We finally found 2 local people. We are ordering some shirts to sell and mixing some pre-orders in with other items. Everyone is right, a local source is great because you get to see the product and faster turn-around. thanks again for the advise
Menlo Tigers,
We are looking into working with the t-shirtpeople.com this year and I wanted to get your overall opinion of them. What did you like and not like about this company? What is the quality of their items and why didn't you like the bottoms? I would really appreciate your opinion!
Amy
For general school T-shirts, we generally order en masse, guessing on how many of each size (considering previous years) and then just selling when they arrive.
However, if you are in a situation where you are taking pre-orders and allowing folks to specify by size, this helps....
We get a sample of each size shirt from the company, mark the size on a big label (like stick-on nametag), place on hangers, and have on a rack beside the order booth. The shirts must be the same brand/type being ordered. But they are just blank and only there for sizing. It really helps for the parents to be able to SEE the size, to hold it up to their child. When you consider all the popular youth and adult sizes, it's about 12 shirts. Our suppliers have always been willing to do this and we return them afterwards.
We do this for swim team (250 shirts) and for school when we are ordering smaller quantity items (like long sleeved T's) where we don't plan to stock mass quantities.
If possible, we have a sign with the artwork displayed by the shirts so everyone has an idea what the finished product looks like.
We used a local company too. There's tons of competition, so check samples carefully before you sign any contracts. We made about $2,000 in a school of 700 (t's, sweatshirts with embroidered logos).
Consider this idea: sell spiritwear for the "next school up" at the end of the year. For example, sell spiritwear for the middle school at the elementary school at the end of the school year. We tried it this year, but thought of it too late to do anything except sell off the on-hand inventory. Parents of our "graduating" 5th graders bought up all the items. We could have taken orders - the middle school items make great promotion gifts. We will be better prepared next year, and do this between the elementary/middle PTOs and the middles/high school PTOs.
Thank you everyone for your ideas. We are talking to a local person and want to make sure we are getting a good price. Everyone has certainly given us a lot to think about. THANKS AGAIN!!!!
