Custom vs Ready-Made Sportswear: Which Is Right for Your Business?

Have you ever found yourself in the unfortunate position of having to make a decision on two options and feeling completely stuck? This is exactly what happens for many businesses when trying to determine whether to purchase custom or off-the-shelf sportswear. One option offers complete customization and branding opportunity, while the other offers speed to market and lower initial investments. What’s more, both options might sound like they offer a lot of advantages. But the real key to the decision is not which option is better — it’s really about which option suits your business model, budget, and timing. Therefore, let’s take the guesswork out of the equation and go through everything clearly so you can leave with a thorough understanding of what will provide your business with what it needs from sportswear.

So in this blog, we give you proper information about custom vs ready-made sportswear: which is right for your business?

Ready-Made Sportswear: Fast and Budget-Friendly

Ready made sports clothing is as its name implies...! Typically they are in stock and are shipped to you as designed and ready. If time is of the essence or if your budget is small, then using the right amount of time will do this for you, as no design work is involved, you get the same size/s with regular colour and only a few different ways to put your logo (normally only one small location for your logo).

The downside? You have the same style of uniforms as many teams; therefore, your chance to make a style statement is very limited. Also, the quality and workmanship of uniforms will differ significantly depending on where you receive your uniforms from, so some start ups and/or one time only events would work a lot better with these uniforms than a company that has established itself with a good reputation in the marketplace.

Custom Sportswear: Built Around Your Brand

Custom sportswear dramatically changes things. Everything – fabric types, fit, colour scheme, logo location, sublimation printing – is created based on your team's identity. This is more important than most people think. Uniforms are not just clothes, they are a visual representation of who your team is, what your brand is, what your club represents or how your company thinks of itself and treats its employees.

When you order custom production it will typically require more time to get done before you can wear them since they need time to produce as well as a minimum quantity of uniforms to be ordered at once, especially for larger orders. But at the end of the day, custom orders have many benefits, including much better quality control, a more professional appearance, and apparel that withstands very tough conditions. When you wear sportswear made from moisture-wicking material, have long-lasting prints and have garments that fit as if they were made to fit your body specifically, that makes the difference between poor performance and excellent performance. Therefore, these examples should be considered essential for all athletes, all teams, and any athletic team member who is active.

So, Which One Should You Choose?

You should think about the following propositions:

• Does your need for clothing fit within a tight timeframe and budget constraints? Consider ready-made garments.
• Do you want to differentiate yourselves (your business or group) from the competition? Custom is the better choice.
• Will you be purchasing a large quantity of shirts for purposes such as for employees, schools or teams? Custom manufacturers offer pricing that is generally better than retail for bulk orders due to their ability to offer economies of scale and to provide branded labels.
• Is this an event that will occur once or multiple times? If the event is a single occasion, ready-made is reasonable; however, if multiple occasions, consider using a custom supplier.

There is no universal right answer — only what fits into your current situation.

Final Thoughts

Custom sportswear is often the best long-term investment if you are building a brand, growing your business or want to create a memorable presence in your industry. Custom sportswear allows you to control the quality, design, and durability of your product in a way that off-the-shelf merchandise can never compare. SAS Apparel is a manufacturer that excels at making that possible for you through superior fabrics, advanced sublimation printing, and complete customization of all types of athletic apparel for organizations and teams around the globe. SAS Apparel provides businesses with the opportunity to create sportswear that enhances their brand image by creating each jersey as an extension of their brand.