Etsy is one of the most popular eCommerce marketplaces, hosting over 90 million active buyers in 2024. This traffic makes Etsy a great place to start selling custom t-shirts – one of the most popular clothing items.
This article covers everything you need to know to start selling high-quality shirts on Etsy, including where to source your products and how to create awesome shirt designs.
We’ll also discover how to sell shirts on Etsy without inventory using Print on Demand (POD) and Printify.
Key takeaways
- Pick a niche where your Etsy shirts will stand out. Use market research tools to learn more about your target audience.
- Source high-quality products and design your own clothing. Build a visually appealing brand identity and keep it consistent.
- Set up your storefront and add listings with high-resolution images, detailed descriptions, and relevant keywords to improve your product’s visibility in Etsy search results.
- Use Etsy SEO strategies, create content, market on social media platforms, interact with your audience, and run Etsy Ads to increase traffic and sales.
- Join Printify to start selling t-shirts on Etsy with no upfront costs or inventory management. Access all the tools you need to source, design, and publish bestselling shirts.
How to sell custom t-shirts on Etsy in 5 steps with Print on Demand
Starting a t-shirt business on Etsy will take dedication and commitment, but it can be a very rewarding and profitable business venture. Follow these five steps to turn your t-shirt brand idea into reality.
1. Define your target audience
Before you start making shirts, decide exactly who you’ll sell them to – your target audience. This lets you market your designs to customers who are most likely to buy from your t-shirt store.
Factors like age, location, education, occupation, income, and gender play a role in defining and marketing to your target customers.
When selling shirts on Etsy, target a niche you’re familiar with that doesn’t have a lot of competition. Here’s how to find one.
1. Use tools like Google Trends to research your target audience. Type “t-shirts” or “tees” along with words related to your chosen niche, like “Husky mom t-shirts” or “Pizza chef tees.”
2. Look at Etsy search bar suggestions for terms like trendy t-shirts, popular t-shirts, and keywords related to your niche.
3. Use third-party services like eRank to research keywords related to your niche. Include those words in your listings and content to attract more customers.
Expert tip
“Etsy sellers can navigate the challenge of balancing trends and market saturation by focusing on product differentiation.
You should innovate in design, offer customization options, and emphasize quality to set your items apart.
Curating a smaller selection of high-quality, unique products allows for more effective marketing efforts. Stay informed about market trends to adapt your offerings and remain relevant.
This approach attracts customers and builds a lasting brand identity beyond short-lived trends.”
Simon Bacher
CEO and Co-Founder at Ling-App
2. Choose t-shirts and design them
There are many ways to source products, but Print on Demand (POD) with Printify is definitely the easiest and most profitable.
Printify has the biggest variety of customizable t-shirts for printing and free design tools to create best-selling t-shirts for your Etsy customers.
Select a custom t-shirt
Browse the women’s, men’s, and children’s t-shirt sections in our Product Catalog and choose the styles your customers will like the most.
When picking a shirt, consider the t-shirt materials and type, available Print Providers and fulfillment locations, design options, and production and shipping costs.
Check out Printify’s best-selling shirts to add to your Etsy store:
Apply designs
Make designs that align with your brand identity and target audience’s preferences.
Our user-friendly Product Creator makes it easy to add designs and text, adjust sizing and position, create patterns, and even generate AI images. If you already have a design for your t-shirts, just upload it and adjust the sizing and placement.
Use whatever software and tools work best for you. Designing shirts for Etsy should be fun, after all!
Not feeling that creative sparkle? Use free Printify designs or find high-quality art through our Shutterstock integration. If you want super custom designs, consider hiring a graphic designer through the Printify Experts Program or a site like Fiverr.
Here are a few design guidelines to keep in mind:
- Prioritize simplicity: Keep your custom t-shirt designs simple unless your niche prefers maximalism.
- Show off your brand: Create a recognizable aesthetic for your brand identity. Keep it readable and recognizable – don’t use too many different fonts together.
- Coordinate colors: Limit the number of colors per design and product variant. This makes buyers’ choices easier and reduces decision paralysis.
Read our article on the best Shopify t-shirt stores for inspiration.
3. Set up your Etsy storefront
You need to create an Etsy seller account before listing your printed t-shirts. We made a tutorial on how to start an Etsy store to help you through the process.
Publish listings
Once you’ve chosen a t-shirt and applied a design using our Product Creator, add a description and click Save.
Integrate your Etsy account with Printify.
- Click Add new store in the Manage my stores section.
- Select Etsy, enter the required account information, and confirm the integration.
Once done, you can publish all your t-shirt listings on Etsy in just a few clicks.
You can adjust your product descriptions, listing images, and prices in your Printify account, while more advanced listing edits, like tags, can be done in your Etsy account.
Don’t forget to add the relevant keywords you found while researching your target audience to increase your t-shirt’s ranking in Etsy search results. Include as many details about your shirts as possible so customers have all the info they need before purchasing.
You can also learn how to take pictures for Etsy on our blog.
Want more information on getting more sales and making money on the platform? Follow our blog to stay in the loop.
Price your products
Do some research before you set your prices. See what other Etsy sellers charge for similar items and calculate production costs plus Etsy fees. We created a pricing calculator for those selling on Etsy to help you set the right prices.
Make sure your retail prices cover all your business expenses with a profit margin of at least 40-50%.
There are many pricing strategies, but here are two popular ones:
- Set a smaller profit margin to get an advantage over other sellers.
- Slightly raise prices and generate more profit by increasing perceived value. This approach can work well with audiences who put quality over price.
Remember to adapt your pricing strategy to your audience and market changes, and take advantage of holiday events for deals and discounts.
Is selling on Etsy worth it? Read our blog’s detailed breakdown of t-shirt pricing to see how much you could make.
Build a store page
Log in to your Etsy account and fill in all the requested info. Choose your Etsy shop name, write a storefront description including relevant keywords, and add all business information in the settings.
Upload your online store banners, add high-quality images for branding, and fill in the About section to appeal to your target market and make your Etsy shop unique.
The more information you include in your Etsy store, the better. This will increase your shop’s credibility with potential Etsy customers and help improve your t-shirts’ visibility in search results.
Check out our in-depth guide to selling on Etsy.
4. Market your Etsy store
A carefully planned marketing strategy will help you attract customers and sell more shirts than your competitors.
Here are some effective and popular types of marketing.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is a great way to increase your store’s searchability and build brand awareness.
Implement Etsy SEO strategies by adding relevant keywords, tags, and categories to your listings. This will give buyers the information they want before purchasing and increase your store’s visibility in search results.
Content marketing
Use blog posts or articles on your official website to discuss personalized shirts, custom products, shopping habits, and other related topics.
Share customer feedback and share new eye-catching designs to build awareness, trust, and authority.
Social media marketing
Social media is a crucial tool for communicating directly with your customers. Engage regularly with your audience on social channels to build your brand identity and direct traffic to your Etsy shop through promoted posts and discussions.
Use visual platforms like Instagram or Pinterest to promote your personalized shirts with fun images and videos. Don’t forget to include popular hashtags and relevant product info.
Email marketing
Email marketing is a powerful tool used by most eCommerce business owners. Whether you use it for order confirmations, customer support, newsletters, or promotional materials, it should be your prime channel for giving customers helpful information.
Create an email list to keep customers in the loop about new shirt designs or special offers. For instance, send a newsletter promoting your best-selling shirts on Etsy and include exclusive discounts for subscribers.
Etsy Ads
Onsite ads, known as Etsy Ads or promoted listings, are paid ads placed in the Etsy marketplace. It’s a great tool for getting your store on the front page of Etsy search results.
Create Etsy Ad campaigns after your business has been running for about a month. This way, you’ll have some data on your top-performing products. You can set up promoted listings in the Shop Manager section on the Marketing page.
Learn more about Etsy Ads on our blog.
Search engine marketing
Etsy offsite ads promote listings on Google, Bing, and social media. This is a fixed Etsy campaign that stores are automatically enrolled in.
Shops that have sold less than $10,000 worth of merchandise will be charged a 15% fee for sales generated through offsite ads. Shops that have earned more than $10,000 will be charged 12%. Only shops in the first category can opt out of the offsite ads program.
While offsite promotion can help you get more sales, these fees will eat into your profits. If you’re eligible to opt out of the program, you can do so by going to the Shop Manager, Settings, and then selecting Offsite Ads.
Check out our Etsy Marketing Guide for a detailed marketing strategy.
5. Analyze and adjust your store accordingly
A month or more after opening your Etsy store and selling t-shirts, check the initial data and see what’s working and what isn’t. Use Etsy Analytics and connect to Google Analytics to get accurate and up-to-date information.
Monitor your t-shirt shop’s performance and adjust by altering or removing underperforming products or adding new ones your customers will like.
Expand your brand and add more products to your Etsy shop to increase profitability. Learn how to sell printables on Etsy from our blog.
Make it happen today!
4 Tips to successfully sell shirts on Etsy
Setting up an online shop is only the first part of your eCommerce journey. Growing your Etsy t-shirt business will require dedication and patience.
Explore our tips to help improve your Etsy store and make it truly profitable. Incorporate these into your business plan and adapt what’s necessary to lead your brand to success.
1. Use Print on Demand for fulfillment
What if you only needed to focus on designing and marketing your t-shirt line without the hassles of production, storage, and shipping?
Printify and Print on Demand make that possible. Pick a Print Provider, create designs, upload them to Printify’s Product Creator, make adjustments, and publish your listings. When the Etsy store receives an order, the Print Provider will fulfill it, from printing to shipping.
Print on Demand is a smart way to generate passive income, and Printify will connect you with dozens of Print Providers worldwide.
Etsy vs eBay, compare differences between the marketplaces, and get more eCommerce ideas for your Etsy store.
2. Release more designs
Create various designs to get more views and sales on Etsy. The platform’s algorithm gives more visibility to stores with new listings and designs.
Increase your product numbers by adding shirts with different fits and fabrics, targeting specific segments of your audience.
Use the Printify Product Creator to speed up the process. Upload your best designs and re-apply them to different shirt models.
Use our Product Creator to speed up the process. Upload your best designs and re-apply them to different shirt models.
3. Use different types of shirts
Customize your products for every body shape, size, gender, and age. Printify offers a wide range of t-shirt options to suit various preferences and styles.
Explore our Catalog to find a variety of shirt styles, from organic to synthetic fabrics, including jersey tees, long-sleeves, cropped tees, tank tops, and more. Pick from different cuts like crew-neck and V-neck to further expand your selection.
Our t-shirts come from top industry brands to ensure you can cater to your customers’ unique tastes and needs at competitive retail prices. Make your Etsy store the go-to place for t-shirt selection.
Printify also offers many eco-friendly t-shirt options to appeal to environmentally-conscious customers.
4. Try selling offline
Etsy shop owners from Australia, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom can link stores and inventory to a Square account. This provides a point of sale for in-person transactions at fairs, trades, or even a brick-and-mortar store.
Square updates inventory amounts on the Etsy shop listings and manages payment processing.
To connect an Etsy account to Square, go to the Shop Manager and scroll down to Sell in Person in the left-hand menu. You can create a new account at Square or connect to an existing one.
Visit our blog for 50+ articles about selling on Etsy.
Sell t-shirts on Etsy with Printify
Upload best-selling designs to our Product Creator, publish your tees on Etsy, and start selling and profiting with Printify.
Frequently asked questions
Selling shirts on Etsy has several costs:
- Listing fee: $0.20 per item.
- Transaction fee: 6.5% of the total sale price, including shipping.
- Payment processing fee: 3% + $0.25 per transaction (US rates; international rates vary)
- Optional advertising fees: Costs for Etsy Ads and offsite ads if you choose to use them.
Other costs include t-shirt production and any design tool subscriptions you buy.
Start selling shirts on Etsy using print-on-demand services like Printify. Create awesome designs, apply them to top-quality t-shirts from our Catalog, and publish them to Etsy with a simple click. Once a customer orders a shirt from your Etsy business, Printify prints and ships it to them.
- Choose a POD provider: Select a POD service like Printify.
- Create your designs: Design your t-shirts using graphic design software.
- Integrate with Etsy: Connect your Etsy shop and Printify account.
- Upload your designs: Add your t-shirt designs to the Product Creator or create new ones from scratch.
- Set your prices: Pick a price for your t-shirts that’ll leave you with a decent profit.
- List your products: Create detailed Etsy listings with high-quality images and descriptions.
- Promote your shop: Use social media, SEO, and Etsy ads to attract customers.
There are many design software options, like Canva or Kittl, to create art for your t-shirts. The Printify Product Creator has tons of great design features, like a text editor with many fonts, a free graphics library, a pattern creator, and Shutterstock integration, to bring your creative ideas to life.
The easiest way is to partner with a print-on-demand platform. POD lets you choose best-selling t-shirts and add your own designs to sell for a profit. There’s no inventory required, and order fulfillment is automated.
Start your Etsy print on demand business today!
Get ready to sell
We’ve covered how to make shirts to sell on Etsy, including product sourcing with Print on Demand to opening your Etsy t-shirt shop.
Take your time, create popular t-shirt designs, and remember to monitor your store’s performance and market changes continuously.
Partner with Printify today to start a thriving t-shirt shop on Etsy!
