It’s simple. You know the tees you wear again and again, they are at the top of your drawer. They are not scratchy & boxy. They are the retail quality pieces that are soft, cozy, and fit just right.
Our friends over at Bella+Canvas stopped by the office the end of last year which led to a great conversation with the President, Chris Blakeslee, about the value of premium apparel.
When reselling tees for a profit or fundraiser, choosing a premium tee will allow you to make more money in the end. For this analysis we suggest looking at the retail value of the shirt. Customers will always be willing to pay more for a nicer shirt, and if you cut corners here and go with a standard tee, you run a high risk of not selling through your order. Below we compare a standard tee with a premium style such as Bella+Canvas, Alternative Apparel, or Next Level.
SHIRT A (standard tee) = $6/shirt
SHIRT B (premium tee) = $10/shirt
For a standard tee, you could most likely get away with re-selling the tee with a print for $15. Let’s say you buy 50 shirts and sell through all of them all, you would net a profit of $450 ($15 x 50 shirts minus the $300 investment).
Standard Tee: $15 x 50 minus $300 = $450
If you opt for a trend-forward and ultra-soft tee, you can easily sell the shirts for $28 each. So if you sell through 50 shirts at $28 a shirt you net a profit of $900. ($28 x 50 shirts minus the $500 investment).
Ultra-Soft Tee: $28 x 50 minus $500 = $900
In this conservative scenario, your profit would be $450 more buy investing in a higher quality shirt. We say conservative, because this doesn’t take into account the probability of not selling through a lower quality shirt. Apparel that isn’t as soft or on-trend doesn’t sell as well, which takes away from your goal of maximizing your profits.
Let’s discuss the value of promotional tees, in this scenario we will review “cost per impression”. Impressions are the notion of remembrance when seeing a name over and over. If your shirt is soft, it is worn more often, which means your name is seen more, lowering your cost per impression.
Here’s an example:
SHIRT A (standard tee) = $6.50/shirt
SHIRT B (combed and ring-spun tee) = $9.00/shirt
Envision a customer only wearing the standard $6.50 shirt 2 times because it just isn’t that cozy. Then, envision that each time it was worn, 10 people noticed the shirt, which means 20 total impressions were made. The cost per impression is then $0.33 ($6.50 per shirt/20 total impressions).
Standard Shirt: $6.50/20 impressions = $0.33/impression
Now onto the super-soft shirt that’s $9.00/shirt. Imagine that people love it because it’s cozy, soft, and looks trendy with other items in their closet. Envision they rock that tee once a month though the next year (which is a conservative estimate), and that each time they wear it, 10 people take notice of the shirt. If 10 people notice it, that’s 120 total impressions, which means that the cost per impression is only $0.08 ($9.00 per shirt/120 total impressions).
Retail Shirt: $9.00/120 impressions = $0.08/impression
This holds true as you continue to step up your quality. If you opt for a Triblend or Flowy tee, these tees are likely to be worn even more frequently than a basic jersey tee due to their extreme softness. And the more a shirt is worn, the lower the cost per impression. And from a marketing standpoint, this is an easy and inexpensive way to grow your brand now and forever.
If you’re a business owner, it’s important to use shirts as a way to promote your business. Whether it’s a race, tournament, giveaway, or business event, producing branded shirts that people will want to wear will not only grow your brand’s awareness and gain more impressions, but it will also generate valuable new business for you!