Have you heard the saying “It ain’t stealin’ if they’re makin’ it a steal.”? You probably haven’t, because I made that up just now.
But you know what isn’t made up? Getting the best possible price when you buy blank apparel online.
I’ve been in the apparel game for about a decade now, and I figured out a lot of stuff over the years to cut my investment down and get the finest stuff, often at prices that totally surprised me. What surprised me more was people not noticing the potential savings they could have had if they only paid attention to a few details. They just go to a trusted supplier, pay them what they ask for, and get the order shipped to their doors without hassle. Does sound really convenient. But not a lot of them realize that they’re not getting their goods at market-best prices. If the order volume is big, the price they’re paying, albeit justified, is just too damn high.
So how do you do this?
Prepping To Score Killer Deals
Let’s cut to the chase. Finding legitimate wholesale apparel distributors that don’t rob you blind is pretty exhausting to be honest. Yeah, it isn’t technically robbery if they just want maximum profit from every order they get. Most buyers get stuck paying or choose to pay, for a hassle-free purchase, the store’s inflated prices. Some of them believe (or are made to believe) they’re scoring a deal. In most cases, they’re not.
That’s why you should vet online bulk apparel distributors before sealing the deal. I did that a lot and came across quite a few gems that simply offered better deals than most of the big fish. You see, big players already have a solid customer base. People like you and me, we know we can get the best stuff from them without problems. They know it too. So they expect bigger margins from the smooth deals. Then there are smaller distributors that honestly just want to get by okay. They offer value so they can survive.
That brings us to one of my most recent finds. ShirtsBargain.
ShirtsBargain
The first thing I noticed about ShirtsBargain is their straightforward website. Straightforward but a little outdated for my taste. But after I rummaged through the online store a little bit, I started noticing their pricing strategy. These distributors are often contractually bound by wholesale apparel suppliers to show only the minimum advertised pricing (or manufacturer’s advertised pricing) on some of their products. So I realized the prices I see on the products might not be the price they’re selling them at.
Confusing?
Let me put it this way. You own an online store selling hoodies. Take one of those hoodies, for which you’re legally bound to show only $20 and not a cent less than that. But you want to up your store’s game, and are willing to cut a little profit short to offer better value to your customers. You don’t mind selling that hoodie at $18. But you can only advertise it on your site for $20. Your customer will likely not know all the technicalities. They’d see $20 and decide not to get that hoodie, not realizing that they could’ve got it for $18.
Now you get it. ShirtsBargain was the same. I discovered that they offer better prices for some of the products I wanted, which I could notice only at the point before purchase.
All I needed to do was,
Add the items I want to the cart and view the cart to see the store’s competitive prices.
OR
Sign up for an account on their store, log in to my account and view every product at the prices they offer as opposed to the minimum advertised price.
And the prices on the District sweatshirts I wanted were too good to be true, as I already saw how high they go on some of the more popular wholesale stores online.
But that isn’t all.
Tiered Pricing & Volume Discounts
A store’s pricing isn’t necessarily the best possible price, I know. This is the point where I finally decided to give this store a shot. ShirtsBargain has a tiered pricing structure that you could see when you click on any product. Think of it like “the bigger your order, the better the prices you get”. The more you buy, the cheaper each piece becomes. I added a few District hoodies in my cart (the brand’s fleece hoodies are top notch). This particular hoodie had a price tag of $19.18. I bought 15 of them, and got each at $14.75. You heard that right.
Sounds a little too good to be true though, right? I get it.
There is a little catch though, in ShirtsBargain’s case.
Not all brands come with such competitive prices. Just a few. And luckily for me, I got all I needed from those brands. They aren’t just your average brands too. The store had excellent prices (once you log in) on blank apparel from apparel brands like Port Authority, Sport-Tek, CornerStone, Mercer+Mettle and more. Oh yeah, District too. I spotted a few good ones from Gildan recently, but they had a special sale running at that time.
And now one last thing to minimize your spend. Capitalize on their shipping policy. They ship orders valued above $129 for free, but only for blank apparel to my knowledge. The store offers decoration services too but I haven’t tried that yet.
The Breakdown
Let’s go over a hypothetical scenario:
Average wholesale price for a decent blank tee: $8
ShirtsBargain per-piece price: As low as $3.50
Order 50 pieces
You save $225.
Pretty sweet if you want a couple dozen tees decorated for an event.
My Tips:
- Not all deals are created equal
- Plan your purchase and volume way beforehand
- Always request samples to check quality
- Make sure they have a free shipping policy
- Compare actual overall costs
Monster discounts are real. But you get benefits only when you purchase strategically, commit to the volume you require, and manage your account smartly.
It’s a cutthroat world out there, guys. You need to consider the situation right now in America. There’s bound to be more inflation. I would want to mind how I spend on stuff, even if it’s for my job. Hopefully this little writeup helped.
Oh, and I know a couple more stores you can try. Drop a comment below if you have better recommendations or something just as good.