Buying T-shirts : Online Vs Local

Discussion in Fashion & Apparel started by hades_leae • Aug 26, 2016.

  1. hades_leae

    hades_leaeActive Member

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    So I have been doing some shopping around for T-shirts, and I've began to notice the differences in prices for shirts online vs my local stores.

    I can buy good quality shirts in stores much cheaper than online, even though shirts online are good, they just have low profit margin so they need to up the prices a lot. I don't find paying anymore than $15 dollars for a very good shirt to be attractive. I have seen many, well most online shirts with designs priced more than $20 dollars easy.

    I have looked into starting my own T-shirt online business and started learning more about profit margins, and I can see why the owners of these online stores sell their shirts for so much. They use online vendors, and other outsourcing methods. They have many middle men, so they have to cut and cut profits which means they need to sell each shirt for more.

    Just because it's expensive online doesn't mean it's worth the cost. So think about that when you see expensive shirts online that you want. You can go and get 2 or 3 better shirts in stores. Unless they are below $15 dollars online, and shipping is less than $3 dollars then I won't buy.

    There are some online stores that can afford to sell at low prices, but that's when quality breaks as the materials used are of low quality, so you just have to know how to get the best value for your buck.
     
  2. Casiox

    CasioxActive Member

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    Buyin T-shirts is something I really respect a lot since that's the piece of clothe I use the most on my daily basis, I live in a warm country and therefore I cannot just go around wearing two sweaters and whatno, that's why I personally prefer buying them in the local store so I can pick wisely and carefully, thank you for sharing this, that's my opinion.
     
  3. filmjunkie08

    filmjunkie08Active Member

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    Ate you purchasing plain t-shirts or dialogue ones? My son is going through a phase where he likes wearing dialogue t-shirts to school. Online they run me around $25 each.
     
  4. Casiox

    CasioxActive Member

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    $25 for a t-shirt is actually a lot of money, I would never spend that much on a simple t-shirt, however, it all may depend of the brand of the item itself, but still, $25 is a lot for just a t-shirt, that's my opinion though.
     
  5. davos

    davosActive Member

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    If the profit margins are so low, then, why bother if you can't compete against the profit margin of a brick and mortar business?. Apparel and T shirt stores are everywhere, whether they are just custom cheap t-shirt or retailers. I see no point in focusing over this niche online.
     
  6. whysewserious

    whysewseriousMember

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    I have seen unisex t-shirts in craft store for as low as $4 each, but they often do not have a cut that is better suited for the female form, which is something I look for when shopping for shirts like this. The quality of these items is never bad, but if were to order a custom shirt, I would want something more unique and softer to the touch than your average cotton tee.

    Have you searched for wholesale shopping as well? And pre-shrunk cotton is also an important element for many.

    If you get your business going, please let us know! I am in the wardrobe business and always looking for places where I can submit custom designs for a fair price.
     
  7. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    This is one reason why I like to buy most of my clothes in thrift stores. You get better deals than you would online. T-shirts can be very cheap in thrift stores if you don't mind buying used. And to be honest I don't see why anyone shouldn't buy used because you'll sanitize the clothes you buy before you wear them.
     
  8. Lushlala

    LushlalaWell-Known Member

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    I'm not sure if I'm understanding the situation fully, but if I am, I find your findings very surprising! I do a lot of shopping both on and offline, and whether it's t-shirts or other items of clothing, I've found that in my case stuff is almost always cheaper online! I mean, even if I find something in a store on the high street, and then go on their website to check the price, more often than not it works out cheaper online! I also use price comparison sites, as well as eBay outlet stores, where the majority of items are heavily reduced. I generally pay anything between £5-15 for a casual t-shirt, but for something a bit fancier, something I can dress up, I don't mind paying up to £30....pricey I know, but these aren't every day wear type t-shirts.
     
  9. GreenPersimmon

    GreenPersimmonMember

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    Unless there is a great sale on a color or a print that I really like in a store, I buy them online. The best thing is that most t-shirts and tank tops are pretty generic when ti comes to sizes so I can always get the right size where other pieces of clothing can be a bit of a gamble. I find that you can find a bigger selection online, from vintage tees, to new prints, and just regular everyday shirts. I tend to get paint all over my shirts so I make it a habit to buy some basic tanks and tees in bulk which is cheaper online.
     
  10. Ke Gordon

    Ke GordonWell-Known Member

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    I think it depends on the quanitity you need. There are many wholesalers online that offer T shirts at very reasonable prices. However, I don't need a gross of T shirts! IF it is unique designs you want though online is probably the place to get these kinds of shirts reasonably priced. Some of the online vendors have specials too, where if there regular price is 20.00 for a T you might be able to get them for 10 for instance
     
  11. SammyGregory

    SammyGregoryMember

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    I'll be honest, I never even pieced that together. The only shirts I have are pretty much free ones from my college days and other events that I got a free shirt. I only wear them for working out though.
     
  12. Dybbuk Jones

    Dybbuk JonesNew Member

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    I have Diabetes II so I have to work out all the time in order to keep all my limbs and control it. I still don't lose much weight but I do take care of it. So I have a lot of t-shirts. Sometimes I just buy plain white shirts from the drug store, but most of my t-shirts are logo shirts. My favorite ones are ones that I buy at science fiction conventions for $20. I bought similar shirts at fivedollarshirts site but they tend to fall apart faster and the logos are fading fast.

    I suppose I should hand wash them if I want to keep the logos, but these are shirts that I wear to the gym and stink up with my sweat.
     
  13. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

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    I always look for quality first and then price, but designer t-shirts are about the logo or name, ow what is printed on the front.

    I find that it's not worth investing too much in t-shirts because they will shrink and lose their shape (if there is no lycra) so if you do sell them think of that too. Discount stores like Aldi will sell packs of three for $10 and or graphic ones for less than five dollars and they are good quality.

    Online and instore the prices are comparable, but in a store you can check for quality as not all cotton has the same feel. Looks can be deceptive!
     
  14. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I think $15 is too expensive for a t-shirt, my budget would usually just be around $10. Besides, you can also get a shirt in thrift stores for as low as $1 each, so that's where I mostly buy my shirts nowadays.
     
  15. Krissttina Isobe

    Krissttina IsobeWell-Known Member

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    I just came from Walmart on Ft. St. Mall and they have from 1x to 4x t-shirts for just 1.75, what a bargain. Walmart's always got some kind of rollback or clearance too somewhere in the store. T-shirts are so nice for the climate of Hawaii so I'm always on the lookout for the cheapest ones and found them at Walmart. I love cheap and I do window shop...another place to find cheap is amazon.com! So I like both brick and mortar and online for t-shirts the cheaper the better!
     
  16. Vinaya

    VinayaActive Member

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    To tell you the truth I have never bought clothing item online. Even though I can see how the clothes look on the picture, I cannot have a feel of fabric, therefore, I cannot trust the photo entire. The product shown in the photo will always be very different from the actual product. Having said that I may buy clothing item online, as an experiment.
     
  17. GreenPersimmon

    GreenPersimmonMember

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    I know right, there have been so many times that I've bought clothes that looked nice in the pictures but were cheaply made. I really only buy online for basic t-shirts and tanks because they're pretty hard to mess ups and I usually end up dumping paint all over them by the end of the month. I can't imagine buying jeans or dresses online unless I tried them in a store and found a cheaper price online. There something about trying on the clothing that is just needed for most pieces.
     
  18. Aristot

    AristotNew Member

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    I like online shopping because of everyone have busy in their life and me also very busy and Quality is priority of me . and today many big brand start their own online shopping portal also. i always do shopping in online brand store only. IF anyone need look for stuff quality they don't have enough time. Do shop in online brand store only..
     
  19. oasisshirts

    oasisshirtsNew Member

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    hi
    After reading your post and others opinion i like to share my opinion over here,i favour local shopping but in case of urgency to buy clothes for online shopping i basically like oasis shirts to buy shirts its a branded company but not so expensive one can easily get the fashionable shirts as per his/her choice over there.for shirts i found it the best coz one can get variety of shirts in one place with new version and variation and there is no fitting issues one can get the right fitting shirts in oasis and for any other clothes i prefer local shops.
     
  20. larryl332

    larryl332Active Member

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    It depends on the price when it comes to this. I think that shirts are usually inexpensive enough to give it a chance with online, but you still have to be careful and guess well.