anyone done drop shipping t shirt printing?

[vivariumvivariumsvivaria]

I'd like to sell some merchandise for my tiny business.

I looked into importing from China, but, I do't know the first thing about China or how to do that.

Seems there are companies who will print and dispatch your orders so you don't have to store stock. You pay them a fee and keep the profit.

Anyone done it? What happens if a customer wants to return an item that's printed with your branding?

If something goes wrong how are you are going to resolve it? Because if they have bought via you, you have the legal responsibility...not the manufacturer....you will have to refund them then try to claim back from China.

Key issue is you have is you don't have same consumer protection trading outside the EU.

I guess it depends what type of business you want to run.

My daughter buys and sells all sorts from China to resell. Half the time its ok. Half the time its a pile of old rubbish and it gets gifted to her mates for free. She has tried sending it back, taking legal action blah blah. Just never works.

But that is fine as she gets to see it before it gets sold/sent ou to her customers. So her customer relationships are fine.

Why not find someone more local?

Or you could start by ordering a few things yourself and seeing if good quality, then move to "straight to customer shipping" when you have found someone reliable.

Remember the old business saying.......give some a great service and they will tell someone else, give someone a bad service and they will tell 9.

I think Amazon does this - you give them a design and they take of the rest, though I imagine you don't get much per sale
I know the trainers at my gym sell their own branded merchandise. They have a transfer press and do it by hand with bulk bought t shirts and hoodies and baseball caps. It's just a sideline and they ust sell the stuff in the gym, but it must be worth it to them as they all.do it.

I agree, areal - that's why I can't do China! I found a firm in the UK that seems to work on th same principles which will do the products I need. I'm not sure about how returns work, though.

Thanks, Pip, and I don't expect I'll make a lot of money, but, if I can avoid turning the house into warehouse that'd be great.

Best not to do drop shipping. It’s under scrutiny by HMRC for various reasons.

Take a look at Zazzle, Cafepress or Redbubble. You create your design, upload and they’ll print to order, I believe. No need to handle anything much at all.