Best Selling T-Shirt Colors in 2026: 1,000 Shirts Counted

TL;DR: We counted the shirt color in the listing photo of 1,000 best sellers on 2 November 2026, 250 each from TeePublic, Redbubble, Amazon US and Etsy. On TeePublic (70%), Amazon US (69%) and Redbubble (63%), about two in three are shown on black. White is a distant second on Redbubble and TeePublic, navy third. Etsy is a different shelf: dark shirts are only a third of its single-color tees, the rest is washed Comfort Colors shades like ivory, pepper, moss and espresso, and 116 of its 250 listings name Comfort Colors. This is the color sellers chose to show, not sales per color.

Ask which t-shirt colors sell best and the usual answer is black, white and grey, with nothing counted behind it. We wanted a count.

It matters because you pick the shirt color before the design is finished. Art built for a black shirt can vanish on cream, and on Etsy the shirt is half of the product photo.

So we counted. On 2 November 2026 I took the 1,000 designs on Trendlytic's Best Design Instant list and recorded the shirt color in every listing photo. Below are the 10 colors that matter, with the counts, where each does best and how to design for it. Trendlytic is ours, so weigh that, but the shirts are other sellers' work and the counts are what they are.

How we counted 1,000 best selling t-shirt colors

Best Design Instant is Trendlytic's daily list of the strongest designs across four marketplaces, 250 per marketplace: TeePublic, Redbubble, Amazon US and Etsy. For each design I wrote down one thing: the shirt color in its listing photo.

This is the color the seller chose to show, not sales per color. On TeePublic and Redbubble a buyer can pick another color at checkout, on Amazon whenever the seller offers more than one, and many Etsy listings offer several. The count tells you which color the sellers of today's best sellers put in front of buyers: a strong hint, not a sales report.

Each marketplace was read a different way:

• TeePublic: the image link names the shirt color as a code. Exact, 250 of 250.
• Redbubble: the image link names the color too, as a code or a name like heather oatmeal. Exact, 250 of 250, all of them tees.
• Amazon US: the link carries no color, so I read it from the shirt in the photo, then checked by eye the 71 photos where the reading was not clear-cut, every non-black reading, and two batches of the black ones.
• Etsy: lifestyle shots, flat lays and bundles, so all 250 were counted by eye from thumbnails. Ivory and white cannot be told apart reliably at that size, so they are grouped. Treat the Etsy figures as approximate.

Two more notes. Etsy shows no sales for a single listing, so Etsy's 250 in the list lean on favorites, not sales: when I say best sellers on Etsy, read it as its most favorited listings in the list. And this is one day's list, read right after Halloween and in the run-up to Thanksgiving, so fall shades are inflated.

Counts out of 250 listing photos per marketplace on 2 November 2026. On Etsy, ivory and white are counted together (52) and shown in the ivory row. The blue row is every blue except navy. A dash means none that day, or not counted as a separate shade. Etsy's 250 also held 13 multi-color bundles and 22 listings that were not a single tee photo, so Etsy percentages below are out of its 215 single-color tees.

1. Black: the best selling t-shirt color on three of four marketplaces

Black was the shirt in 174 of TeePublic's 250 best sellers (70%), 172 of Amazon US's (69%) and 158 of Redbubble's (63%). Across those three that is 504 of 750, about two in three. No other color comes close on any of them.

The "nightshift nurse" search above is typical of TeePublic: five of the six matching designs sit on black. Etsy is the exception. Only 20 of its 215 single-color tees were solid black (9%), and even with pepper, Comfort Colors' washed black, its dark shirts reach 70 of 215, about a third.

Why does black win? The count shows that it does, not why. Likely reasons: bright inks and full-color art stand out on it, it suits most niches, and it is many sellers' default. The list was also read two days after Halloween, a season that leans dark, so a little of the lead may be seasonal.

Design tip: use light or bright ink. White text, pale line art and saturated colors read well; dark navy, deep red and thin black outlines disappear. If your art depends on black linework, give it a light outline or plan it for a light shirt.

Honest note: two in three is a strong default, not a law. It also means most of the best sellers you compete with are on black, so ask whether your design has a reason to be on something else.

2. White: a distant second

White was second on Redbubble and TeePublic: 65 of Redbubble's 250 (26%) and 34 of TeePublic's (14%). Count the cream shades with it and that becomes 71 on Redbubble (28%) and 41 on TeePublic (16%). Amazon US had 11 white shirts.

Redbubble is where white does best, about one best seller in four. The same nurse search shows it: on TeePublic the matching designs sat almost all on black, while on Redbubble they spread over white, oatmeal, light blue, black and slate blue. On Etsy, white is counted with ivory, under item 4.

Design tip: white is the shirt for dark ink, detailed line art, full-color illustrations and anything that started life on paper. Pale yellow, light pastels and thin white details vanish on it.

Honest note: even on Redbubble, black outnumbers white more than two to one (158 against 65). White is a strong second option, and the first one when your design is dark line art.

3. Navy: the third choice, almost absent on Amazon

Navy came third on TeePublic (18 of 250, 7%) and on Redbubble (8 of 250, 3%). It was barely present on Amazon US (1) and small on Etsy (6 of 215). Real, but modest: a supporting dark shirt, not a leading choice anywhere.

Design tip: navy wants the same light inks as black: white, cream, gold, pale blue. Black ink has almost no contrast on it, and dark reds turn muddy.

Honest note: a design that works on black usually works on navy, so navy is an easy extra color to switch on, not a default to build around.

4. Ivory, natural and oatmeal: the cream family

On TeePublic, Redbubble and Amazon the cream shades are small: 7 natural shirts on TeePublic, 6 heather oatmeal on Redbubble, 5 natural or cream on Amazon US. On Etsy, ivory and white together were the most common color of all: 52 of 215 single-color tees (24%), just ahead of pepper.

This is where Etsy stops looking like the other three. Black, the color that wins everywhere else, is fourth. The top is light and washed shades, and one brand runs through it: 116 of Etsy's 250 listings name Comfort Colors in the title or tags, a garment-dyed blank whose shades include Ivory, Pepper, Moss, Espresso, Blue Jean, Butter, Yam and Berry.

Design tip: cream takes dark brown, black, faded red, mustard and muted retro palettes. White ink disappears on it, and so do pale pastels.

Honest note: the Etsy figure groups ivory with white, so the cream family's real share of Etsy is somewhere inside that 52, not all of it.

5. Pepper: Comfort Colors' washed black

Pepper is a Comfort Colors shade, a washed, faded black-grey. On Etsy it was the second color of all: 50 of 215 single-color tees (23%), more than twice as many as solid black (20). It is an Etsy color in this data: none of TeePublic's or Redbubble's exact color codes matched a shade like it, and Amazon's dark greys were counted under charcoal.

That changes what "a dark shirt" means on Etsy. A seller who brings the TeePublic habit and shows every design on solid black is picking the fourth color on Etsy's shelf.

Design tip: on pepper, use cream, off-white, light sage or mustard. The faded fabric suits distressed and vintage-style prints; neon can look out of place.

Honest note: pepper was told apart from solid black by eye, from thumbnails, so some calls may be wrong. The total of Etsy's dark shirts (70 of 215) is firmer than the split between them.

6. Moss and sage green

Green was Etsy's third color: 32 of 215 single-color tees (15%), mostly moss and sage, plus olive, forest and a few seafoam. Elsewhere it barely registers: 3 kelly green on TeePublic, 2 on Redbubble (one forest, one kelly), 5 on Amazon US (4 forest green, 1 olive).

The "plant mom" search above shows where green earns its place: plant, garden and outdoor niches, where the shirt repeats the subject. Not one of those six leading listings is on solid black. That is one search; you can run the same check on your own niche before you choose a shirt.

Design tip: sage is light, so it takes dark ink (brown, black, deep green) and cream. Moss is darker, so cream or white ink reads better.

Honest note: outside Etsy, green was 10 of 750 best sellers. Treat it as an Etsy color, or a niche color where the subject is green.

7. Heather grey and charcoal

Grey is Amazon's color more than anyone's. Amazon US had 11 charcoal or dark heather shirts and 7 heather grey, 18 of 250 (7%), which makes grey and charcoal Amazon's second group after black. Elsewhere it is thin: none on TeePublic, 1 heather light grey on Redbubble, 6 heather or sport grey on Etsy.

Design tip: charcoal behaves like black, so use light ink. Heather grey sits in the middle: black, navy and strong colors read on it, while white and pale ink lose contrast.

Honest note: charcoal against black is the hardest call on Amazon's flat shirt photos, which is why every non-black Amazon reading was checked by eye.

8. Espresso and brown

Brown or espresso was 15 of Etsy's 215 single-color tees (7%) and 4 of Amazon US's 250. TeePublic and Redbubble had none. It is one of the fall shades: the list was read on 2 November, and brown shows up alongside rust and orange on both Amazon and Etsy.

Design tip: espresso takes cream, orange, mustard and sage ink. Black ink barely shows on it.

Honest note: expect brown to shrink once the season turns. Use it for fall and harvest designs, not as an all-year default.

9. Blue jean and light blue

Etsy had 12 blue shirts out of 215, mostly a washed shade Comfort Colors calls Blue Jean, plus some light and royal blue. Redbubble had 7: 4 slate blue (a washed denim blue-grey, all on oversize tees), 2 royal blue and 1 light blue. TeePublic had 3 (2 blue, 1 light blue) and Amazon US 1 light blue.

Design tip: blue jean and slate take white, cream and navy ink. Light blue takes dark ink, the way white does.

Honest note: the numbers are small everywhere. Blue is worth a look on Etsy and on Redbubble's oversize tees, not as a default.

10. Rust, orange and gold

Amazon US had 14: 13 orange or rust shirts, mostly fall and Thanksgiving tees in a rust tone, plus 1 gold. Etsy had 11: 10 orange, rust or yam, and 1 butter yellow. TeePublic had 9 gold-yellow shirts (4%), and Redbubble 1 orange. The Amazon and Etsy part is clearly seasonal; TeePublic's 9 are one gold-yellow shade, and the count alone does not tell me whether those designs were.

Design tip: rust and orange take cream, white, brown and black ink. Gold takes black or dark brown best.

Honest note: this is the most seasonal entry. Do not read 14 of 250 on Amazon as a year-round signal.

Reds, pinks and purples never made the top 10. Amazon US had 4 pink, 3 purple, 2 red and 1 maroon, Etsy had 7 berry, red or pink and 4 purple or lavender, and TeePublic and Redbubble had one red and one purple each.

How to pick a shirt color for your design

The right color for one design depends on where you sell it, the ink, the time of year and, most of all, the niche.

By marketplace

• TeePublic and Amazon: start with black. On Amazon the next choice is grey or charcoal; on TeePublic it is white, then navy.
• Redbubble: black first, but white is a real second at about one in four, so make the art work on both. Our TeePublic vs Redbubble comparison covers the other differences.
• Etsy: the leading listings use washed Comfort Colors shades. Pepper is the dark shirt, ivory or white the light one, moss and espresso the accents. New to shirts there? Start with our Etsy print on demand guide.

By design contrast

Decide the ink before the shirt. Light or bright ink goes on black, navy, pepper, charcoal and moss. Dark ink goes on white, ivory, heather grey, sage and light blue. Full-color art usually works on black or white.

The quickest test is to see the design on a dark and a light shirt before you upload. Our free t-shirt mockup generator puts one design on black and white shirts side by side, and our roundup of the best t-shirt mockup generators covers the other options.

By season

This list was read on 2 November, so rust, orange and brown are inflated. Use fall shades for fall designs and expect them to fade after Thanksgiving. For the themes that come back each season, see our trending t-shirt designs guide.

By niche: check what the leading designs are shown on

This is the part an average cannot answer. In "nightshift nurse", TeePublic's matching designs were almost all on black while Redbubble's spread across five colors. In "plant mom" on Etsy, not one of the six was on solid black. Your niche may follow the marketplace average, or it may not.

So before you design, look at what the leading designs in your niche are shown on, on the marketplace you sell on. By hand that is four searches on four sites and a lot of scrolling. One Trendlytic search shows the niche's leading designs on Etsy, Redbubble, TeePublic and Amazon US side by side, with their photos, so you see the colors that sell there before you pick yours. When you settle on a phrase, you can run a one-click USPTO lookup on it. For the designs themselves, our best selling t-shirt designs post reads the same kind of list by theme.

Trendlytic starts from $19.99/mo, with a 3-day trial that takes a card. Check the colors in your niche before your next upload.

FAQ

What is the best selling t-shirt color?

Black. In our count of 1,000 best sellers on 2 November 2026, black was the shirt in the listing photo for 70% on TeePublic, 69% on Amazon US and 63% on Redbubble, 504 of 750 across the three. Etsy is the exception: ivory or white (52) and pepper (50) led its 215 single-color tees, and solid black was fourth.

What color shirt sells best on Redbubble?

Black, shown on 158 of Redbubble's 250 best sellers (63%). White was a clear second with 65 (26%), or 71 (28%) counting heather oatmeal. Navy came third with 8.

What color shirts sell best on Amazon Merch?

Black, by a wide margin: 172 of the 250 Amazon US best sellers (69%), most of the photos being Merch on Demand's standard flat shirt shot. Grey and charcoal came next (18), then orange and rust (13, mostly fall and Thanksgiving tees) and white (11).

What color shirts sell best on Etsy?

Washed, light and earthy shades rather than black. Of 215 single-color tees among Etsy's 250 most favorited listings in the list, ivory or white led with 52, then pepper 50, green (mostly moss and sage) 32, black 20 and brown 15. These were counted by eye and are approximate.

Why do black shirts sell so well?

The count shows that black leads, not why. Likely reasons: bright inks and full-color designs stand out on it, it fits most niches, and it is many sellers' default. Our list was also read two days after Halloween, which may have added a little to its lead.

Are Comfort Colors shirts worth it on Etsy?

116 of the 250 Etsy listings in the list name Comfort Colors in the title or tags, against 1 each for Bella+Canvas and Gildan, and its washed shades fill the top of Etsy's color count. Etsy sellers treat the name as a selling point. Whether it pays for you depends on your print provider's price for the blank against a basic tee, so run that number first.

Should I offer my design in more than one color?

Usually yes. On TeePublic and Redbubble a buyer can pick another color at checkout, and on Amazon whenever you offer more than one, so the photo color is the first impression, not the only option. Pick the default that suits the ink, then switch on the other colors the design still reads on. On Etsy, 13 of the 250 were multi-color family or group bundles.

Conclusion

The best selling t-shirt color is black on TeePublic, Amazon and Redbubble, with white a distant second on Redbubble and TeePublic. Etsy plays by different rules: washed Comfort Colors shades, pepper for dark and ivory or white for light. And since this is one day's list, the fall shades will fade with the season.

The averages are a good default; the color that wins in your niche is a better one. If you want to see the leading designs in your niche, shirt colors included, on all four marketplaces at once, plus a one-click USPTO lookup on any phrase you choose, Trendlytic starts from $19.99/mo, with a 3-day trial that takes a card. Start your trial here.

What color do you default to for your designs, and have you tested another one?