Bands: Christmas Order Deadlines
By The Velocity Wear Team
Order Christmas merch in October if you want it selling in early December. Production is 10 to 15 working days from artwork approval, transit follows that, and December shipping runs slower than the rest of the year. October also leaves room to reorder a design that sells faster than expected, which November does not.
When does a Christmas merch order need placing?
Count back from the first December date rather than from the twenty-fifth. Subtract transit, subtract 15 working days of production, subtract a week for artwork approval, then subtract a fortnight of slack for the carrier congestion that December brings every year. That lands in the first half of October. A band that decides in November is not necessarily too late for the tour itself, but it has lost the option of a second run before the year ends.
Which pieces move in December?
Heavier garments, because the buyer is carrying a coat and thinking about the cold. Hoodies from $31 a piece take a larger share of the table than they do in summer, and caps from $12 sell as an add-on gift. Tees from $13 still shift, particularly to people buying for someone else. Tracksuit sets at $53 work as a small limited run for the audience that buys everything. The bands and music page shows the range.
Should December merch look festive?
Rarely worth it. A graphic tied to one Christmas is unsellable by January, and anything left over is dead stock rather than opening stock for the spring. A winter colourway on a permanent design achieves the seasonal feel and keeps selling all year. If you do want something explicitly festive, keep the run at the 50-piece minimum rather than chasing a quantity tier you cannot sell through.
What if the artwork is not ready in October?
Run an existing design in a new colour, or on a heavier garment, rather than pushing a new graphic into a compressed timeline. Both routes reuse artwork that is already approved and cut the pre-production stage to almost nothing, though a changed garment colour may mean the decoration is rebuilt and becomes its own run of 50. Building a launch calendar that does not slip applies the same discipline, and lead times bands should plan for covers the stages. Ordering runs through the wholesale page.
How much should a December run carry?
Order against evidence from previous Decembers if you have it, and against the number of dates if you do not. The minimum of 50 pieces per design covers a handful of shows comfortably, and a band with a strong December schedule can justify moving up a tier. What sinks a Christmas run is ordering to a hoped-for figure rather than a demonstrated one, because the stock has nowhere to go once January arrives.
Weight the mix towards the heavier pieces as well. Buyers in December are shopping for other people as often as for themselves, which lifts the share of hoodies and caps and softens the usual size curve, since a gift buyer guesses rather than knows. A slightly wider size range than normal is worth carrying for that reason alone.
Does anything else need ordering before October closes?
Anything you intend to sell online as well as at shows, because mail order adds its own packing and dispatch time at the busiest point of the year. If merch is going out to buyers individually, specify bagging at the order stage so that stock arrives ready to ship rather than needing a weekend of repacking in the middle of December. That decision is made in finishing and cannot be added afterwards.
Think about January before you order, not after. Whatever does not sell in December has to be worth putting back on the table in the spring, and that is a decision about the graphic rather than about the quantity. A design that still makes sense in March turns leftover Christmas stock into opening stock for the next run of dates.
