What Should I Know Before Buying Football Kits

When it comes time to buy football kits for your team there are some important things to consider.

When do I need my football kits?

It is always best to plan ahead. If the league or tournament is starting in a few months it would be a good idea to start looking for your football kits right away. Allowing yourself a lot of time will give you A LOT more options. With a few months you have plenty of time for the following:

Shop around for the best prices

Allow the shop enough time to customize your kits with logos, names, numbers etc…

Choose a cheaper (slower) delivery option; if you buy football kits online

Make sure the exact style you want is available and in stock

If you leave it to the last minute you are going to end up paying a lot more for less, as you won’t allow enough time for shirt customization, you are going to have to get an expensive express delivery option and some retailers (not the good ones) even charge extra “rush” fees. You might end up leaving it so late that you are limited to only local retailers, who are going to charge a lot more than online retailers. Or worse yet you leave it so late that you have to pop down to the local Walmart and buy whatever matching t-shirts you can find…and look like the right amateurs on the field.

What brand should I buy?

Brand name shirts are better quality within reason; a $20 “brand name” shirt is going to be better than a $10 “local brand” shirt. But a $60 shirt is not going to be that much better than the $20 other-brand shirt. Basically for the extra $40 you are paying for the “x-factor” not for extra quality or functionality.

We’d recommend you look into the more affordable brand names, such as Kit Guy, as opposed to the most expensive brands, because the quality is going to be similar.

What customizations should I get?

Some retailers offer full custom shirts, either using sublimation printing, or custom fabrics, depending on the design. If you are a pretty serious pro, or semi-pro team this is definitely worth considering, but be prepared for a high price tag and you should be willing to order quite a large quantity; no one is going to want to custom make 2 or 3 shirts.

Most football kit retailers will offer player names, numbers and various different kinds of logo printing or embroidery, and these will certainly add a professional look to your team. Beware of shops offering these items for “free”; what this really means is that they have already increased their prices to cover this cost, so you are paying for these options whether you want them or not.

Buy Football Kits Online versus Locally

The plus side to buying kits at a local shop is that you can physically touch and feel the kits before you buy, and try them on. However the price is often going to be higher as the overhead associated with having a brick and mortar shop is obviously higher.

Your nearest “local” football kit supplier may be miles away and require quite a drive to get there, whereas online you can browse and compare several retailers from the comfort of your own home.