Are you interested in selling a vintage t-shirt on eBay? Well, you’ve come to the right place. TshirtTimeMachine has sold thousands. Our mission has always been to display our merchandise in a simple but appealing way without embellishment. Let the customer see any flaw or imperfection and allow them to decide before purchasing.
This guide will teach you how to sell a vintage t-shirt on eBay. Just follow our step by step tutorial, we’ll show you everything you need to know in order to get started selling and have repeated success.
GETTING STARTED
If you’re ready to start we’ll assume you already have a shirt and an eBay and Paypal account. If you’re wondering where to buy a vintage t-shirt that you can resell have a look at our comprehensive guide. Even if you don’t have a tee this will work with any garment. So just grab something and let’s begin.
We are going to sell a 1989 vintage bowling t-shirt. It’s my personal shirt and it incorporates two things we discussed in recent blog posts. DEADSTOCK vintage and T-shirt iron-on transfers.
INSPECTING, TREATING AND PROPERLY LAUNDERING THE SHIRT
First, inspect your shirt for any holes, stains, discolorations, pet hair, odors or other imperfections that potential customers might find unappealing. This also includes seam splits and loose threads.
The nice part about vintage t-shirts is they’re allowed to have imperfections and still be cool. But there are a few things that aren’t acceptable. We’ll show you what they are and how to take care of them.
- Bad Odors. If a shirt smells of cigarette smoke or B.O. wash it. Customers want their shirt to look badass not smell badass. Also, use your discretion but if it looks kinda dingy then give it a bath. Gently soaking garments for a few hours in mild detergent before you wash can be helpful as well.
- Seam splits. Buy a dollar store sewing kit. Fix seam splits in the underarms, collar or cuff. It only takes a minute and will increase the value of the garment. Repairing a hem is more of an advanced technique. We’d recommend just ignoring it. If poorly done it can alter the appearance of the shirt. Just snip any loose threads and make a note for later. If its a more valuable item, you may consider taking it to a professional for repair. That could cost up to $15 so keep that in mind.
- Underarm Discolorations. Pit stains are gross any way you look at it. If you see yellow pits take care of it. The best cleaner I’ve found so far is Resolve Dual cleaner. ONLY use this on white garments. It can remove the color from darker fabrics. Apply generously to the discolored areas. Allow it to soak in and foam (up to 12 hrs for bad pit stains). Then launder as usual. This cleaner has helped me save the lives of literally thousands of hopeless shirts. If underarm stains linger a second treatment may be in order.
- Other stains or discolorations. Quickly decide if the stain is something you’d like to tackle or if its better to let sleeping dogs lie. White shirts are great for stain removal but colored garments can be troublesome. I’ve ruined a fair share of t-shirts because they weren’t colorfast. Don’t spend too much energy on this step. As you advance you’ll know at a glance whether its worth the battle.
- Pilling. The tiny fabric balls that form on fabric over time. AKA lint balls. I’ve seen several techniques for removal. The easiest fix is getting a fabric shaver. Make sure its the big one though. Fantastic investment. I’ve reclaimed hundreds of old shirts over the years.
- Pet Hair. Most people love pets. But they don’t want pet hair on their clothes. Go to the dollar store and buy a sticky roller. Clean off the shirt of any hair or other debris. Roll the inside as well.
Our 1989 bowling shirts is deadstock vintage with a small discoloration near the logo. Deadstock meaning never worn or washed. If this shirt was used I would definitely treat the stain and wash it. But since its deadstock, I will just leave it as is and make a note in the listing description so the potential buyer is aware.
IRONING THE SHIRT
Honestly, this is a crucial step that I ignored in the early days. Always present your product in its most appealing manner possible. Take a minute to iron the shirt. Be mindful of the decoration if there is one and cover it with a small cloth or paper towel. If you don’t have an ironing board just use a towel on the counter or tabletop. I always use the polyester setting and give it lots of steam!
* IRONING HACK!!*
After enduring countless hours of ironing shirts I came up with a much quicker plan. If you’re ironing more than 20 or 30 items at a time. Inevitably there will be tees that need to be laundered and others that don’t.
Separate the two groups. Wash the dirty shirts, tumble dry but stop the cycle about 20 mins before the end. They will be warm and damp (not wet…just damp). Layer the damp tees in between the dry ones. Make sure they’re on a flat surface when they’re stacked. Use your hands to flatten out any wrinkles. Leave it for a few hours and when you’re ready you’ll have a neat wrinkle-free stack of dry shirts.
It’s much easier than ironing them individually. Heavyweight cotton tees can be especially difficult to de-wrinkle so this works really well.
TAKING A GOOD PICTURE
Allow me to preface this by saying I’m not a photographer. I do own an expensive camera but for all of my eBay pics (over 150 thousand), I used an inexpensive Canon Powershot SD 1200IS. I still use it today. Absolute WORKHORSE.
Over the years I’ve tried all sorts of ways to stage my items. I’ve used mannequins, real models, taking pictures of myself in the mirror (bad idea), taking pics outside, different lighting setups and hanging them on the wall. After much experimentation, the easiest set up is the best. Place the shirt on the floor so there’s a neutral background and use natural lighting (indirect sunlight). Makes for amazing pics every time. There’s just a couple of things to remember.
You are trying to recreate the experience of seeing the item in person. EXACTLY THE SAME. No better or worse. Try and show the customer the item as you see it.
Especially if you have a no return policy. Then the buyer can’t come back and say. “I thought I was buying an orange t-shirt and when it showed up it was white”. Bad pictures will cause a headache down the line.
Five things make for poor pics.
- Low lighting
- Direct sunlight
- Shadows
- Wrong setting on the camera
- Blurry pics
The best time for natural light is between 11 am and 3 pm. My house has a skylight and light-colored walls so it gives a warm even light (that’s what you want).
Choose a plain background. I have blond hardwood which is perfect. But you can use grey or white as well. I would avoid black. It’s good for certain shirt colors but not for others. Lay the shirt flat on the ground. Take a pic. Kneel down take a pic of the logo up close. Take pics of any imperfections. Take a pic of the tag. Flip the shirt over and repeat.
PHOTOSHOP?
The only reason to use photoshop is for batch resizing or cropping photos. Occasionally to correct lighting if you couldn’t get pics in the proper conditions.
Never use photoshop to alter the look of a garment or make it seem different than it is. Don’t over saturate the color or edit out a hole or stain. You’re just trying to present the item online as it would look in person. Just the facts.
If you misrepresent the product, your customer is going to find out inevitably. They’ll be upset, leave you negative feedback and request a refund and return. Its a waste of both your time and money.
Be real with your customers, even if the shirt is in poor condition. I’ve made a living selling items that are in terrible condition. And maintained over 99% positive feedback. It’s easier when you’re honest.
So remember, you’re trying to display in an appealing manner but nothing over flourished. Just the facts Jack!
MEASUREMENTS
This is simple. Lay the garment flat and measure armpit to armpit across the chest and top to bottom at the highest part left of the collar to the bottom of the hem. If you’re selling sweatshirts, jackets or long sleeves. You can include sleeve length and upper back measurements between the shoulder seams.
Don’t stretch the garment…in fact it’s better to err on the side of caution and report a slightly smaller size. For instance, if the pit to pit measurement is 18.25″ oftentimes I will report as 18″ pit to pit. That way a customer who might buy a medium shirt won’t try and squeeze into this one. It fits more like a small. Sound counterintuitive but it will eliminate future headaches trust me.
SELLING
To sell just login to your eBay account and click the sell button on the top right of the screen. eBay will walk you through the simples steps including title, item category, where to upload your pics, setting a price, item description, shipping price and return policy.
This is good for one item at a time. eBay also has a turbo lister software that can create and upload dozens of listing quickly as well as store templets and other time-saving things.
The benefit of listing one at a time is having auctions end in a staggard format. It gives your potential customers time to bid. They can’t do that if all the auctions are closing within 20 seconds of each other.
DECIDING BETWEEN AUCTION OR FIXED PRICE LISTING
For my first ten years online, I auctioned every item. At that point, I generally knew the value of most garments so I switched to fixed-price listings. I didn’t sell as many items but I did get a higher dollar per sale.
Auctions. When I auction items I always use the following format with great success. I open bidding at $9.99 without a reserve. The start time is always around 10 PM on a Sunday night so it ends 7 days later at the same time. 10 PM (eastern) is a perfect time because most people are home near a computer. Plus people on the west coast have a chance to bid as well.
Fixed Price Listing. Slightly more advanced technique. It took me a while to get the feel of the market before I switched to fixed-price listings. I’m going to share a helpful tip though.
If you’re wondering what to price an item here’s what you do. Type the item name in the search bar. In this case (80s vtg bowling t-shirt)….click search. Then go to the drop-down menu to choose “highest price first”. Now it will display the highest priced listings in that specific search. Then go-to the sidebar and select “sold items”. Now it will show all the items that have sold in the past 90 days ranked from the highest to lowest.
If the price is green that means it sold. If there is a line through it that means an offer was accepted and sold for a lower price. If you can’t find the exact item you’re trying to sell, look for something similar. I couldn’t find my exact tee but I saw similar items that have sold between $14 and $22 dollars. I’ve chosen my price at $24.99. Then it will go on sale for $19.99 if I cant sell in a few weeks.
Whether you decide auction-style or fixed price listing use the following category.
Clothing, Shoes & Accessories > Specialty > Vintage > Men’s Vintage Clothing > T-Shirts
SHOULD I INCLUDE MAKE AN OFFER?
I don’t include the “make an offer” option in my listings. I feel like it undermines my pricing. As if I have the items overpriced and I’m willing to sell for less.
You want your customers to trust that you know your stuff. Plus people will direct message you and make offers anyway. You can send them a discount offer invoice easily if you want to give a price break. I do it all the time.
PROPER TITLE!!
Your title has to be full of keywords that someone might use to find your product easily. It has to be eye-catching and descriptive. Here are some examples I would use.
- MUST SEE!! 80s vtg BOWLING LOGO T-SHIRT bowl BOWLER screen stars 50/50 MEDIUM
- LOOK!! 80s vtg BOWLING ball LOGO T-SHIRT bowler 50/50 MEDIUM
- DEADSTOCK!! 80s vtg BOWLING ball T-SHIRT bowler 50/50 SCREEN STARS 1989 medium
3 solid titles. Jam-packed with descriptive keywords but #3 is the best. It clearly defines the item. BTW always use nonspecific dates like 70s or 80s before using a specific year. Most people will search for 80s vtg t-shirt long before they search 1989 vtg t-shirt. Include both only if you have room. eBay allows eighty characters in the title so use them all. They also allow lots of abbreviations. Here’s a list.
PROPER DESCRIPTION
This should be brief but informational. Give people every fact that may not be clearly visible in the pics.
Example:
For your consideration, an 80s vintage bowling ball logo t-shirt. Its DEADSTOCK vintage meaning never worn or washed, but there is a tiny dirt discoloration from storage. It should come out with a good wash. The logo is an iron-on transfer from 1989. The shirt is a 50/50 blend screen stars. The measurement is 19″ from armpit to armpit and 28″ from top to bottom. The tag says large but measurement suggests MEDIUM.
Vintage shirts fit different back in the day and tended to be much smaller. A 1970s XXL is more like a snug large nowadays. So tell people what the tag says but mention what the actual size measurement suggests. But always make the item seem slightly small than it is. So if they’re on the fence they steer clear.
- SMALL 17-18.5
- MEDIUM 18.5-20.5
- LARGE 20.5-23
- XL 23.5-24.5
- 2X 24.5-26
STORAGE
Store items a cool dry place like a sealed plastic Tupperware. Make sure they’re properly inventoried and easy to find when they sell. Once you have a larger inventory (over 1000 shirts) you can look into having industrial racks made. I had a welder friend build a rolling rack for around $250. They each accommodate 1000 shirts. That includes hoodies, sweaters, and sweatshirts. They’re 8 feet long 7 feet high and 2 feet wide on casters (wheels). Clean and organized with a simple coded inventory system. I use a smaller rack for jackets and coats.
PACKAGING & SHIPPING
Congrats, you’ve sold a shirt and received your payment via Paypal. Now its time to send off your package.
For shipping, I use a 9X12 poly mailer with the adhesive strip. Its basically a plastic envelope. It can fit 4 or 5 t-shirts at a time or 2 sweatshirts or one heavy-duty hoodie or jacket. I also tape over the edge to reinforce it. They’re inexpensive and you can buy them in bulk on eBay.
I’m going to leave the shipping price up to you. Depending on which country you live in there are different variables. But here’s a word of advice. Don’t gouge. Bake the profit into the item not the shipping.
I only charge $6.99 for shipping even though it costs me $9. One of the biggest deterrents for buyers is overpriced shipping.
Customers will buy a shirt for $40 with $5 shipping over an over before they pay $20 for an item and $25 shipping. Exactly the same price but the second example makes for a negative shopping experience. Sounds weird but that’s how it works.
I’m in Canada so I use Canada Post as opposed to UPS or FedEx. If you’re in the States USPS is the cheapest way to ship. It’s quick, reliable and they offer tracking as well.
FEEDBACK
When eBay started the feedback system was mutual. Buyers and sellers could leave positive, neutral or negative reviews dependant on their experience. Then they decided that sellers could only leave positive feedback for buyers or nothing at all. At that time I decided to automate. So now when a customer makes a purchase, as soon as they pay positive feedback is left automatically on my behalf.
If a customer leaves unwarranted negative feedback you can challenge it. I don’t get poor feedback often because I can fix any problem before it escalates. But when I occasionally do I always challenge. 20% of the time the feedback will be removed or changed. The rest of the time it will stay. It will affect your overall feedback percentage but as long as you’re over 98% positive you’re good. It’s not hard to maintain that percentage either. Also you can publically reply to any feedback left for your store.
RETURN POLICY
I had a return policy for a while but I feel people took advantage of it. There were times I would sell a deadstock shirt and the buyer would message weeks later asking for a return. When I would agree the item came back worn and washed. Also with used clothing, the customer can wear it and return it and you’ll never know. eBay loves stores with a return policy, but they give everyone the option and its not for me.
I definitely accept returns but only if the product was misrepresented. Like a hole or stain I didn’t see. Or if I included the wrong size in the item description. I don’t accept returns for sizing issues. The measurements are clearly listed and the customer should know their size.
Another thing to understand about eBay and return policies. Even though you may not accept returns. If a customer files a request for return or chargeback. You will be obligated to respond. eBay will give you a choice but if you don’t accept the return or get a full refund they’ll look negatively upon you. Regardless of the scenario. eBay is all about customers, not so much sellers. Keep that in mind.
