Vendor selection
How to Choose a Spirit Wear Vendor: 18 Questions to Ask First
The questions that separate spirit wear vendors: how the percentage is calculated, who ships, who handles service, who remits sales tax, and how you leave.
We should say this at the top: Spiritwear Booster is one of the companies you would be evaluating. That is exactly why this post is a list of questions rather than a list of winners. Apply all eighteen to us as well. If the criteria are good ones, they should hold up when they are pointed back at the author.
The reason vendor selection is hard in this category is that no two quotes are expressed in the same units. One provider offers "20% commission", another "up to 35% profit", a third "you set your own margin". None of those three numbers can be compared without four follow-up questions each.
Decide three things before you talk to anyone
Which model you want
Print-on-demand and shipped direct, or a bulk order the club distributes. This decision governs everything else: risk, volunteer hours, cash flow. If you have not settled it, read the comparison of an online store versus a bulk order first.
Who is doing the promotion
Every provider will say the store 'is easy to share'. That is not the same as running campaigns. Decide whether you want a platform (you promote it) or a program (they promote it), because you will be quoted very different percentages for the two.
What you are actually optimising for
Highest possible percentage, or lowest possible volunteer hours? These pull in opposite directions and clubs that have not chosen tend to end up with a high-margin store nobody has time to run.
Money: five questions
- Is your percentage taken on total order value, or on profit after costs? A share of sales and a share of margin are different products. If it is a share of profit, ask to see the cost lines that get deducted first.
- Is the percentage calculated before or after shipping and sales tax? A 20% share of the product total and a 20% share of the checkout total are not the same figure.
- Are there any setup, design, platform or monthly fees? Including fees that appear later: artwork revisions, adding a product, a store refresh next season.
- Is there a minimum order or a sales threshold before we get paid? Some agreements only pay out above a floor, which small programs never reach.
- When do we get paid, and what does the report look like? Ask to see a sample statement. Your treasurer has to reconcile it against a bank deposit, and "we'll send a summary" is not a report.
Fulfillment: four questions
- Is every item printed after it is ordered, or produced in a batch? This determines whether an unsold size is anybody's problem.
- Does each order ship to the buyer, or to the school? Bulk delivery to the school means a distribution day, which means volunteers, which is usually the cost the club was trying to avoid.
- What is the realistic turnaround from order to doorstep? Ask for the normal range and the peak-season range. December is not November.
- Who handles a wrong size, a late delivery or a misprint, and how does a parent reach them? If the answer routes through the club, a volunteer has just inherited a customer service desk.
Product and design: four questions
- Who designs the range, and do we approve it? You want approval rights without owning the design work.
- Can we see a physical sample before launch? Color on a screen is not color on a garment, and school colors are the whole point.
- Who owns the artwork? If the vendor creates designs incorporating your school's marks, establish in writing that the club or school keeps the rights and can take the files elsewhere.
- What is the range, and can it change during the season? Playoff gear, senior night, a state championship. A store that cannot add a product in a week will miss the two moments that sell best.
Compliance and admin: three questions
- Who is the seller of record, and who collects and remits sales tax? This is the question most clubs forget, and it has real consequences. If the club is the seller, your treasurer may have a filing obligation in your state. See sales tax on spirit wear and fundraiser merchandise.
- What reporting will we get for our own books and our 990? Your club has an annual filing obligation and a treasurer who has to substantiate the income.
- How do you handle personal data for the families who order? Names, addresses and phone numbers of minors' parents are involved. Ask what is collected, where it is stored and whether it is ever sold or shared.
The exit: two questions
- How long is the agreement, and how do we get out of it? Look specifically for auto-renewal clauses and exclusivity. A club that signs a three-year exclusive has removed its own leverage.
- If we leave, what do we take with us? Artwork files, the customer list, the store URL. Establish this before you sign, not when you are leaving.
Red flags
- A percentage quoted without a basis. "Up to 40%" of what, calculated when, minus what?
- Any up-front payment in a program sold as no-risk. These two claims cannot both be true.
- Reluctance to name the fulfillment method. There is no reason to be coy about whether you print to order.
- Testimonials with no organization attached. "Our booster club loved it — J.M." is not a reference. Ask for two current clubs of a similar size that you can call.
- Statistics with no source. A headline percentage — "schools raise three times more" — with no study, sample or method behind it. Ask where the number comes from. If the answer is not a document you can read, treat it as marketing rather than evidence.
- Exclusivity plus auto-renewal in the same contract. Either alone is negotiable. Together they are a trap.
A scorecard you can actually fill in
Put your shortlist in a table like this. The point is that every column is a fact, not an impression. By the time it is filled in, the decision usually makes itself.
| Criterion | What a good answer looks like |
|---|---|
| Payment basis | A stated % of total order value, in writing |
| Fees | None: no setup, no platform, no design fee |
| Inventory | None. Printed after ordering |
| Shipping | Direct to the buyer, buyer pays at checkout |
| Customer service | Handled by the provider, with a contact the parent uses directly |
| Promotion | Provider writes and sends the campaigns |
| Sales tax | Provider is seller of record, collects and remits |
| Reporting | A statement the treasurer can reconcile |
| Artwork rights | School or club retains them |
| Term | No exclusivity, no auto-renewal, clean exit |
If you would like the same information about us, it is on the Spiritwear Booster homepage and in the FAQ there: 20% of total order value, no setup cost, printed on demand, shipped direct, campaigns run by us, sales tax collected and remitted by us, financial reporting provided.
Vendor selection questions
- What percentage should a school get from a spirit wear vendor?
- There is no single benchmark, and quoted percentages in this category are not comparable until you know the basis. A share of total order value is worth considerably more than the same number expressed as a share of profit after costs. Ask every vendor to restate their offer as a percentage of what the store sells, then compare.
- Should our booster club sign an exclusive spirit wear agreement?
- Be cautious. Exclusivity is worth something to the vendor, so if you are asked for it, ask what you get in return. Combined with automatic renewal it can leave a club locked into an arrangement whose terms it can no longer negotiate.
- Who should own the artwork for our spirit wear designs?
- The school or club should retain the rights to designs that incorporate its name, logo or mascot, and should be able to take the files elsewhere. Establish this in writing before any design work begins.
- How do we check a spirit wear vendor's references?
- Ask for two current clients of a similar size and sport, and actually call them. Ask about turnaround in peak season, what happened when an order went wrong, and whether the percentage arrived when promised. Anonymous testimonials on a website are not references.
