with a local printer in Calgary who was simply fantastic. They let us live proof our prints and just generally facilitated us getting the exact results we wanted. We had thought about using print-on-demand services as it’s easier in the short term, but you really don’t have very much control over quality it seemed.
The main guideline I look at is color. The 2 ends of the color value range(so to speak) vastly influence my choices but not necessarily for the reasons you think. On the light end I prefer nothing lighter than what is usually called an ash grey because light colors and shades are more likely to show and retain spots and so look dirty sooner and are harder to get “clean” in appearance. On the dark end so many designs are on a black shirt or a Navy blue and I understand why but I live in Texas and so comes Spring time and they all get packed in a box or 2 until late Fall or early Winter. I’m sure I’m not the only one to deal with these problems. Bright mid-range colors seem to work the best but they seem to fade the fastest.
I’ve been really happy with the Meeple Source Sythe shirts, and I would definitely be happy to pick up more shirts in the same material and printing style.
I have a karate t-shirt with my dojo’s name, phone number and symbol. It’s nearly 30 years old and is still so comfortable to wear. I lost the tag so I have no idea what material, but it’s light and breathable.
I love t-shirts but I have the hardest time paying a premium for them. I consider $20 to be very near the ceiling of what I want to pay. What do you think is a reasonable cost for a t-shirt?
That’s a great question–I should have addressed it in the article! :) I typically aim for $20 (with no/minimal shipping costs). I wouldn’t go higher than that, and I wouldn’t go lower than $15-$20, given the relatively small quantities we’re making.
I am a larger girl and I hate things close to my throat. So I like a v neck shirt but those are rarely offered.
Thanks Mary! That’s good to know.
I agree (and I’m a ‘thinner man’) but I feel the same – round neck T-shirts often have a very small head hole so I prefer V-necks.