Hoodies for Charities: reordering
By The Velocity Wear Team
A charity reorder is a new production run using files we already hold. The 50-piece minimum applies again, the price still depends on which volume band you reach, and production is 10 to 15 working days from artwork approval. What the second run gains is evidence: you know what sold, which sizes went first, and what supporters were willing to pay.
When is the right moment to restock?
Before the stock runs out, not after. Selling out looks like success and is usually a missed month of income, because production plus transit means several weeks with nothing to sell. Set a trigger point, such as a fifth of the run remaining, and place the reorder when you hit it rather than when the last hoodie goes.
For campaign-linked hoodies the calculation differs: there is no point restocking a garment tied to an awareness week that has passed. Those runs should be sized to the campaign in the first place, and the general-purpose supporter hoodie is the one worth keeping in stock. The charities and fundraising page covers both patterns.
Will the colours match the first run?
Approximately. Fleece dye lots vary between runs, so the second batch of the same colour will sit fractionally apart from the first if you hold them together. Embroidery repeats almost exactly, since the thread reference is fixed. Print repeats well where the ink was recorded as a reference rather than eyeballed against a brand sheet.
Practically this only matters if both batches are on the same rail at the same time. Selling through the first batch before opening the second avoids the question entirely, and where an exact match is essential the answer is a single larger run held in stock, which also reaches a better volume band.
Does the second run cost less?
Only through volume. Price follows the quantity band you land in, not whether the design is new, so a repeat of fifty sits where the first fifty sat. The discount reaches up to 35% as quantity rises, so a charity that now knows its demand can consolidate two speculative runs into one larger one and keep the difference for the cause.
What the reorder genuinely saves is time and effort. Artwork exists, the specification is settled, and approval is usually same-day, which removes the weeks that the first order spent in committee. Can I reorder the same design later sets out what we keep on file.
What belongs in the file between campaigns?
- The fleece weight and fit, written down rather than remembered.
- Ink, thread and fabric colour references for every element on the garment.
- Print placement measured from the neck seam.
- The final size split and, crucially, what was left unsold at the end.
- The sale price used and how quickly stock moved at it.
Charities lose this more often than most organisations, because the person who ran the campaign is frequently a volunteer who has since moved on. Store it with the charity rather than with an individual, alongside the garment details on the wholesale hoodies page, and the next campaign starts from knowledge instead of from scratch.
