Small Business Saturday is November 28, 2026, the Saturday after Thanksgiving (SBA). Our Small Business Saturday ideas post covers the window, the sidewalk sign and staff shirts. This one is about a different idea: selling shirts with your shop's name on them.
A bakery, a coffee shop, a record store, a yoga studio or a hardware store with regulars can sell its own tee or hoodie. Regulars buy it for themselves, it ends up on someone's holiday gift list, and every time it gets worn it is a small ad for you. We are a small, owner-run shop from Paramus, so we wrote this the way we would plan it for ourselves: small first order, real numbers, no guesswork about tax.
Start with one good tee
The mistake we would avoid is ordering five styles in eight colors. Pick one tee in one color that suits your brand, plus a second color if you want. Put your logo on the front, and if you like, your street, your town or the year you opened on the back or sleeve. Locals like a design that says where you are.
- Gildan 5000 Heavy Cotton Tee: $18.00 each at 24 with a front print, or $19.50 each at 12. Classic fit, many colors.
- Bella+Canvas 3001: $21.50 each at 24. Softer and more fitted, which a lot of shoppers expect from a boutique tee.
- A print on the back adds $6.50 per shirt at 24.
Shirts are printed with DTF, pressed in-house, so a full-color logo costs the same as a one-color one. The largest single print is 15 x 19 inches.
Add a hoodie and a beanie for the holidays
Late November is hoodie season, and a hoodie is an easier gift than a tee because size matters less.
- Gildan 18500 pullover hoodie: $32.00 each at 24, $34.50 each at 12.
- Gildan 18000 crewneck: $28.00 each at 24.
- Sportsman SP12 cuffed beanie, embroidered on the cuff: $17.00 each at 24. Embroidery is done by our embroidery partner. The one-time digitizing fee for your logo is $35.00, waived when 24 or more pieces get the same logo, and repeat orders of the same logo are not charged again.
Our hoodie and sweatshirt guide compares the heavier and softer options if you want something more premium.
How many, and in what sizes
We suggest 24 of your first tee. It is enough for a real size run, and 24 is where the price per shirt drops. A starting split for 24 adult tees that we would use: 3 small, 6 medium, 7 large, 5 XL and 3 2XL. Adjust it for your customers. A 2XL Gildan 5000 adds $5.00 per shirt.
The money math is simple. Twenty-four Gildan 5000 tees with a front print are $432.00. If you price each one at twice what it cost you, you have covered the whole order after selling 12 of them, and the rest is margin or stock for December. Twenty-four Gildan 18500 hoodies are $768.00 for comparison, so hoodies are worth adding once you know the tee sells.
If you would rather not hold any stock, see our guide to selling merch without inventory. It costs more per piece, but nothing sits in the back room.
Stickers and decals at the register
A sticker of your logo is the cheapest piece of merch and an easy add-on at checkout. Full-color printed decals are laminated for outdoor use and cut to the shape of your logo, priced by size in the vinyl designer, with a $30.00 minimum for printed decals. One-color cut vinyl decals are cut in-house, up to 12 inches on one side, and work well for car windows.
New Jersey sales tax on merch
This part is better news than most shop owners expect.
- Clothing is exempt. New Jersey does not charge sales tax on clothing and footwear. The state's list of exempt items includes hats and caps, scarves and gloves (NJ Division of Taxation), so you do not collect tax when you sell your tees, hoodies or beanies.
- Accessories and other goods are taxable. The clothing exemption does not cover clothing accessories (New Jersey Sales Tax Guide), and stickers, decals, mugs and bags are not clothing. New Jersey's sales tax rate is 6.625% (NJ Division of Taxation), so you collect it when you sell them.
- Buying to resell. If your business is registered to collect sales tax and buys taxable items to resell, you give your supplier a Sales Tax Resale Certificate (Form ST-3) instead of paying tax on the purchase. Clothing does not need a certificate, because it is exempt no matter who buys it (Business.NJ.gov). If you want to use an ST-3 on a decal order, text us before you order.
We are not accountants, so check anything unusual with yours.
Order-by dates
Turnaround starts when your mockup is approved and you pay. These dates are for contactless pickup in Paramus by Wednesday, November 25, so the merch is folded and on the counter before Black Friday.
| Item | Order by | With rush (+25%) |
|---|---|---|
| Printed tees, hoodies and crewnecks | Mon, Nov 16 | Wed, Nov 18 |
| Embroidered beanies and caps (embroidery partner) | Wed, Nov 4 | No rush on embroidery |
| Cut vinyl decals | Fri, Nov 20 | Tue, Nov 24 |
If the tees sell out, a second run for the holidays works too: printed apparel ordered by Friday, December 11 is ready before Christmas.
Putting it out on the day
- Fold the tees by size in a stack on the counter, and hang one on the wall or a hanger so people see the back.
- Have the staff wear the same shirt that day. It answers "do you sell those?" before anyone asks.
- Put the price on a small sign next to the stack, and mention that it makes a good gift.
- Post a photo of the rack that morning, and again when you are down to the last few.
If you also want the window, the banner and staff shirts covered in one order, the SBS Kit is a 3 x 6 banner, an 18 x 24 store-hours window vinyl and 12 Gildan tees with your logo for $299.00, or $339.00 with Bella+Canvas 3001 tees. The banner is printed by our sign partner. More ideas are on our Small Business Saturday page.
Getting started
Open the shirt designer, upload your logo and pick a tee. You will see the price for your quantity before you order. When your order is ready, we email you to set a pickup time, or text (201) 948-4433.