The 6 Best Places to Sell Shirts Online

Are you excited to dive into the world of online t-shirt sales but feeling a bit overwhelmed about where to list your products? With so many platforms and options available, it can be challenging to find the right fit for your brand. Lucky for you we’re here to help!

In this post, we’ve compared the most popular online ecommerce platforms to help you find the best place to sell shirts online. Check out our top picks below. 

1. Shopify

Shopify is the platform behind many successful online stores that sell a variety of unique and custom products including jewelry, cosmetics, and apparel. Shopify is convenient for businesses to set up and manage their online stores as it offers ready-to-use customizable themes, easy inventory management, payment processing, and other tools. 

Source: Shopify

If you want to sell your custom shirts under your own website, choosing Shopify is the way to go. As opposed to an online marketplace with multiple sellers, Shopify gives you your own custom domain, where only your products are showcased. 

Source: onlyny.com

Pros

Full brand control. By choosing Shopify as the ecommerce platform to sell t-shirts on, you have full control over the website’s design, layout, and customer experience.

No marketplace competition. With Shopify, you’re creating your own custom online store as a separate website. Visitors to your store will only see your products, minimizing the risk of losing sales to competitors, which can be an issue on major marketplaces like Amazon or Etsy.

Built-in features. Shopify provides several built-in tools to ease your experience as a t-shirt business owner. From over 100 payment gateway integrations to inventory management and order tracking tools, this ecommerce platform is made to support businesses of all sizes. 

Scalability. Shopify is highly scalable, making it ideal for both small businesses and large enterprises. The platform is built to handle high order volumes without compromising performance. 

Cons

You’re in charge of generating traffic. Creating your own Shopify store means taking additional steps to attract visitors and convert them into customers. To attract potential customers, you’ll need an effective marketing strategy. Whether it’s an active social media presence, influencer marketing, or running ads, many of these strategies come with additional costs and time investment, which can pose problems for small businesses that don’t have an existing audience.

Pricing and fees. Shopify offers three pricing plans, starting from $39/month. But additional costs may also arise from premium themes, transaction fees, and third-party app integrations. 

Complex setup for beginners. Although Shopify offers a guided setup process with tutorials and assistance, there’s a learning curve for beginners to navigate through the different tools the platform offers. 

Best for 

Shopify is a great ecommerce platform for various industry products and can easily adapt to the brand’s preferences. This makes it an ideal choice for all ecommerce store owners, including those who choose print-on-demand services for their product production and order fulfillment. 

2. Etsy

Etsy is a popular ecommerce marketplace for selling handmade or vintage goods, art, and custom apparel. It’s a customer-friendly website that allows easy browsing and product viewing, making it ideal for various target audiences. 

Source: Etsy 

If you choose Etsy as the online marketplace for your t-shirt business, you’ll be able to create your own store under your brand. There, you can list all your items, write store descriptions, and include updates.

Source: Etsy

Pros 

• Wide customer reach. Etsy has millions of customers worldwide and is a well-known website for selling unique and custom goods. Without having to advertise, your custom t-shirts will appear in search results if they match the keywords a customer is using. 

• Beginner-friendly. If you’ve never created a website or set up your own store, Etsy is a great first platform to start selling t-shirts online—it’s easy to set up and navigate. 

• Marketing tools. Etsy has built-in marketing tools, like Etsy Ads campaign, that helps you promote your listings so they appear more frequently in search results. Additionally, Etsy allows for social media integration to elevate the profile of your t-shirt online store. 

• Community support. Etsy has supportive community forums where sellers can share their experiences and learn best practices when it comes to using this platform. 

Cons 

• Competitive market. Although it’s a good thing there are more than 96.48 million active Etsy buyers, there are also millions of active sellers, making it a competitive platform when selling popular items like t-shirts. 

• Multiple fees. Etsy imposes several fees, including listing, payment processing, and transaction fees that can add up and impact the business’ profitability—especially for small businesses. 

• Limited branding. Although you can customize your store’s header with different posters, it’s only visible if a customer actually clicks on your profile. In this way, it’s difficult to establish a brand image on Etsy since all listings appear the same and customers might not even recognize the brand they’re buying from. 

• Etsy’s algorithm. Similar to Google and other search engines, Etsy has algorithm changes that directly affect listing visibility, often prioritizing certain factors like recent activity, reviews, and relevant keywords. These shifts can negatively impact sales by reducing exposure to potential customers, especially if you’re unable to stay on top of what it requires.

Best for

Etsy is best for sellers who are part of niche markets and have unique product offerings. For example vintage, eco-friendly, or personalized goods. Although a shirt is a very popular item, you can make it stand out by offering unique customization options, adding attractive product images, and including popular keywords in product titles. You can also choose to use Etsy as a secondary sales platform alongside your main online store to attract more traffic and drive additional sales.

3. Wix

Wix is another ecommerce platform widely chosen by online business owners. Similar to Shopify, this platform helps you create a unique website for your online t-shirt store. It uses a drag-and-drop interface, making it easy to set up and customize your website design so it aligns with your brand’s style. 

Source: Wix

Pros

User-friendly. Website setup with Wix is very simplified, allowing you to create a professional-looking website regardless of your previous experience. 

Useful ecommerce tools. Wix provides essential features like inventory management, different payment gateways, order tracking, and more. Additionally, this platform has available tools for email marketing, SEO optimization, and social media integration that can help online t-shirt business owners like you promote your store. 

Mobile-friendly. All websites made with Wix are mobile-device-friendly. 

Cons

Subscription costs. Although it’s possible to create a free website with Wix, it’ll include the “Wix” in your store’s domain and there will be ads on your site that might interfere with your customers’ experience. To avoid that, you’d have to choose one of Wix’s subscription plans which can be expensive. 

Limited inventory organization. Wix online store templates offer a simple, user-friendly navigation system, which works well for smaller businesses. However, for businesses with an extensive range of products across multiple categories, this simplicity may feel limiting. 

Best for 

Wix is a great ecommerce platform to sell t-shirts online if your business is in the early development stages and you’re looking to test out how online retail works. It’s easy to set up and allows you to experiment with how these kinds of platforms work. 

4. eBay

eBay is a worldwide ecommerce marketplace with 132 million total active buyers as of 2024. It’s one of the largest online sites for selling diverse goods, including custom shirts. What makes it different from other platforms? Auction-style listings where you choose a starting price and interested buyers can place bids.

Source: eBay 

Pros

Large daily traffic. As one of the world’s most popular online marketplaces, listing your custom t-shirts there gives you access to thousands of potential buyers. 

Easy setup. Listing items for sale on eBay is easy. It only requires making a seller’s account, adding product images, writing some descriptions, and figuring out pricing. 

Cons

Strong competition. When typing “custom t-shirt” in the search bar on eBay, 270,000+ results appear. For someone who has just started selling t-shirts online, there’s a lot of competition to keep up with. 

Fees. eBay is yet another ecommerce platform that charges various fees that can affect your small business’ profitability. 

Best for

While eBay is an ideal platform for listing unique items like vintage vases or rare collectibles, it's also a powerful tool for boosting custom t-shirt sales. Similar to Etsy, eBay buyers love niche styles, so if you create designs that cater to a specific audience, make sure to include specific keywords in your product titles and descriptions. You can also list your products on eBay in addition to your standalone website to tap into a wider audience.

5. BigCommerce

With BigCommerce you can easily create a professional-looking online store. It provides the essential tools for businesses of any size to manage their online retail operations.

Source: BigCommerce 

Pros

No transaction fees. BigCommerce is one of the few ecommerce platforms that doesn’t charge transaction fees, making it advantageous for startup businesses.

Advanced built-in features. Bigcommerce has a wide variety of built-in tools to help your custom t-shirt business grow. From SEO optimization to product reviews, coupons, and other extras, it’s all in one place

Multi-channel selling. When choosing BigCommerce, you can seamlessly integrate other sales channels like Facebook marketplace, eBay, Amazon, and more. That enables you to list your products, manage orders, and synchronize inventory across all platforms. 

Customization. BigCommerce offers advanced website customization with a wide variety of themes and allows to edit using HTML, CSS, or JavaScript. 

Cons

Complex. While BigCommerce comes with a lot of advanced features, it can complicate the process of opening your first online t-shirt store if you’re a beginner. Figuring out things like payment processing, shipping options, and inventory management can be tricky for those without previous experience.

Limited free themes. Although there’s a variety of free themes you can choose from, they can seem pretty basic compared to their premium themes, which tend to be pricier. 

Sales limits. There are annual sales limits when choosing BigCommerce pricing plans. If you quickly become successful selling t-shirts online and exceed the limit, you’ll need to upgrade your plan to a more expensive one. 

Best for

BigCommerce is ideal for businesses that aim to scale up quickly or already have high sales volumes. Thanks to its multi-channel selling, modern marketing tools, and advanced analytics this platform can be particularly useful for establushed businesses. 

6. Storenvy

Storenvy is a platform that offers two ways of selling t-shirts online. One is by opening a personal storefront, similar to Shopify, Wix, or BigCommerce, and the other is by listing your custom t-shirts on their marketplace, similar to Etsy or eBay. This enables your products to gain exposure from their existing customer base.

Source: Storenvy 

Pros

Two ways of selling. When you choose Storenvy, you can create your own customizable storefront while simultaneously listing your products on Storeenvy’s marketplace. This feature allows you to expand your customer reach, which is especially important for the early stages of opening an online t-shirt store. 

Low startup costs. Storenvy offers affordable pricing plans, making it accessible for startup businesses. 

Fully customizable. Similar to bigger platforms like Shopify and Wix, with Storenvy you can also create a personal storefront designed to fully align with your brand image. 

Cons

Less traffic. While choosing Storenvy is a convenient way to get more exposure, it might not be as effective as bigger platforms. For example, in September 2024, Etsy received 395.13M visits and eBay 667.72M, while Storenvy only received 657.58K monthly visits. 

Transaction fees. Although Storenvy lets you list your custom shirts on their marketplace for free, they take a 15% commission on every sale. 

Best for

Storenvy is ideal for small independent businesses that are looking for a low-cost platform with personal storefront customization options. 

What to consider when choosing the best platform

How can you choose the best platform—that is the question. To become a successful online retailer, these are some of the key factors you should consider before making that choice. 

Can I reach my target audience?

When choosing between the different ecommerce platforms and marketplaces to start selling your own custom t-shirts, one of the first questions to ask is whether or not the site allows you to reach your target audience. Start by clearly defining who your ideal customers are. For example, if you design t-shirts for specific occasions like bachelorette parties or Christmas, your customers may be actively searching for these items on marketplaces that feature products from multiple sellers. Understanding that can help you decide if it’s more beneficial to tap into an existing customer base through an online marketplace, or if you’d prefer to build your own storefront and drive traffic through your own marketing efforts.

What are the customization options?

Before choosing a platform where you can sell t-shirts online, you’ll have to determine how important customization is for your business. Can you benefit from having a storefront that’s fully customized to align with your brand’s image? Do you already have a brand image? Or is your focus more on creating standout t-shirt designs that will thrive in marketplaces with limited customization options? These are key factors to consider when selecting a platform that fits your retail needs.

Can I handle the fees?

As you’ve seen, most of these platforms come with different types of costs and fees. When choosing the best platform for you, you have to consider if your business is profitable enough to comfortably handle these expenses. Make a plan and forecast potential sales while calculating total costs.

What about fulfillment?

Another important aspect to choosing an ecommerce platform to sell shirts online on is how you can manage the inventory and order fulfillment. If you choose to go with print-on-demand (POD), for example, you’ll have to clarify whether or not your POD provider integrates with the platform of your choice (so you don’t have to manually manage orders). 

Printful offers integrations with all of the ecommerce platforms we mentioned above. Working under a dropshipping business model, when a sale from your ecommerce store is made, Printful handles the t-shirt printing, packing, and shipping of the order, sending it directly to your customer without any additional effort on your part. This enables you to focus on the creative side of your business and not spend energy on inventory management and logisitics.

What’s my marketing strategy?

Last but not least, every business can benefit from strategic marketing efforts to boost their sales. That’s especially important if you choose to create a personal storefront that’ll get traffic only from the steps you take. Think about promoting your t-shirt store across various social media accounts, implementing email marketing, and working on other strategies to maximize your reach and attract more customers.

Time to set up your store

While selecting the best platform for your online t-shirt business may seem daunting, remember that your first choice is not set in stone. You always have the flexibility to transition between platforms as your needs evolve.

And if you ever plan to expand your product list, check out our catalog to find the best t-shirts, hoodies, tank tops, and other trending products you can include in your online store. We wish you luck with your t-shirt business and remember that you learn by doing, so get out there!