Are you still looking for a niche to start your own online business? Think of it this way. What’s one thing people shop for the most online? It’s clothing and accessories. So, if you want to make money by opening an online store, a great place to start is to sell t-shirts online.
The stats are here to prove it. According to Statista, clothing and accessories will be the largest category among online retailers in 2025. Whether it’s clothing, accessories, or footwear, this industry is not slowing down, and one of the best ways to get into this niche is through selling t-shirts.
Today, in this article, we will learn how to sell t-shirts online. T-shirts are among the most popular clothing items. If you want to start a home business, t-shirts just might be your best choice.
Let’s start with a step-by-step guide on starting a t-shirt business at home.
How to Start a Home T-shirt Business in 6 Easy Steps?
#1 Identify What You Want to Sell
There are a huge number of types of t-shirts available online. From the material it’s made of to the type of sleeve or neck, you need to decide which one you want to sell.
The customer segment is also important here. For example, if you want to sell t-shirts online with funny slogans, the customer segment is primarily young people. Polo t-shirts, on the other hand, are primarily targeted at people over 30.
Find your niche and segment your audience accordingly. Conduct proper customer research before you start your business. Your t-shirt can be for men or women, for everyday wear, for fun, or for a specific purpose like playing sports. The more you narrow down your niche, the easier it is to sell.
#2 Find Suppliers & Type of Printing
The type of material you use will make or break your brand. Partner with suppliers to get the materials that customers will line up to buy.
After you have partnered with a supplier on the type of material you want, you are ready to decide on the printing techniques to make the t-shirts. There are 3 common printing techniques.
Direct-to-garment Printing Machine
Have you ever seen an ink-jet printer? A DTG printing machine works exactly like that. It prints the ink directly onto the t-shirt. If you are just starting to sell t-shirts online, a DTG printer is the best option. It’s cost-effective and can print small orders quickly.
Heat Transfer Printing Machine
This type of printing is great for transferring a design from your system to the machine. The design is added to the machine, and with the help of a heat press, it is transferred to the fabric. Similar to DTG, this printing technique is also cost-effective in the long run. But the initial upfront cost is huge.
Screen Printing Machine
If you have large orders and want to print in bulk, a screen printing machine is the best option. If you want to expand your business, it lets you print on shoes, hats, and pants as well.
Screen printing machines are labour-intensive and, as compared to other machines, have the highest setup cost. But in the long term, if you want to save time and money on bulk printing, this is the way to go.
#3 Be Creative in Design
You need to stand out among your competitors. Create designs that are unique and go with the trend. Go to t-shirt marketplaces and start your research. Below are a few good ones.
Not everyone is a designer. If you cannot create designs that sell, hire a designer. Go to websites like Upwork and Dribbble, post your requirements and hire the designers that align with your idea.
#4 Create Mockups
Instead of printing samples and taking their pictures, t-shirt mockups can be made to let the designer and the customer know what the finished t-shirt would look like. This will save you costs and can be used to add to catalogues.
Many online software programs will help you create a t-shirt mockup. Printify’s mockup generator is a great tool to create custom mockups.
#5 Licences & Permits
If you are starting a business, make sure you acquire the appropriate license to run your business smoothly. Even if you don’t have a brick-and-mortar business, make sure to check with the local government office if any licences or permits are required to run a business in your state.
#6 Set up Your Online Store
When everything is set in stone, it’s now time to set up your online store for your home-based t-shirt business.
Start with selecting a great domain name for your store. Make it catchy, short, and aligned with fashion.
There are many e-commerce platforms available to help you sell t-shirts online fast. Let’s look at the best ones below.
Best Online Platforms to Start a T-shirt Business
Shopify
If you are looking for a platform with pre-built templates, easy drag-and-drop features, and applications to upgrade your store, Shopify is the answer.
You do not require any coding skills to set up and manage your t-shirt business if you choose Shopify. There are many built-in themes available specifically for the fashion industry, using which you can instantly set up your store.
Plus, their app store is filled with amazing applications that you can install and upgrade your existing store. For example, Shopify applications like iCart Cart Drawer Cart Upsell will help you manage your shopping cart easily.
iCart helps you add different types of carts to your store, such as a slide cart and a pop-up cart. With these carts added, customers can easily manage items in their shopping cart and directly check out from the cart itself.
Additionally, iCart helps you easily customize your cart with features such as a progress bar, product upsell, product recommendations, and a checkout button. These features will increase your average order value, helping you sell your t-shirts like hotcakes.
Etsy
E-commerce marketplaces are your answer if you are looking for built-in audiences, and Etsy is one of the most popular online marketplaces.
Etsy currently has 95 million active buyers. That’s an audience waiting for you to show them your t-shirt line. It’s easy to set up a seller account and start a t-shirt business on Etsy. Since it’s a marketplace, you can also use Etsy ads to run paid campaigns to feature your business in front of potential customers.
The only downside with Etsy is that since it’s a marketplace, there will be a huge competition from other fashion entrepreneurs. Focus on the quality of your product and marketing to stand out among your competitors.
Wix
Similar to Shopify, Wix is another e-commerce platform that’s great for selling t-shirts online. It’s perfect if you are just starting out and have no coding experience.
Wix has many in-built features to set up your sales channel, email marketing, and social media to increase your reach and drive sales. Its drag-and-drop editor will help you customize everything from product pages to the shopping cart.
It also has a complete suite for SEO that helps you enhance your website performance and search engine results.
eBay
eBay is one of the oldest online marketplaces. Hence, it is trusted by sellers and buyers alike. eBay has 134 million active buyers globally, which gives you a fantastic opportunity to sell t-shirts online in this marketplace.
The one thing that makes eBay stand out among other marketplaces is its diverse audience. Because of its long history, there are many customers who are looking to buy different types of t-shirts.
Plus, unlike Etsy, it has a variety of selling options, such as fixed price and auctions, for which you can set different pricing strategies.
Squarespace
Another e-commerce platform on the list, Squarespace, is a website builder with an easy-to-use interface. It offers a variety of templates to instantly set up your t-shirt business. It’s one of the best e-commerce platforms that offers AI tools for website management.
Squarespace is an all-in-one platform. It comes with built-in tools for website building, sales, marketing, order fulfillment, shipping, and payment. Although Squarespace offers great templates for businesses, we would still go with Shopify as it offers greater customization of themes.
WooCommerce
If you are planning to scale your business from t-shirts to other fashion apparel, WooCommerce is the best platform for it. It is built for online stores of all sizes.
WooCommerce has an in-built option to add discount codes and gift cards, helping you increase your revenue from the get-go. The best thing about WooCommerce is that it has no additional charges for transaction fees.
The integration capability of WooCommerce helps you add third-party applications. This helps you to add more features easily and build your website effortlessly.
Profitable & Best-selling: Start a T-shirt Business for Both Benefits
If you are still thinking about ideas to start your own online business, t-shirts might be just the answer. Fashion and apparel are not just the best-selling products in e-commerce, but also easier to source, design, print, and sell.
What’s even more beneficial about selling t-shirts online is that you can expand your business to include different accessories. Hats, pants, undergarments, socks, shoes, and more. There are countless items you can sell in the fashion industry.
But first, stick to the basics. Find your niche, select an online platform, and launch your t-shirt business right away.
FAQs
1. Can I make money by selling t-shirts online?
Yes. T-shirts belong to the clothing industry, which is the highest-selling industry in e-commerce. Learning to sell t-shirts online can help you earn a good income.
2. How to sell t-shirts online?
Find your niche. Find a supplier for fabric and a printing method. Create your design. Create mockups of your t-shirts. Set up your online store. Acquire the right licenses and permits.
3. Do I need a license to sell t-shirts online?
Any business that needs to run legally requires a license. If you want to sell t-shirts online, visit your local government office and enquire about the legal requirements for selling t-shirts online.
4. How to print designs on t-shirts?
There are three popular methods to print designs on t-shirts. Direct-to-garment printing, heat transfer printing, and screen printing.
5. Which is the best platform to sell t-shirts online?
Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, eBay, WooCommerce, and Etsy are some of the most popular platforms to sell t-shirts online.
About the author
Vineet Nair
Vineet is an experienced content strategist with expertise in the ecommerce domain and a keen interest in Shopify. He aims to help Shopify merchants thrive in this competitive environment with technical solutions and thoughtfully structured content.