Football Merchandise- Advice?

[Hughes05]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, so apologies in advance if I should of went about this with a different approach. Hope you are all well.

Basically, I am launching an online business this summer, selling official football club merchandise and related training gear/equipment. I'm well aware that profit margins will be tight regarding the merchandise side of the business, however I'm very confident that I could generate a enough traffic through my social media accounts to help turn it into a success. I am going to continue in my full time job and do this part time to start with until it allows me otherwise.

I also manage and coach a local youth football team which allowed me to toy with the idea of expanding past the merchandise side of the business. In my club we have around 40 teams in age categories ranging from under 7's right the way through up until the adult side. This is typical of an established football club in the UK. Every season, each one of these teams are going to want equipment IE training balls, cones, bibs, water bottles etc. However you do have to bulk buy to get a decent deal with the wholesalers to generate a really good profit.

Sorry to waffle on. I just want any expert advice on maybe where I could make the merchandise side of the business unique to any that is already on the market. Is there any obvious target markets that I may of missed out on where I could maybe be making potential sales? Any ideas? I know I'm probably going to get chewed up by you business guru's, however I'm very confident in my own hard work and determination.

Cheers
Ryan

 

[MOIC]

If your quantities are large enough, bypass the UK wholesalers and buy direct from China.

Your advantages from buying in China:

1. Bigger selection to choose from.

2. Cheaper costs. (Including Import Taxes and Shipping)

3. Branding all your equipment with your logo.

Your advantages from buying in the UK:

1. Smaller order quantities.

2. Quicker repeat orders. (If the supplier has what you want in stock)

As a start up, my advice is to start with a UK company, as long as they can provide the merchandise you want and allow for a healthy profit margin.

When you have established your business and can order in quantities to make it viable to import, then start with China.

We look after the whole process from start to finish, including sourcing the best factories, quality controlling the order, shipping to UK, UK customs clearance, delivery to your door and a full after sales service.

For details, please see the following link:

Buy Direct From China

Feel free to ask any questions.

 

[Hughes05]

Thank you. I very much appreciated the response and advice.

 

[wayzgoose]

Just remember that getting general training equipment is ok from China but you will not be able to buy officially licensed merchandise there.

 

[Hughes05]

Thanks for that mate. Is there any further advice or pointers you could share with me?

Just remember that getting general training equipment is ok from China but you will not be able to buy officially licensed merchandise there.

Thanks for that mate. Is there any further advice or pointers you could share with me? Maybe in terms of differentiating my merchandise business from all the others like the eBay sellers etc.?

 

[Nochexman]

Is there any further advice or pointers you could share with me? Maybe in terms of differentiating my merchandise business from all the others like the eBay sellers etc.?

I am not familiar with this market: how do you perceive that your competitors differentiate their businesses from each other?

 

[wayzgoose]

Are you planning to sell on your own site or Ebay/Amazon?

 

[Hughes05]

I am not familiar with this market: how do you perceive that your competitors differentiate their businesses from each other?

Are you planning to sell on your own site or Ebay/Amazon?

Hi,

Thanks for the reply. In answer to your question 'Nochexman', most of what will be my competitors don't really differentiate themselves from one another. They mostly all sell on auction sites such as eBay and Amazon and just compete on rock bottom prices. They're is virtually no customer service involved and no interaction with the target market. I plan to have social media sites as well as my own website and email that should break this barrier. The 'big boys' in this particular market, apart from having there own professional looking website do not really differ from each other. They seem to have the same set up as each other apart from the colours and logo. I'm just in need of that little bit of creativity or an idea that will differentiate me just that bit extra.

In answer to your question 'wayzgoose' I want to avoid them sites as much as possible as I won't really be able to compete with them on price alone. However I will probably have to put them on there to start with.

 

[Nochexman]

Differentiation is clearly going to be important if you are going to breakthrough from the crowd.

Have you identified any customer types that you want to target?

 

[Hughes05]

Differentiation is clearly going to be important if you are going to breakthrough from the crowd.

Have you identified any customer types that you want to target?

Well because I will be mainly selling the official merchandise of the 'top 4' premier league teams, it will mainly be supporters of those teams. It could be from any age range however I believe it will appeal to more of the young adults and children who are more actively involved in football. That's not to rule out the middle aged or older generations. As with the training equipment/gear side of the business, it will amateur/semi pro teams from all age categories, however I'd only target the midlands, local to me due to shipment charges.

 

[wayzgoose]

I'm not going to go into great detail, being in the same line as the one you propose, but just a couple of views for you.
I personally wouldn't bother at all with Ebay and Amazon. Even if you make sales, you will never get those customers to visit your site.
Be open minded about your target market. Go by your sales and not what you think. You'll probably be surprised !

 

[japancool]

Well because I will be mainly selling the official merchandise of the 'top 4' premier league teams

Ah, Leicester, Southampton, Swansea and Bournemouth, excellent choices!

 

[Hughes05]

I'm not going to go into great detail, being in the same line as the one you propose, but just a couple of views for you.
I personally wouldn't bother at all with Ebay and Amazon. Even if you make sales, you will never get those customers to visit your site.
Be open minded about your target market. Go by your sales and not what you think. You'll probably be surprised !

Ah, Leicester, Southampton, Swansea and Bournemouth, excellent choices!

'Wayzgoose' Once again thanks for the reply. I appreciate the advice. I also believe staying clear of those auction sites would be the sensible option. Hope business is going well for you.

'JapanCool' Ha. I think Watford may have to join that list also. Even Villa could be an ideal replacements for Chelsea eh!?

 

[G dubyah]

Good luck on getting a licence to sell the top clubs merchandise, especially the official kind.
Adidas didn't pay Man United £90m to alow anyone to sell the shirts, I know for a fact that the cost of getting a copyright licence from united is way beyond the scope of a small business, unless that is you have a couple of million lying around. even if you do get official merchandise like shirts, the margins are so tight, you will have to buy literally thousands of shirts to compete on price with people like Sports Direct and Kitbag, I also think there is some clause that you cannot sell the current strip for less than RRP, but don't quote me on that.

 

[wayzgoose]

Good luck on getting a licence to sell the top clubs merchandise, especially the official kind.
Adidas didn't pay Man United £90m to alow anyone to sell the shirts, I know for a fact that the cost of getting a copyright licence from united is way beyond the scope of a small business, unless that is you have a couple of million lying around. even if you do get official merchandise like shirts, the margins are so tight, you will have to buy literally thousands of shirts to compete on price with people like Sports Direct and Kitbag, I also think there is some clause that you cannot sell the current strip for less than RRP, but don't quote me on that.

Erm - who mentioned kits?

 

[G dubyah]

Erm - who mentioned kits?

Kits or whatever, if it has the United crest, Red Devil or part of either, it will be copyrighted.

I used to run a United forum for United fans, amongst other things I used the crest, someone informed the United Copyright infringement dept, I got a very strong letter from my hosts saying that if I didn't remove all copyrighted content they would shut me down.

 

[wayzgoose]

So you purchase your stock from someone that has all the relevant licences in place.

 

[Hughes05]

Good luck on getting a licence to sell the top clubs merchandise, especially the official kind.
Adidas didn't pay Man United £90m to alow anyone to sell the shirts, I know for a fact that the cost of getting a copyright licence from united is way beyond the scope of a small business, unless that is you have a couple of million lying around. even if you do get official merchandise like shirts, the margins are so tight, you will have to buy literally thousands of shirts to compete on price with people like Sports Direct and Kitbag, I also think there is some clause that you cannot sell the current strip for less than RRP, but don't quote me on that.

I appreciate the comments. However, kits are not something I'm going to be selling. Also regarding the copyright laws and other conditions, just like 'wayzgoose' mentioned you just purchase that stock from an authorised seller and it's totally above board. It is something you have to look into properly before you launch, otherwise you could, without knowing end up breaking a number of laws.

'wayzgoose' Cheers for the comments. Hope you have a good week.