There have never been more ways to start an online clothing business: dropshipping, white label products, private labeling, print-on-demand . . . and the list goes on. But with so many options that differ just slightly, there’s room for confusion.
This article will give you insight into:
The difference between white label clothing and private label clothing
The pros and cons of each
White label clothing examples
How to start a white label clothing business with Printful
What is white label clothing?
White label clothing is apparel produced by one company but designed or rebranded and sold by another business under its own brand name. This allows sellers to offer custom-designed products without holding inventory or owning the production process. For example, if you partner with a print-on-demand company like Printful, you can design apparel, accessories, and other products, and sell them under your brand without Printful’s name appearing anywhere.
Valuable read: White Label Business Opportunities: From Apparel to Home Decor and Beyond
White label vs. private labeling
White-label clothing involves garments made by a third-party manufacturer, which retailers can customize with their own branding. This approach is more affordable and faster for launching a clothing brand. In contrast, private label clothing also uses product blanks but involves a more collaborative process with the manufacturer, allowing sellers to have more input in the base product’s design. The key difference is the level of customization and involvement with the manufacturer, with private labeling offering more hands-on control over product creation.
Valuable read: Private Label Dropshipping: What It Is and What to Sell to Succeed
White label clothing pros and cons
Pros
Cons
Quick market entry with existing products
Limited differentiation from competitors, making it harder to stand out
Low initial costs as there is no need to create new products
Less control over the manufacturing process
Focus on branding rather than product development
Dependency on suppliers for product availability and consistency
Flexibility to switch products based on market demand and trends
Lower profit margins compared to getting products in bulk
Easy scalability without worrying about manufacturing
Less product customization compared to developing them from scratch
Private label clothing pros and cons
Pros
Cons
Potentially higher profit margins thanks to more unique products
Higher initial costs for product development and branding
Complete control over product design, product variants, and packaging
Stock management that can lead to potential excess inventory costs if products don’t sell
Increased customer loyalty thanks to having products tailored to a specific audience
Longer time to market compared to rebranding existing items with white labeling
Greater oversight of quality assurance
Managing supply chain production, quality control, and logistics
Flexibility to adapt products to market trends and customer feedback
Limited product range because it takes more resources to develop a poduct
Valuable read: Dropshipping vs. Private Label: Which is Best For Your Business
Custom label options for your white label or private label business
Your white label or private label clothing manufacturers are the ones that determine how many custom label options you get.
For example, with Printful, you get to design inside and outside labels, and tearaway labels.
You can filter garments by Branding options in Printful’s Catalog to find products with the branding option you’re interested in.
Source: Printful’s Catalog
White label clothing examples
Let’s take a look at 5 products you can design to start or expand your white label clothing line.
Valuable read: 7 Printful Branding Tools to Create a Consistent Look and Feel for Your Brand
Custom t-shirts
T-shirts are one of the most popular garments in the world. You can also customize multiple shirt variations (different sleeve lengths, fabrics, and fits) to diversify your lineup.
Here are some Printful shirt options for your store:
Custom hoodies
Like tees, hoodies are an established wardrobe staple. If you want to design them for your clothing line, here are some great options with Printful:
Valuable read: 37 Hoodie Design Ideas to Get You Inspired
Bottoms
Both private label and white label brands can design matching bottoms to go with the tops they offer for a cohesive look.
Here are some bottom options for your store:
Hats
With Printful, you can design a range of different hats and have them printed or embroidered. In our catalog, you’ll find hats for all seasons and occasions:
Source: Printful’s Catalog
Swimwear
Swimwear is a growing industry, presenting you with a lucrative opportunity to expand your offering. Bikinis, one-pieces, swim trunks, speedos . . . there are many beachwear products you can design for your customers.
Here are some options you can design with Printful:
All-Over Print One-Piece Swimsuit
Valuable read: How to Start a Swimwear Line: Your Guide to Success in 2024
Starting a white label clothing line with Printful in 7 steps
Printful is the best POD company to partner with for white labeling, according to Forbes. So, let’s go through the process of starting a clothing brand with Printful.
In other articles, we’ve given detailed instructions for starting an online store and steps to launch a clothing brand with Printful, so in this one we’ll cover each aspect briefly.
Step 1: Create a Printful Account
The first step in this recipe is creating your Printful account.
Source: Printful’s login page
Sign up with your Facebook, Google, Apple, or email account. It’s completely free and easy to do.
Step 2: Link your Printful account with an ecommerce platform
Choose an ecommerce platform or marketplace for your white label or private label business.
Valuable read: Marketplace vs. Ecommerce Platform: Which Is the Best?
Once you have created a store, connect it to Printful by going to your Printful Dashboard, clicking on Stores > Choose platform. Then, choose the platform your store is on, press Connect, and following the steps from there.
Step 3: Pick white label products
How you choose the products to add to your store depends on your niche and target audience. Some white label brands start by designing trending products while others go for tried-and-tested bestselling products.
If you’re unsure where to start, you can browse Printful’s Product Catalog to see your options.
Source: Printful’s Product Catalog
Pro tip: When researching white label clothing manufacturers, read the customer reviews to ensure you pick a manufacturer that has high quality products.
Let’s say you’ve decided to go for a private label and white label classic—a custom t-shirt. Now you need to customize it.
Step 4: Create or upload a design
Personalize your private label products with our free Design Maker. You can either upload your existing design or create a new one using the tools and resources the Design Maker has.
Valuable read: How to Create Designs for Print-on-Demand Even If You’re Not a Designer
Step 5: Add products to your store
There are 3 ways you can add custom private label clothing products to your store:
From your Printful Dashboard > Product Templates > Add to store
From your Printful Dashboard > Stores > Add product
On any open product page, click Add to store
Now all that’s left are technicalities, and your store will be fully functional.
Step 6: Set up shipping and billing
Let’s first address shipping. You’ll need to decide what your shipping pricing strategy will be. There are 3 different approaches:
Let customers pay the total price for shipping (the same as Printful charges you)
Increase product prices to cover a % of shipping costs
Offer free shipping by incorporating shipping costs in product prices
Valuable read: A Complete Guide to Ecommerce Shipping Pricing
The next and final thing is setting up billing. You have to set up a payment method on your online platform so your customers can pay you, and a payment method in your Printful account so you can pay us for fulfilling your orders.
Learn more: Your guide to Printful payments and pricing
Once you’ve set up your shipping and billing, your store’s ready to receive orders, and you can start selling.
Step 7: Market your products and start selling
If you want marketing advice, one of the best resources is the Marketing tips section on Printful’s Blog. You’ll get general marketing advice, platform-specific guides, tips for tailoring content to special occasions, and much more.
Source: Printful Blog
Here are some articles from Printful’s Blog to get you started:
How to develop an effective marketing strategy
11 effective ways to market a product
10 effective social media strategies
Put it all together
It’s time for you to turn this knowledge into a white label or private label clothing line.
Need some inspo? You can check out some successful POD white label brands.
Frequently asked questions
Discover the difference between private and white label clothing, types of custom labels, and launch your own clothing.
