Selling shirts from my house - How do you do it?

Discussion in 'General Business' started by kastro_316, Oct 24, 2008.

  1. #1
    HI everyone, I have a really popular website for sports, and I have made website t-shirts, that lots of the fans of the website want to buy.

    But, how would I set that up?

    Here is how I thought - They buy them via paypal and provide shipping information. Then I simply go down to the post office, and ship them off to them.

    Is there an easier way? Or what do you all think.

    Thanks, really appreciate it!
     
    kastro_316, Oct 24, 2008 IP
  2. jezzz

    jezzz Notable Member

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    #2
    I think you need to make a deal with global worldwide courier agent who can deliver your merchandise in most of parts of the world. I know its hard but its only legal & effective way to do so
     
    jezzz, Oct 24, 2008 IP
  3. MelogKnaj

    MelogKnaj Guest

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    #3
    Use cafepress if you don't want to deal with shipping all that stuff. Want make quite as much profit but it is a lot less hassle.
     
    MelogKnaj, Oct 24, 2008 IP
  4. dsendecki

    dsendecki Peon

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    #4
    Which country are you in? For example, Canada Post has a Small Business account which lets you print stamps, labels, et al from home. No need to go to the post office.
     
    dsendecki, Oct 24, 2008 IP
  5. KumanSK

    KumanSK Banned

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    #5
    I don't think so. Just hire somebody :)
     
    KumanSK, Oct 24, 2008 IP
  6. Nigel Lew

    Nigel Lew Notable Member

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    #6
    You can do this a range of ways if your using a proper shopping cart like Magento to run the site. You can have ups come and pick things up at the house or drop it off, etc. Same with fedex, etc. Essentially carts like that are plugged into the shipping api's for the respective companies. This way clients can estimate shipping etc during the checkout routine and see how much it will cost to ship. How they pay for it is somewhat academic in this case.

    Feel free to ask questions. E-Commerce is largely what I deal with.
    hope that helps,
    Nigel
     
    Nigel Lew, Oct 24, 2008 IP
  7. kastro_316

    kastro_316 Well-Known Member

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    #7
    Yes, I am from Canada. Can you explain this a little more please?

    Appreciate it!
     
    kastro_316, Oct 24, 2008 IP
  8. Sensei.Design

    Sensei.Design Prominent Member

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    #8
    I would use a script to build up a shop where you're fans/users can buy the shirts. I heard that UPS will pick up the packages at yours but never tried it I guess you should call and ask
     
    Sensei.Design, Oct 24, 2008 IP
  9. topsearchresult

    topsearchresult Peon

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    #9
    I have been doing some preliminary information on doing the same thing. I like the idea of using a company that will print, take payment, and ship your product for you.

    redbubble.com, zazzle.com, aktenterprises.com, cafePress.com, pikicentral.com - are the sites I have been investigating.

    I still found the end product to be a bit pricey when you factor in shipping to Canada.

    PM me what way you went with, I would like to know for myself.
     
    topsearchresult, Oct 24, 2008 IP
  10. Sean@WMS

    Sean@WMS Peon

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    #10
    It all depends on how involved you want to be/how much profit you want to make.

    On the "easy peezy" side, CafeePress.com is an excellent solution. They take care of everything.

    If you want all of the profit, then you'll need to produce the product, take the orders, package and ship the orders, track them, etc. PayPal's not a bad place to start, but PayPal's Website Payment Pro would be more . . . well "pro", but you'd need some programming to interface that.

    A shopping cart, such as Magento mentioned here, is TOTAL OVERKILL for something this simple.

    I've a bunch of solutions; it all just depends on what you want to do. PM me with your phone number if you'd like to me to ring you.
     
    Sean@WMS, Oct 24, 2008 IP
  11. mentos

    mentos Prominent Member

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    #11
    Just setup some agent at all the state and distribute the shirt to the agent.
    The agent will deliver the shirt to customer
     
    mentos, Oct 26, 2008 IP
  12. Tempera

    Tempera Banned

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    #12
    I would suggest first using something like cafepress to get into it, the upside is they will handle printing and posting for you the downside is there will be a low profit margin.

    Once that's running you don't really have a deadline to get it up, so could look into doing it yourself without the pressure in your mind wanting it up asap.

    Tempera
     
    Tempera, Oct 26, 2008 IP