The T-shirt sales test of marketing merchandise - Kevin Buckle

Gorillaz - Demon Days sleeve art by Jamie Hewlett

There are several factors that seem to be in play when it comes to selling T-shirts and top of the list is probably price. Many people comment on the price of merchandise in general from the websites of the bigger artists with £40 now being standard for a band’s T-shirt online or at a gig and a hoodie can easily set you back £75.

Meanwhile most shops are charging £20 for authorised band T-shirts and between £35 and £45 for a hoodie. Of course on top of that online buyers have to add in the shipping as well, adding further to the cost.

I have commented on this before and in particular a few Christmases ago when both Radiohead and Gorillaz two of our best selling bands both decided to make the T-shirts they had only been selling online available to shops with great success.

Now, though, things are at a completely different level and we are seeing year on year increases in sales reminiscent of the much lauded vinyl revival. There is a problem with adding a lot of T-shirts to what is on offer in a record shop and that is space. We have a lot of new designs arriving next week and I really don’t know where we are going to put them.

For a shop maybe thinking of expanding what they have on offer it can be a real issue while when vinyl first started making a comeback it was easy to fit a substantial amount in a relatively small box. Already we have to sell hoodies by hanging them on the wall and the customer telling us what size they are looking for as they are far too bulky to rack out in full.

The other issue that crops up a lot is quality which really surprises me as good quality shirts are easily available at a very good price. It is a little more understandable if the quality of the print itself is not so good as the sites that print to order can not replicate the quality of shirts that are produced in batches. However for normal band merchandise that is printed in relatively large quantities at a time there is no excuse at all for poor quality shirts.

Another thing that surprises me is when we get people asking for shirts I know are only available directly from the artist but they say there is no stock. While the turnaround in vinyl is almost back to normal it still takes a good number of weeks from ordering to receiving a new pressing but T-shirts at worst take about a week. There are quite a few bands who frustratingly do only sell directly to the customer but at the same time seem incapable of keeping popular designs in stock.

I think one thing that puts off shops considering T-shirts is the number of sizes involved so it isn’t a case of simply trying one as you can be sure customers will always want the size you haven’t got.

For now though I’m very glad we put in the effort to offer a good selection and dedicate the space needed.