How to sell club merchandise online (jerseys, hoodies and more)

Every club has a merch story that ends the same way: a paper order form pinned to the clubroom wall, a volunteer chasing sizes and money for weeks, and no one quite sure what's actually been ordered. There's a better way. An online club shop lets members browse, choose their size and pay up front — so merch becomes a quiet little fundraiser instead of a headache.

Why the paper order form always breaks down

The classic club merch run is a spreadsheet held together with hope. Someone prints an order form, families scribble names and sizes, a few pay cash, most say "I'll sort it later", and one poor volunteer spends their evenings reconciling it all by hand. Sizes get misread, payments go missing, and by the time the order goes to the supplier no one can tell you exactly how many mediums you're up for.

The problem isn't the merch — clubs sell plenty of it. The problem is collecting orders and money on paper. Move that online and most of the pain simply disappears.

A club shop that lives inside your app

With ClubApp, your club gets an online shop built right into your own branded app — the same app members already use for teams, events and notifications. You list your merch, uniforms and club gear, add photos and sizes, set a price, and members buy it in a few taps.

Because payment is taken up front, there's no chasing. When a member orders a hoodie, they pay for the hoodie. The order and the money arrive together, so your merch coordinator sees exactly what's been bought without a single manual tally.

Pickup, delivery or preorder — your call

Not every club runs merch the same way, so the shop bends to fit. For each item you can offer:

• Pickup — members grab their gear from the clubroom, canteen or a training night
• Delivery — send items out to members who can't get down to the club
• Preorders — collect orders (and payment) before a bulk run so you order the right quantities with none of the guesswork

Preorders in particular are where clubs stop losing money. Instead of over-ordering stock that gathers dust in a cupboard, you open a preorder window, let members buy what they want, and place your supplier order knowing precisely how many of each size to get.

Members pay the easy way

Members check out with a card, Apple Pay or Google Pay — the same familiar, tap-and-done payment they use everywhere else. Payments run through Stripe, so it's secure and instant, and the money lands with your club, not in a shoebox behind the bar.

Let members know it's there

A shop no one sees doesn't sell. When you add a new item — the fresh season jersey, a limited hoodie, the finals-day tee — promote it to members through announcements and push notifications straight from the app. A quick "New training tops now in the shop, order by Friday for the next run" does more than any poster on the clubroom door, and it lands on the phones of the exact people you want to reach.

Practical tips for merch that sells

A few small things make a big difference to how much you shift:

• Use good photos. A clear shot of the actual item — ideally on a person — sells far better than a supplier mock-up. Show the club logo and colours front and centre.
• Make sizing obvious. List sizes clearly and add a note or size guide where you can. Fewer size mix-ups means fewer swaps and refunds later.
• Run preorder windows for bulk items. For anything you're ordering in a batch — jerseys, jackets, playing kit — set a clear open and close date so families know the deadline and you can place one tidy order.
• Bundle merch with membership. Offer gear at sign-up, when families are already in the app paying their fees, and you'll catch orders you'd otherwise miss.

Fundraising and kitting out teams, without the admin

Once it's set up, the shop quietly pulls double duty. It's a genuine fundraiser — every hoodie, cap and scarf sold adds to the club's bottom line. And it's the simplest way to kit out teams, letting you collect uniform and playing-kit orders with sizes and payment locked in from the start. No wall chart, no reconciling by hand, no wondering who still owes for their jersey — just merch ordered, paid for and ready to hand over.