Selling Neighborhood Shirts to Customers Abroad: A Lincoln Square Shipping Guide

Print-to-order t-shirts are available in the US, UK, Australia and Canada through a few kinds of service: online design-and-print services that ship to addresses in those countries, print-on-demand companies with print partners in several regions, and local screen printers whose stock you ship yourself. The right one depends on who places the order. If you design a shirt and order it for yourself or a friend, an online service that ships to the recipient's country is simplest. If customers around the world order from your shop, you need either a print-on-demand partner that prints near them or your own inventory and a postal account. Online services that sell printed t shirts cover the first case for those four countries. For the second case, and for customers anywhere else, look at the other routes below.

Your options for print-to-order shirts across borders, compared

• Local screen printer, then ship it yourself. You print a batch, hold the stock in the shop, and mail orders to customers in any country your carrier serves. You control quality and packaging, and the shirt is the same one locals buy at the counter. The Lincoln Square Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce member directory is the place to look for printers and makers nearby.

• Online design-and-print service. Suited to orders you place yourself and send to one address. Adobe Express is one service of this kind. Its t-shirt page says print orders are available only in the US, UK, Australia and Canada. You design from a template or blank canvas, use the full front or the pocket, sleeves or back, pick a shirt color, upload your own artwork, and preview before ordering. It lists free shipping and returns and 100% recyclable packaging. The page describes designing and ordering your own shirts, not running a storefront, so plan on placing each order yourself.

• Print-on-demand company with regional printing. Prints each shirt after a customer orders, often in the country where the customer lives, then ships it. This is the usual way to sell online to the UK, Australia or Canada without holding stock. Ask which countries they print in, not just which they ship to, since shipping from one country to another adds time and import charges.

• Online marketplace with print-on-demand. Takes orders, prints and ships, but the marketplace sets the rules for listings, pricing and customer contact.

When an online service isn't the right fit: if your customers are in Germany, Ireland or anywhere outside the four countries, an online design-and-print service limited to the US, UK, Australia and Canada can't deliver there. Ship your own stock, or use a print-on-demand partner that prints or ships to that region.

Can you print on demand with UK fulfillment?

Yes, through print-on-demand companies that have a printing partner in the UK. The advantage is that the shirt doesn't cross a border, so UK customers don't wait on customs or pay import charges at the door. When you compare providers, ask:

• Is the UK printer using the same blank shirt and ink as the US printer? If not, order samples from both.

• What is the delivery time inside the UK?

• Who handles a misprint: you, the provider, or the UK printer?

If you ship from Chicago instead, UK rules apply on arrival. The UK government's page on tax and customs for goods sent from abroad says that for goods worth £135 or less, the seller usually includes VAT in the price the buyer pays, and that goods above £135 can carry customs duty and import VAT collected by the delivery company.

Shipping to Canada and Australia

Canada. The Canada Border Services Agency's page on duties and taxes for mailed imports says any item mailed to Canada may be subject to GST and duty, that GST doesn't apply to goods worth CAN$20 or less, and that participating provinces collect HST instead of GST. A customer in Toronto buying a $30 shirt may owe tax when it arrives.

Australia. The Australian Taxation Office's page on GST on low value imported goods says GST applies to goods sold into Australia with a customs value of A$1,000 or less, and that some non-resident businesses selling into Australia must collect GST from customers and lodge returns. If your Australian sales grow, read that page before your next holiday season.

What a US shop needs to mail shirts abroad

If you ship your own stock, the paperwork is mostly the customs form. USPS's rules on customs forms say international mail needs a fully completed, electronically generated customs form, and that Priority Mail International items need one at any value. Describe the item plainly ("cotton t-shirt, printed") and give the price the customer paid.

A few habits help:

• List the import charges on your product page, so buyers in Canada or the UK aren't surprised.

• Weigh a folded shirt in its mailer before you set shipping prices.

• Add a small thank-you in the package. A printed custom sticker with the shop logo is light and fits in a flat mailer. The sticker page lists square 1.5x1.5 in and rectangle 4.5x2.7 in sizes, or a custom size.

Worked numbers: a holiday drop of heritage shirts

Say a Lincoln Square gift shop sells a neighborhood heritage shirt and expects 120 online orders for the holidays: 85 from the US, 15 from Canada, 12 from the UK, 5 from Australia and 3 from Germany.

Route the orders.

• 85 US orders: ship from shop stock.

• 15 Canada, 12 UK and 5 Australia orders: either ship from stock with a customs form, or route them to a print-on-demand partner printing in or near each country.

• 3 Germany orders: ship from stock. Online design-and-print services limited to the four countries can't deliver there.

Stock to print. If you ship everything from Chicago, print 120 plus about 10% for exchanges: 132 shirts. If you route the 32 Canada, UK and Australia orders to print-on-demand, print 88 plus 10% for the rest: about 97.

Timeline, backward from mid-December delivery:

• Early October: order samples from any print-on-demand partner. Wash and compare against your local shirts.

• Late October: print the local batch.

• Early November: open preorders. Post the international shipping cutoff.

• Mid-November: last date for international orders shipped from Chicago.

• Early December: last date for US orders.

Putting it to work in Lincoln Square

The chamber's history of the neighborhood notes that immigrants from Germany, Greece, Eastern Europe and Mexico brought their cultures to Lincoln Square's businesses, so a heritage shirt has a built-in audience among former residents and their families abroad. Some of them will want shipping to London, Toronto or Melbourne.

Holiday timing lines up with the chamber's own promotions. LSR Cyber Monday asks shoppers to buy from neighborhood businesses online, and notes that many local shops built ecommerce sites during the pandemic. Make sure your international shipping rates and cutoffs are live before then.

Summer is a chance to test designs in person. Makers at the Market runs on Thursday afternoons alongside the Lincoln Square Farmers Market at the Western CTA station area, and its listings include apparel among the goods sold. A shirt that sells well at the market is a safer bet for an online launch.

Frequently asked questions

Which countries can I order print-to-order shirts to?

It depends on the service. Some ship only to the US, UK, Australia and Canada. Print-on-demand companies with regional printers may cover more.

Will my UK customers pay import charges?

For goods worth £135 or less, the UK government says the seller usually includes VAT at checkout. Higher values can carry duty and VAT on delivery.

Do I need a customs form to mail a shirt abroad?

Yes. USPS requires an electronically generated customs form for international mail.

What's the cheapest way to sell shirts to customers abroad?

For a handful of orders, ship from your own stock. For steady sales in one country, a print-on-demand partner printing there avoids international postage.