A school merchandise store is a great way to sell products that your students and their parents will love and to build school pride and spirit. It’s also a great way to raise funds for your school, but there are a few things you need to know about setting up a school merchandise store.
Here are a few things you will need to consider when you’re creating your store.
Get High-Resolution Versions of Your School Logo
If you don’t already have clear, high-resolution versions of your school logo, you will need to get them so that you can use them for the products you will be making. Most printers and apparel customizers need high-quality graphics to work from.
Find Manufacturers
The next thing you need to do is find manufacturers for the items you’ll sell in your school merchandise store. This could be a company in your city or town, or you could look online and use one of the many print-on-demand options out there.
Local suppliers are usually a little cheaper, but online manufacturers might have more options for you.
Decide What You Will Sell
Once you have the image for your school store merchandise and you’ve secured companies who can make them for you, you need to decide what you will sell. There are many different types of school merch that your students and their families will love, such as:
- Clothing like hoodies, t-shirts and branded sweatpants
- Accessories like caps, scarves, branded backpacks and headbands
- Useable items like keychains, travel mugs and branded notebooks
- Novelty items, like pet sweaters
You want to have a large variety of items at various price points, so everyone who attends your school can find something that they will use and can afford.
Make It Inclusive
If you’re going to be selling school store merchandise, you want to be sure that you are making it as inclusive as possible. That means carrying a wide range of sizes to fit all body types and offering larger and smaller sizes as special order options.
It also means having items that students and their families can choose that aren’t size-based – such as hats and scarves, which can fit anyone.
Make It Affordable
Of course, when you sell school store merchandise, you need to cover your costs and make a little profit for your school fundraising efforts, but there are things you can do to make it more affordable for families and students.
Offer a wide range of items in different price ranges, so there’s always something that kids and their parents can afford.
Offer DIY options like sew or iron on school patches so that your students and their families can customize their own clothing or backpacks.
Consider including a payment plan that students and families can use to pay off more significant items like hoodies over three months or more. Most kids want a school sweatshirt as a memento of their time in school, but many can’t afford to pay for them in one lump sum.
