Hoodies for Events: reordering
By The Velocity Wear Team
There is no mid-event restock. Production runs 10 to 15 working days from artwork approval, which is longer than any festival, so anything that sells out on the Saturday stays sold out. Reordering for events means one of two things: a repeat run for next year, or a top-up for an audience you can still reach online afterwards.
Can you restock during the event?
No, and planning as though you could is the most common merch mistake. The realistic answers are to order enough in the first place, to run a pre-order that is fulfilled after the event, or to accept selling out as a decision rather than a failure. Selling out early is not automatically bad, but it should be deliberate.
Where an audience remains reachable, a post-event top-up works well. People who missed the stall will still buy in the week after, and a run placed on the Monday lands inside a month. Our events and festivals page covers delivery to the UK, USA and Europe for exactly that kind of follow-up.
Will a repeat run match the original?
Closely, not exactly. Fleece dye lots move between runs, so the second batch of the same colour will differ slightly if you hold the two garments together. Print repeats well where ink was specified by reference. Embroidery repeats almost exactly. For most events the difference never registers, because nobody is comparing two years of merch side by side.
It matters if you are topping up stock that will sit on the same rail as the original. In that case either sell the two batches in sequence rather than together, or order the full quantity once and store it, which is also cheaper since the discount reaches up to 35% as quantity rises through the bands.
Does the minimum apply to a top-up?
Yes. Fifty pieces per design, every run. A top-up of twenty is not an option, which is worth knowing before you promise anything to people who missed out. If demand after the event is genuinely below fifty, a pre-order that collects orders first is a better instrument than a speculative run.
- Record exactly which sizes sold out and which were left, since that is the only real sizing data you will ever get.
- Note how fast it sold, not just how much, because that decides next year's quantity.
- Keep the ink and thread references with the artwork files.
- Photograph the finished garment properly while you still have stock.
Those notes are worth more than the leftover stock. Can I reorder the same design later covers what we hold on file between runs, and the current garment specifications are on the wholesale hoodies page.
When should next year's run be placed?
Earlier than you think, for the same reason as the first time: the production window is fixed but everything before it expands. A repeat run with settled artwork still needs the design confirming, the quantity deciding and the proof approving, and those steps take weeks rather than days when a committee is involved.
The advantage a second year has is data. You know what sold, you know which sizes ran out, and you know whether the fleece weight suited the weather. Use it rather than repeating the first year's guess.
