Club Kit Orders Without Losing Money

Somewhere in your club there's a cardboard box. It lives in a garage or under the treasurer's stairs, and it holds eleven jerseys in sizes nobody wears, two pairs of bib shorts from a design you retired three seasons ago, and a few hundred euros of the club's money. Nobody ordered that box on purpose. It's what's left of a kit order run on goodwill instead of a system.

Club kit should be one of the best things you do. It makes the bunch look like a club, it ends up in every photo, and new riders want it. It should also cost the club nothing. This is how to run the order so the box never exists: paid pre-orders, a proper sizing session, an honest price build-up, and a timeline you can hold a supplier to.

Where kit orders actually lose money

Clubs rarely lose money on the jersey itself. They lose it around the edges, and nearly always in the same five places:

• Unpaid "definitely put me down for one" orders. A name on a spreadsheet isn't an order. Some of those yeses go quiet by the time the boxes arrive, and every one is a custom garment the club has already paid for and can't send back.
• Wrong sizes. The rider guessed, the brand runs small, the jersey doesn't fit, and the supplier won't swap a single custom piece.
• Costs nobody priced in. Shipping, import charges, card fees, artwork or setup fees. Each one looks small. Together they turn a break-even price into a loss.
• Speculative stock. "Let's grab ten extra mediums for new members." The new members turn out to be smalls and larges.
• The top-up order. Three late riders want a jersey, the supplier's minimum is ten, so the club orders seven more it hopes to sell.

Every rule below closes one of those holes. If you keep only one, keep this: the club never pays a supplier for a garment a member hasn't already paid the club for.

Paid pre-orders are the whole system

Run kit as an order window, not an open-ended wish list. The window opens on a date, closes on a date, and an order only counts once it's paid. No payment, no order. That single rule removes the first and the last leak on the list above, because the club is no longer guessing demand — the members have told you with their money.

Two to three weeks is the right length. Shorter and riders on holiday miss it; longer and people forget, and you spend the last week chasing. Post it once, properly, on your club's main channel (if you're still announcing things in five places, fix that first — see one channel, not five), and pin it.

The announcement has to answer every question before anyone asks it:

• Each item, with its price and a photo or render of the design
• The size chart, and the dates of the try-on sessions
• The close date and time — and that late orders wait for the next window
• When kit is expected, as a range of weeks, not a promise
• The refund policy: custom kit can't be returned, so no refunds once the window closes, except for faulty items
• How handout works: collected at a club ride, or posted at the rider's cost

Then put windows on a rhythm — once or twice a season. One in late winter lands kit for spring; a second in late summer catches the riders who joined in the season. Riders learn to wait for it, and every "can I just get one jersey?" in June has a polite, fixed answer: the next window opens in August.

Sizing: the session that saves the order

Most kit disputes are sizing disputes, and almost all of them are avoidable. Ask your supplier whether they lend or sell a size-sample set — a "fit kit" with one of each size in each cut. Many custom kit makers have one; get the terms in writing, including when it has to go back.

Then run two try-on sessions during the window: one at the café stop of a club ride, one at a midweek meeting or before an evening ride. Bring a mirror, a pen, and the order list. The rider puts the jersey on, decides, and writes their own size down. If someone can't make either session, they pick from the chart — and the announcement already told them that the size choice is theirs.

• Sizes differ between brands. A medium from your last supplier tells you nothing about this one. Say so in the announcement.
• Race cut and club cut fit differently. If you offer both, have both in the fit kit.
• Women's cut is not a smaller men's jersey. Offer it, and have it in the samples. It's also one of the quickest ways to tell women riders the club means it.
• Bib shorts are the hard one. Leg length and torso length matter more than the size label. Try-on is worth more here than anywhere.

One rule that saves arguments: if a rider orders a size they didn't try on, they own the fit. Write it down before the window opens, and apply it kindly but every time.

Price it honestly: a worked example

The member price has to cover every cost the club pays, not just the supplier's unit price. Build it up line by line. The numbers below are an illustrative example for one short-sleeve jersey in euros — not a quote, and not what your supplier will charge. The point is the shape of the build-up, not the figures.

Worked example: what one club jersey really costs the club, line by line (illustrative euros, not a quote). The supplier's price is only the biggest bar, not the whole bill.

Cost line	Cost per jersey (€)
Supplier unit price	48
Artwork / setup fee spread over the run	2
Shipping and import charges per item	4
Card and payment fees	2
Faults and swaps buffer	3

In this example the jersey costs the club €59, not €48. Price it at €48 because "that's what the supplier charges" and the club loses €11 on every jersey — on a 40-jersey run that's €440 out of the club account, which is exactly the size of the box under the stairs. Price it at €60 and the run breaks even with a small cushion.

A few rules that keep pricing clean:

• Get the supplier price "delivered, duties paid". Ordering across a customs border — the UK and the EU since Brexit, or from outside Europe — can trigger import VAT and handling fees on arrival. Ask for a delivered price so nothing turns up on the doorstep with a bill attached.
• Payment fees are real. Most card and online payment services charge a percentage plus a small fixed fee per transaction. Check yours and put it in the price.
• Round up, not down. A euro of margin per item is your buffer for the one misprinted jersey and the parcel that goes missing.
• If the club wants to subsidise kit, decide it on purpose. It's a fine use of club money, but it should be a committee decision with an amount written down, not an accident discovered at the AGM.
• Ask about VAT on your side too. Whether the club has to charge VAT when it sells kit to members depends on its legal status, country and turnover. That's a question for your treasurer or an accountant, not a forum.

Minimums, proofs and the questions to ask a supplier

Before you sign anything, put the same questions to every supplier you're comparing. The cheapest unit price is often not the cheapest order once the answers come back.

Ask the supplier	Why it matters
What's the minimum per design, and can sizes and cuts be mixed to reach it?	Decides whether a small club can order at all, and whether women's kit counts toward the minimum
Is the price delivered, duties paid?	Stops import charges and shipping surprises
What's the lead time from signed proof, in writing?	Your whole timeline hangs on this date
Do you lend or sell a fit kit, and on what terms?	The try-on session depends on it
Can we reorder small quantities later, and at what price?	Tells you whether late riders can be served without speculative stock
Are artwork or setup fees charged again on a reorder?	A small top-up can carry a big fixed fee
What happens with faulty or misprinted items, and how long do we have to report them?	Sets your inspection deadline at handout
Who owns the artwork files?	If you ever switch supplier, you need them

Then treat the proof like a contract, because it is one. Check every spelling, every sponsor logo (and that each sponsor has approved its use), and the colours. Screen colours lie; if the club colour matters, ask for a printed swatch or a sample before full production. Two people sign off the proof, never one.

A timeline you can hold the supplier to

Kit always takes longer than the committee thinks. Work backwards from the date you want it on the road, and use the supplier's written lead time, not the one mentioned on the phone.

Example planning ranges for one club kit order, in weeks per phase. Your supplier's written dates replace these; spring is busy, so expect the top end.

Phase	Duration (weeks)
Design and proof sign-off	2-4
Order window open	2-3
Production after signed proof	4-8
Delivery, check and handout	1-2

Add those up and an order runs somewhere between nine and seventeen weeks from first sketch to riders wearing it. If you want new kit on the road for the first spring Sunday, the design conversation starts before Christmas. Riders forgive a late window; they don't forgive a promised date that slips by a month. Publish ranges, update once when production starts, and let the supplier's confirmation be your only source of dates.

Stock, spares and the box under the stairs

The safest stock level is zero. Every jersey in a box is club money that isn't buying first-aid kits or paying ride-leader courses.

If you want a few spares so new members can ride in club colours straight away, set three conditions. Fund them only from margin already banked on this run. Cap them at a handful, in the sizes that actually sold most on your own order list — not the sizes you imagine new members will be. And keep them on one shared stock list, so the kit officer and the treasurer see the same numbers.

When you change design, sell the old stock off at cost before the new kit lands. A jersey nobody wants at full price this season becomes a jersey nobody wants at any price next season. Riders on a budget will happily take last year's design, and a beginner in old club kit still looks like a club rider.

Handling the money and the handout

Kit money is small money, which is exactly why it goes wrong — nobody watches it closely. A few habits keep it boring:

• One named kit officer. One person runs the window, the order list and the handout. Like any volunteer role it needs a clear job description and an end date (the same thinking as recruiting and keeping volunteers).
• Reconcile before you order. Match every line on the order list to a payment received, item by item, before you send the order to the supplier. Unpaid lines come off.
• Keep kit in its own line in the accounts. The treasurer should be able to say what each run made or lost in one sentence.
• Check the delivery the day it arrives. Count it against the order and look for misprints while you're still inside the supplier's reporting window.
• Hand out with a sign-off list. Riders tick their name when they collect. Anything left after two collection days gets posted at the rider's cost.
• Treat the order list as personal data. Names, sizes and contact details are shared with the supplier only as far as the order needs.

And keep kit separate from the subscription. Members who want kit pay for kit; members who don't aren't funding it through their fee. If you're rethinking what the membership itself should include, that's its own conversation — see what to charge and what to include.

The kit order checklist

Copy this into the kit officer's notes and work down it once per window:

1. Choose supplier; get written answers to every question in the table above.
2. Agree the design; two people sign the proof; colours checked on a printed swatch if they matter.
3. Build the member price from the full cost lines, delivered and duties paid, rounded up.
4. Write the announcement: items, prices, size chart, try-on dates, close date, delivery range, refund policy, handout plan.
5. Open the window for two to three weeks; one post, pinned, on the main channel.
6. Run two try-on sessions with the fit kit; riders write their own sizes.
7. Close on time. Reconcile every order against a payment; drop the unpaid lines.
8. Place the order; confirm the production date in writing; post a one-line update to members.
9. Check the delivery the day it lands; report faults inside the supplier's window.
10. Hand out with a sign-off list; post the rest; close the kit line in the accounts and report the result.

Kit day itself — riders turning up in matching colours — is one of the best rides of the year. If you're still building the weekly ride that kit will be worn on, start with the first group ride playbook.

FAQ

Should club kit be included in the membership fee?

Usually not. Bundling kit into the fee makes the subscription expensive for riders who already own kit, and it forces the club to guess sizes and quantities. Keep kit as a separate, paid pre-order; if you want a welcome gift, a cap or socks for new members costs far less and fits everyone.

What markup should a club put on kit?

Enough to cover every real cost — shipping, import charges, payment fees, artwork fees and a small buffer for faults — and not much more. Most clubs aim to break even with a cushion rather than make a profit. If you do add a margin for club funds, say so openly in the announcement.

What do we do when a rider ordered the wrong size?

If they tried the fit kit, the supplier made an error or the item is faulty, take it up with the supplier. If they skipped the try-on, the size is theirs: help them sell or swap it within the club, but don't absorb the cost. Writing that rule into the announcement is what makes it fair.

Is our club too small for custom kit?

It depends on the supplier's minimum per design and whether sizes and cuts can be mixed to reach it. Some suppliers have low minimums; others need dozens. Ask before you design anything, and don't top up a small order with speculative stock to hit a minimum.

Do we have to charge VAT on kit we sell to members?

It depends on the club's legal status, country and turnover. Don't guess and don't copy another club's answer — ask your treasurer or an accountant, and build the result into the price before the window opens.