How to sell clothes online: where to sell, fees and rules

How to sell clothes online in six steps

The steps are the same for clothes you design, print-on-demand t-shirts and second-hand pieces. What changes is where you list them and which rules apply.

1. Decide what kind of clothing you sell

   New pieces you make or have made, print-on-demand t-shirts and used or vintage clothing sell in different places and follow different rules. Pick one to start, so buyers can tell what your shop sells.

2. Pick where to sell

   A marketplace brings shoppers and takes a fee on each sale. Your own store charges less per sale and adds a monthly plan, but you have to bring the buyers. You can start on one marketplace and add a store later, once repeat buyers ask for one.

3. Label new pieces

   New clothing sold in the US needs a label with fiber content, country of origin and either the company name or the Registered Identification Number (RN), and care instructions attached permanently and securely. The rules section below has the details.

4. Photograph and measure

   Shoot each piece front and back in daylight, flat and on a person or form, with close-ups of the fabric, the label and any flaws. List measurements such as chest width, body length and inseam, because sizes differ from brand to brand.

5. Price with the fee included

   Add up the garment, printing, packaging and shipping, then add the platform fee. The fee example below shows how much that fee changes from one platform to the next.

6. Ship on time and set a returns policy

   Check each marketplace's shipping deadline. Poshmark, for example, requires sellers to ship within three (3) days of receipt of the label. Under the FTC's mail and internet order rule, when you give no shipping time you need a reasonable basis for believing that you can ship within 30 days, and when you cannot ship on time, you must seek the customer’s consent to the delayed shipment. Write a returns policy before the first sale.

Where to sell clothes online today

The table lists the main places clothing sellers use, what each one fits and its fees for a US seller. Marketplaces bring their own shoppers. Store builders host a site under your own name and usually add a monthly plan.

eBay's 13.6% rate covers most categories, including most clothing, and is charged on the order total, including shipping and sales tax. Depop's buyers also pay a fee of up to 5% of the item purchase price, plus a fixed amount of up to $/£1, which is not taken from your payout.

What it costs to sell t-shirts online: one $30 sale

Example: one new $30 t-shirt, paid by card, with free shipping and no sales tax. The amounts use each platform's own published rates for a US seller.

How to sell t-shirts online: print on demand or your own stock

There are two ways to sell t-shirts online. With print on demand, a print partner prints each shirt after it sells and ships it to the buyer, so you hold no stock. With your own stock, you buy blank shirts, print them yourself or with a local printer, and ship them from home.

Print on demand costs little to start but leaves less per shirt, because the partner's base cost comes out of your price. Fourthwall, for example, lists the base cost of a printed Bella+Canvas 3001 tee as "From $11.75", and says physical products never have a platform fee. Buying blanks and printing in batches costs more up front and gives you control over the label, the fabric and the print.

Either way, check the marketplace's rules for production partners. Etsy's rules allow sellers' original designs that are produced or printed by a third party, but sellers must disclose that an item is made by a production partner.

Your own artwork is protected by copyright the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form. If you print someone else's artwork or character without authorization, the Copyright Office says the owner may be entitled to bring an infringement action against you. To get permission, if you know who the copyright owner is, you may contact the owner directly.

The rules for selling clothes in the US

The FTC sets the label rules below and the CPSC sets the safety rules. This section is general information, not legal or tax advice. State and city rules vary, so check with your state and city as well.

Two groups of fabric are exempt from flammability testing: plain surface fabrics weighing 2.6 ounces per square yard or more (88.2 grams per square meter), regardless of fiber content, and plain and raised surface fabrics made of acrylic, modacrylic, nylon, olefin, polyester, wool, or any combination of these fibers. The CPSC notes that these are testing exemptions and not exceptions from the overall flammability requirement.

If you remove a blank's label to sew in your own, the FTC allows it as long as the new label lists the name or RN of the person or company making the change. If the removed label had required information, the label you substitute also must have the required information, and you must keep records for three years that show the information on the removed label.

Used clothing is treated differently. The FTC lists secondhand household textile items that are obviously used or marked as secondhand among the items excluded from the Textile labeling requirements unless you decide to make a statement about the fiber content.

Sales tax on clothing differs by state. In New York, for example, clothing sold for less than $110 per item or pair is exempt from the state sales tax, but the exemption does not apply to local sales and use taxes unless the county or city imposing the taxes elects to provide the exemption. Check your state tax agency for the rate and any clothing exemption where you and your buyers are.

Example store: a two-design t-shirt shop

Example: this store is made up to show how the pieces on this page fit together. It is not a real business, and the example assumes no sales figures.

• What it sells: two original designs screen printed on plain cotton jersey blanks for adults, at $30 each with free shipping.
• Where it sells: Etsy for search traffic and TikTok Shop for short videos of the printing. On one $30 sale, Etsy's fees are $3.30 and TikTok Shop's are $1.80.
• Labels: it keeps each blank's fiber, origin and maker label and adds a printed care label with a method of washing and a method of drying. If it swapped in its own neck label, it would follow the FTC's relabelling rule.
• Listings: front and back photos, one on a person, chest width and body length in inches, the fiber content, and a statement that the product was made in the U.S.A., imported or both.
• Safety: adult sizes only. The example assumes its blanks are plain surface fabrics that meet the testing exemption above, which still leaves the fabric under the flammability standard. Children's sizes would add testing at a third-party, CPSC-accepted laboratory and a Children’s Product Certificate (CPC).
• Own store later: adding a Shopify store would cost $1.17 in card fees on each $30 sale, plus $39 a month.

Where Nation fits

Questions about selling clothes online