Ordering Hoodies for Summer Events
By The Velocity Wear Team
For a May or June event, order in March or early April. The build is 10 to 15 working days from artwork approval, delivery follows, and spring is when event organisers are busiest and slowest to approve proofs. Getting artwork signed off by the end of March leaves room for a revision round without pushing against the date.
When does a summer event order need to be placed?
Take the load-in date rather than the event date, because merchandise has to be counted, priced and packed before the gates open. Subtract transit. Subtract three calendar weeks for the build. Subtract the days your committee or organiser will take to approve a proof, which in spring is longer than you think.
A useful habit for outdoor events is to have the stock delivered somewhere permanent rather than to a site. Sites have no goods-in process, no one to sign, and no secure storage before the build week. Deliver to an office or a storage unit and move it yourself. The wider delivery picture is in delivery times for wholesale hoodies.
Does a hoodie actually sell in summer?
At outdoor events, yes, and often better than a t-shirt. Evenings are cold, people arrive dressed for the afternoon, and a hoodie at a merchandise stand at nine in the evening is an immediate purchase rather than a souvenir. The buying decision is about being cold, not about the design.
Specify for that use. A 280 to 320 GSM midweight is the right weight: warm enough to solve the problem, light enough that someone will carry it home rather than abandon it. A 450 GSM heavyweight is a poor summer seller and costs more to ship in quantity.
How many should you take to an event?
Take fewer designs and more sizes. One design in a strong colour outsells three competing designs on the same stand, and it keeps you inside a single 50-piece minimum rather than three. Weight the curve towards the middle and carry a little extra large, because event buying skews towards people buying something oversized to pull on over what they are wearing.
Price the run using the volume bands on the pricing page, which start at 50–99 and reach a reduction of up to 35% at the highest quantities. If the event repeats annually, ordering two years at once is usually cheaper than two separate runs, provided the design has no date on it.
What happens if the date moves or the weather turns?
Undated artwork is the single best insurance. A hoodie with a year or a specific date printed on it is worthless if the event is postponed and awkward if it undersells. The same design without a date carries forward to the next edition and sells online in between.
Order to a number you would be content to hold for twelve months rather than to a sell-out forecast. That turns bad weather into slow stock instead of a loss. Set the garment, weight and quantity on the wholesale hoodies page, and if you want to check the weight in your hands before committing, the £150 sample credited against the bulk order is explained on the samples page.
