Hooded Sweatshirt Production Advice (please help)

[eastcoastrider27]

Figure out the break even point.

If you sell the sweatshirts at a wholesale price of $30 each and sold 200 of them, you would make $6,000.

If you sell the sweatshirts individually at $40 each and sold 100 of them, you would make $4,000.

Combined, you make what your initial investment was, and you still have 200 shirts left over to sell however you want.

Alter the scenarios to accomodate the actual wholesale and retail sale price and the number of pieces you expect to move per.

I suppose you would also have to take into consideration the overhead and all that other business stuff.

If you think you can sell that many shirts, then by all means do it (if you've got the capital).

One more thing...Wasn't the original issue that CYC required a minimum order of 500?

Now, since you are facing that same minimum with your contact, why not see what the cost would be through CYC? Or will CYC not make the shirts to your specifications?

Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado

[ddohnggo]

dunno if CYC would do business with him considering what he had done. i think poster, kane, works for/with CYC and didn't seemed to like what starvinglawstudent had done and said in this thread.

[super]

You can also advertise everywhere & maybe get the interest of some of those smaller labels that want higher end stuff.

[starvinglawstudent]

I just read Kane's post. And I will try to explain my stand as artfully as I can.

I did try calling CYC. It was a number I found off of Yahoo. If it is the CYC that makes sweatshirts, or whether it was a different entity is something I would not know, simply because no one picked up the phone.

I am motivated because I believe that a quality product is being denied to independent designers because of the minimum requirements. If CYC, or their distributors, were willing to deal with these independent compaines then I would never have even considered entering the market.

As you can tell from my posts I am imparting everything as honestly as possible to this board because this is essentailly my target market. Whether people choose to help me with this endeavor is completely at their discretion.

And in the end we are talking about a simple hooded sweatshirt, did CYC create some ingenious product because of some innovative or novel idea? The answer is definetly no. What CYC did was bring quality to a particularly low brow/commonplace article of clothing.

If anything I am inspired by their ingenuity, and my goal, a lofty one at that if I can be viewed as "competition", is to bring some balance to the marketplace.

-pete

[starvinglawstudent]

BTW this is the number i called (604) 877-0062, please point me in the right direction.

-pete

[sriracha hot sauce]

If you can get any hoodies close to Supreme quality, count me in for at least a couple colors. Thermal is a must.

starvinglawstudent, please check your PM.

[Bing Bing]

I definitely you can make this work and profitable if the quality is as good as you say it will be. Just grind it out and hit the trade shows. With so many independent companies existing, and ones on the come up, you could become the main supplier for hoodies if the product is top notch.

I'm so self-conscious...

[gomi no sensei]

seriously. And having someone who can supply small batches of CYC-quality hoodies would be a huge boon to designers/companies starting out, would let them compete with brands like Supreme on the merits of their design alone without quality being a factor.

Not to mention I really want one of these for myself, haha.

[jiomitori]

At this price, I think it would be pretty easy to sell 500 over the internet.

[bobby alto]

I say go for it. Start with one color which you know will sell and then use that profit to expand into other colors, designs, etc. I think you could sell 100 on Superfuture alone. If they are $40 or $50 you can def. count me in for one (I hope you end up making XL).

Edited by bobby alto on Feb 16, 2006 at 11:06 AM

[J20]

Sup_

If you do this... count me in. I am very interested

If do bulk orders I might also consider.

Also to me I think Grey would be the best color to do.

Peace.

[LA Guy]

Sounds interesting. I would go with a neutral color that can be custom dyed.

[jiomitori]

Quote:

Sup_

If you do this... count me in. I am very interested

If do bulk orders I might also consider.

Also to me I think Grey would be the best color to do.

Peace.

--- Original message by J20 on Feb 16, 2006 12:23 PM

I would also like to see a grey, maybe a really dark grey. Way past AA's asphalt, just bordering on black, but definitely still grey.

[Bing Bing]

I think heather grey, white, or black.

I'm so self-conscious...

[starvinglawstudent]

Thanks for all the input. I think my partner and I are set on doing black. If we can move 200 in one month then expect us to go full speed and order other colors. The dark gray is a good idea, and the neutral ones sound perfect for indies to work with.

Here, is another update the first 500 is going to only be medium and large.

500 will take roughly 2 months to produce. The manufacturer we are working with have many clients and can only promise to produce roughly 20 a day (thats's at an optimal pace). Our order is minimal compared to the things they normally do because. They would not have entertained our order if it wasn't because of my family's connections.

I understand where CYC is coming from after dealing with the manufacturer. The materials are purchased from a mill and can only be purchased in bulk, and thus any orders under 500 are not feasible for something that is cut and sew.

[bobby alto]

Count me in for one in a L when you get them. Good luck man.

[SENDkylHISPASSWORD]

I'm not sure what you are trying to do here... sell blanks for printers or sell blanks as your own brand, cause if that is the case there is potential to do big things. It's all about the details if your keeping it simple...

my favourite things

http://mfthings.blogspot.com/

[eastcoastrider27]

Will they be shipping them to you as they produce them, or wait till all 500 are done?

Anyways, I got first dibs on a Large!

Also can you give us the weight of the hoodie?

Is it more than 450 gsm? Also, is it reverse weave?

Prefiero morir de pie que vivir siempre arrodillado

[starvinglawstudent]

The sweatshirts are strictly for printing, there are no tags, well only sizing tags.

Good news and bad news. Good news is that we will be able to do small, meduim, and large. Not just the two forementioned sizes. Dual zippers are a go. The zippers are nice, heavy, and sturdy. A large hoody weighs just a under 4lbs.

Bad news is that the sweatshirts will cost $21 to produce. Apparently the material we are using is much better then what he submitted. The fabric is just as dense, but is softer and supposedly more durable. I was told that the material is the same used by many Japanese companies. I will try to get some more specific information. WE anticipated $11, and now it is $21. Shipping this thing is going to be a bitch too cause it is so goddamn heavy. We are still wondering if we should go through with this venture. So please help with your opinions.

We will be pricing wholesale at roughly $40 plus shipping, we were trying to let it go for $30, but it looks like that might be quite difficult. And it will cost approximatly $8-$10 to ship each individually, while bulk (5 or more) orders will receive a discount in shipping.

More updates later.

[gomi no sensei]

If you can do that sort of quality for $40-50 a sweatshirt, I say go for it. And definitely reserve me a small!

[LA Guy]

I'll take a black medium to start with. See how the quality is, how well they take discharge, etc...

[dystaind]

i'm definitely down for a small if they're in the $50's range.

[shoreman1782]

I'd be down, pretty much any dark color, size large.

[jiomitori]

$50 is still a very good price, I think. Can I reserve a size medium? Send me a pm..

[Handlethevibe]

How do the sweatshirts fit? Are they fitted? loose?

[starvinglawstudent]

I don't know the exact fit, but the sample that was sent back was cut according to a Supreme large. I was told that the fit was pretty close, maybe a little looser at the sleeves. I told them to open up the sleeves a little more, the smallest increment possible. I always felt the sleeves were a little snug.

The medium should fit the same.

BTW I am about 6 feet and weigh 175lbs. I have what can be described as an athletic frame. I prefer the large because the length of the sweatshirt hits perfectly, but also feel comfortable in a medium. I am currently wearing my chain link stitched supreme hoody in medium and even after a prolonged week of use still find it to be a good size. I don't know about smalls, but will ask around to see what good measurements for small would be. Thanks again for all the comments, and to the mods for not locking this post.

-pete

[Rockn]

If you are going to sell them for 40 dollars, that means any small clothing line is going to have to wholesale them for 80 dollars, which means they will retail for 180-200. And I thought the whole point was to make a more affordable version of the supreme sweatshirt.

If i were you I would verbally presell as many as you can and then figure out if you will cover a majority of your cost and have prices vary on how many people buy.

Edited by Rockn on Feb 17, 2006 at 05:16 PM

[wild_whiskey]

exactly what I was going to say. $40 wholesale is pricey. More than 2x as much as what other blank hoodies cost. I could never get away with pricing hoodies at $150+ and that's what would have to happen.

[heartsandcrafts]

i'm down for 1 small no matter what color

this sounds like a great venture

[beeingmike]

Pete,

Love the move, but like others said earlier $40 wholesale is pricey if your audience are small lines. I think from a business point you could market/sell it as high price "quality" sweatshirts, but you will have brand it. Similar to AA. Your market could be the SF type crowd whose more concern with quality than price. Simple branding ideas could be to just accents them with(gold zippers, hoody string different color from hoody etc) Anyway I think there's a market for this, it's just how you approach it.

Peace!

http://www.ilovebeeing.com