How to Start a Dropshipping T-Shirt Business 101

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Nedina Gjorgjieva

Date

2nd February, 2023

Read

6 minutes

Out of all clothing articles, t-shirts are the most versatile and expressive apparel items, allowing us to feel comfortable as well as display our characters by conveying our feelings, promoting certain causes, showing support for organizations, and many more.

As a result, the t-shirt market has been booming uncontrollably, with people making purchases on a frequent basis and presenting preferences for online shopping.

Despite showing eternal interest in this item, customers will still carefully consider their place of purchase. So, why not that place be your dropshipping store?

Considered to be an extremely convenient eCommerce fulfillment method, the dropshipping business model allows you to satisfy your consumers’ t-shirt consumption without having to operate a physical inventory or manage the shipping process. In addition, you’d be offering enthusiastic shoppers access to fast and convenient online purchasing.

So, where do you start from, you wonder?

In this guide, we’ll share with you all the things to take into account when starting a dropshipping t-shirt business and teach you how to navigate the highly competitive t-shirt field and come out on the top.

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Is dropshipping t-shirts profitable?

Yes, dropshipping t-shirts can bring you plenty of income or help you earn extra money. We ground our opinion based on the facts that the dropshipping model requires minimal investment and the t-shirt industry has been showing persistent growth over the course of the past years.

To illustrate, the t-shirt segment of the fashion market is expected to reach over US$70 billion in the women’s segment and over US$44 billion in the men’s segment in 2023. This is enough proof of the niche’s profitability and a clear indicator of this clothing article’s high demand among shoppers.

How to start a dropshipping t-shirt business?

STEP 1: Do the groundwork for your niche market

The fact that you’ve chosen the clothing niche you’ll be focusing on doesn’t mean all the work is done. On the contrary, you must continue researching your dropshipping niche and find out ways you can get your dropshipping t-shirt business to outrank the competition.

There are a few things you can do to lay the groundwork for your niche:

Search for ‘t-shirt’ and other related keywords in Google Trends to find out the interest in that particular term in different regions and subregions of the countries you’re targeting; (Check out how to use Google Trends for dropshipping)
Rigorously research your competitors and find out everything regarding how they manage their stores and what kinds of strategies seem to work for their businesses; (Find out more in this article about how to do a competitor evaluation)
Consider focusing on a sub-niche, such as selling luxury t-shirts, in order to further narrow your customers and focus on a more specific target audience.

STEP 2: Source suppliers of high-quality service

Obtaining dropshipping suppliers with premium service needs to be a top priority. Anything less than that should be an automatic deal-breaker. Don’t rush into making a decision as there are many vendors to review.

While doing your investigations, these are the main questions to look answers for:

What’s the quality of their products?
How broad of a product catalog do they offer?
What are their wholesale prices?
What are the estimated profit margins I’ll be earning?
How often are inventories stocked with new arrivals?
Can they provide me with proof of delivery?
What eCommerce platforms do they offer integration for?
Is there dropshipping automation?
What’s their return and shipping policy?
Will I benefit from constant support and customer service?

STEP 3: Lay the foundations for your eCommerce store

Your dropshipping t-shirt business storefront is a paramount part of your journey. It’s what customers will see first when visiting your site, meaning it needs to be built to perfection and help visitors make positive first impressions about your online store.

Our top recommendations for web-building platforms are the following:

Shopify: Shopify is an all-in-one platform welcoming to both beginners and advanced entrepreneurs, especially recommended for the former group as it doesn’t require any tech knowledge and offers all the necessary tools to build a captivating website. (Check out our Shopify Dropshipping Guide)
WooCommerce: WooCommerce is an open-source eCommerce platform and a plugin for WordPress designed for slightly more experienced users, however, newbies are more than welcome to give things a try as there are plenty of materials that can help them in configuring their websites and getting them online. (Check out our Dropshipping with WordPress Guide)
Wix: Wix is another all-in-one eCommerce solution offering users hands-on services, asking for little to no experience with building a website. (Check out our Wix Dropshipping Guide)
Shift4Shop: Shift4Shop is an outstanding option for dropshippers as well, providing users with hundreds of built-in tools and features and a great alternative to Wix, WooCommerce, and Shopify. (Check out our Shift4Shop Dropshipping Guide)

STEP 4: Kick-start your web traffic and marketing campaign

There are a plethora of strategies you can incorporate into your marketing plan. It all depends on your personal preferences and what kind of actions you’re planning to take.

Overall, there are two approaches you can go with:

Organic traffic: Organic traffic refers to all marketing channels that help you drive traffic to your website for free. Take a look at the strategies that can bring you organic traffic:
- SEO optimization – includes everything related to improving your website’s quality and helping it rank high in search engines.
- Content marketing – refers to creating content in form of blog posts, vlogs, images, videos, podcasts, etc.
- Email marketing – consists of collecting customers’ emails and sending out on regular basis updates regarding products, promotions, updates, and more.
- Social media platforms – alludes to all actions to your website that have been encouraged via your social media accounts such as publishing posts and engaging with customers.

Paid traffic: Paid traffic is related to marketing strategies that require you to invest a certain amount of money in order to increase your web traffic such as:
- Paid advertising – advertise your products with Facebook ads for dropshipping, Instagram ads for dropshipping, Google ads for dropshipping, and Google Shopping ads.
- Influencer marketing – enter into paid partnerships with social media influencers and leverage their platforms for advertising purposes.

What are the best t-shirt dropshipping suppliers?

: Location: Europe & US

Holding the title of one of the biggest B2B online marketplaces for dropshipping luxury fashion, BrandsGateway won’t disappoint you with its impeccable dropshipping service.

Main features:

Benefit from a broad product category of +10,000 items and +100 luxury brands, including Dolce & Gabbana, Jimmy Choo, Versace, Michael Kors, Gucci, and Swarovski, to name a few;

A chance to sell designer t-shirts with high-profit margins of up to 250% per order and earn significant incomes;

Besides t-shirts, this supplier offers over +90 other clothing and accessories categories which consist of designer clothing, designer bags, designer shoes, and designer jewelry;

Profit from dropshipping automation via an automation plugin for Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, and Shift4Shop-based stores and Rest API integrations for custom-based stores;

No minimum order quantity for any product;

Warehouses are available in the US and Europe.

Dropshipping packages: All-in-one dropshipping subscription packages provide customers with all of these features. The subscription price is based on the platform dropshippers choose which they can check out in the pricing plans section.

Return policy: 14-day return policy starting from the day the order has been received.

Shipping policy: Worldwide shipping with reliable carriers, such as DHL, within 1 to 7 business days.
: Location: Canada

Known for its print-on-demand services, Printful also functions as a dropshipping supplier, offering customers both clothing and other types of products to dropship.

Main features:

The clothing section includes articles for men, women, and children;

T-shirts can be customized according to your design preferences;

Other items they dropship include hoodies, jackets, bottoms, swimwear, clothing accessories, and home and living items.

Dropshipping packages: Three dropshipping plans are available with a monthly and annual subscription.

Return policy: 30-day return policy on all products.

Shipping policy: Their shipping times vary significantly based on the location.
: Location: Italy

Situated in Italy, Buy2Bee is a fashion dropshipping supplier with warehouses in Milan and Los Angeles.

Main features:

Their clothing catalog includes t-shirts, hoodies, sweaters, sweatshirts, jeans, trousers, and others;

There’s no MOQ for the products they sell;

Payment methods they work with are PayPal, credit card, and bank transfer.

Dropshipping packages: They don’t disclose their dropshipping plans on their website, so you’ll need to contact them for further information.

Return policy: Return requests are available within 30 days of order delivery.

Shipping policy: Delivery times vary anywhere from 2 to 6 working days.
: Location: UK

Style Centre is a supplier offering both dropshipping and wholesale services with a warehouse located in Dundee, Scotland.

Main features:

Along with t-shirts, customers can also dropship other clothing categories available on their website;

There’s no limit to the number of products you order;

Accepted payment method includes bank transfer exclusively.

Dropshipping packages: To learn about their pricing plans, customers are required to fill out a dropshipping form on their website and will be contacted.

Return policy: No specified return policy.

Shipping policy: Their delivery service is limited to the UK and Europe with shipping times of 2-6 days outside the UK and next-day delivery within the UK.
: Location: USA

Specializing in street fashion for women, ModeShe is a dropshipping company selling clothing articles for women between 18 and 35.

Main features:

Their tops collection includes regular t-shirts, tank tops, tunics, blouses, and long-sleeve tops;

Dresses, bottoms, lingerie, outwear, and swimwear make also part of their product collection;

No product they sell has a minimum order quantity.

Dropshipping packages: To get more details about their dropshipping packages, you first need to register for their dropshipping program via their website.

Return policy: They do offer a return policy but it’s not specified how long customers have to ask for a return.

Shipping policy: Shipping times can be quite long, taking anywhere from 6 to 15 days.
: Location: Italy

Magliettopoli is an Italian supplier that dropships and manufactures customized items including t-shirts.

Main features:

Creates and sells customizable t-shirts for women, men, and children;

Other product categories their inventory includes are men’s and women’s sweatshirts, bags and backpacks, and baby bibs.

Dropshipping packages: To get informed about their dropshipping service, you can contact them via the email and phone number displayed on their website.

Return policy: Their website lacks info about their return policy.

Shipping policy: The shipping policy is also unclear, so it’s best to request information directly from this supplier.
: Location: Canada

Art of Where is a Canadian dropshipping supplier that produces all items in Montreal and ships its products worldwide.

Main features:

Their tops collection includes regular tees, long-sleeve t-shirts, hoodies, and tank tops;

Despite clothing, you can also dropship baby and youth products, bags and totes, accessories, home decor, stationary, and fabrics;

They also offer print-on-demand services for their product lines.

Dropshipping packages: Get in touch with this supplier to find out more about their dropshipping prices.

Return policy: The supplier must be contacted within 10 days for Canadian and US shipments and 15 days for international deliveries.

Shipping policy: Shipping can last 2-6 days for US packages, 2-13 days for Canada, and up to 10-30 days for international orders.
: Location: Italy

B2B Kids Fashion is another Italian supplier featuring mainly children’s clothing and accessories.

Main features:

Categories available are boy, girl, and baby apparel;

Payment methods that can be used include PayPal, MasterCard, American Express, and Visa.

Dropshipping packages: Two dropshipping plans with a monthly and yearly subscription.

Return policy: Returns can be done within 7 days of order arrival.

Shipping policy: With express shipping orders are delivered within 48 hours, while with regular delivery, packages are expected to arrive within 2 -7 working days.
: Location: USA

In business since 2014, FashionTIY has been functioning as a vendor for both wholesalers and dropshippers, sourcing them with clothes and accessories as well as bridal apparel, home appliances, office products, and outdoor wear.

Main features:

Their t-shirt collection includes custom t-shirts, white and colored t-shirts, crop t-shirts, letter t-shirts, long-sleeve and short-sleeve t-shirts, graphic t-shirts, slogan t-shirts, and others;

Keep in mind that they don’t provide CSV files, meaning you’ll need to manually import all inventory in your store;

Another drawback is that products are measured manually, leading to a 2-3 cm error in sizes.

Dropshipping packages: They don’t display their dropshipping packages on their website.

Return policy: Their return service isn’t explained in much detail.

Shipping policy: The processing time takes 3-6 working days and up to 10 days during the busy seasons with shipping times varying significantly depending on the carrier.

More suppliers

Wrapping things up

If you’re eager to dive into the entrepreneurial waters, then selling t-shirts online is a spectacular way to test out those waters. But don’t forget that starting a dropshipping t-shirt business is a decision that needs to be well thought out before jumping straight into it. Worries aside, with this starter’s article on launching such a business and our guide on starting an online boutique from scratch, you’ll be well prepared to get your t-shirt store online.

FAQ

: Yes, selling t-shirts is most certainly a business idea worth considering. Regardless if you choose to do full-time or only as a side hustle, when done properly, a t-shirt business can contribute to your finances significantly.
: A dropshipping t-shirt business refers to selling t-shirts without having to keep a physical inventory or being responsible to deliver orders to your customers. Instead, your dropshipping supplier takes care of that, your only job is to manage your online store.
: Selling t-shirts with the dropshipping method involves the following steps:

Choose a profitable niche.

Find a trustworthy dropshipping supplier.

Set up your eCommerce store.

Advertise your business and products.