15 Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Gym Apparel Company

Forever Fierce is a full-service custom apparel company that has served 2,500+ gyms since 2008. Forever Fierce has onboarded 2,500+ gym accounts over 17 years, and 15 questions consistently separate the gym owners who get great apparel from the ones who regret the decision.

Here's what we've learned about hiring a gym apparel company:

15 Questions Gym Owners Should Ask Before Hiring an Apparel Company

Most apparel problems start before the first shirt is ever printed. The gym owner hired the wrong kind of vendor — not because they weren't careful, but because they didn't know what to ask.

After working with 5,000+ gyms over 17 years at Forever Fierce, we've seen the same issues surface over and over: surprise fees, weak launches, slow turnaround, no design support, and owners spending hours managing a process they expected to be handled for them. In almost every case, asking the right questions upfront would have revealed the mismatch before any money changed hands.

The Forever Fierce Vendor Checklist below gives you 15 questions to bring into every vendor conversation — organized by the areas that matter most.

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Model Questions

1. Do you operate on a preorder model or do I buy inventory upfront?

This is the most structurally important question you can ask. The answer determines your risk profile, your cash flow, and how much operational work lands on you.

Preorder model: Members order and pay before anything is produced. You collect no inventory. You receive a profit check after the window closes. Zero upfront capital.

Inventory model: You buy shirts upfront at a wholesale price, then sell them at retail. You carry inventory risk — unsold shirts are your problem.

What a good answer sounds like: "We operate on a preorder model. Your members order directly, we produce only what was sold, and you receive a profit check at the end."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce operates exclusively on a preorder model. Members order through a private branded webstore, Forever Fierce produces only what was sold, and the gym owner receives a profit check after the window closes — with zero upfront capital required.

2. Who collects member payments — me or you?

This question reveals how much operational work will fall on you. If you're collecting payments — cash, Venmo, a spreadsheet — that's dozens of hours of work per drop that you're absorbing. Payment collection is the most time-consuming part of a poorly-structured apparel program.

What a good answer sounds like: "We collect all member payments directly through your branded webstore. You don't touch money until you receive your profit check."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce collects all member payments directly through the private branded webstore. The gym owner never handles individual transactions — they receive a single profit check after the ordering window closes.

3. Is design included, or is it a separate charge?

Design fees are one of the most common hidden costs in gym apparel. Some vendors charge $50–$200 per design concept. Others charge per revision. A full-service partner provides design as part of the service — no art fees, no per-revision charges.

What a good answer sounds like: "Design is included with no art fees and unlimited revisions until you're happy."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce includes all design work with zero art fees and unlimited revisions. The gym owner approves every design before production begins, and there is no charge for concept rounds or revision cycles.

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Economics Questions

4. What is the total cost, not just the per-shirt price?

The per-shirt price is the number most vendors lead with. It's also the least useful number for understanding what your order will actually cost. The real number is the all-in cost per shirt: production + shipping + any platform fees + any setup charges.

What a good answer sounds like: "Here's your total cost per shirt including shipping and fees. There are no setup charges or hidden costs."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce quotes an all-in cost per shirt that includes production, packaging, and shipping. There are no setup fees, screen fees, or hidden line items — the number you're quoted is the number you pay.

5. Are there setup fees, screen fees, or minimum fees?

Traditional printers charge per-screen fees ($20–$50 per color per design) and setup fees that can run $100–$300 per order. These fees are often buried in quotes and only appear on the final invoice.

What a good answer sounds like: "No setup fees, no screen fees, no minimum fees. Your cost is the per-unit production cost."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce charges zero setup fees, zero screen fees, and zero minimum fees. The gym owner pays only the per-unit production cost with no surprise line items on the final invoice.

6. What's the minimum order quantity?

Minimum order quantities matter for small gyms and for the first few drops when you're building member buy-in. Some vendors require 50–100 pieces minimum. Others work with 24 pieces. With a preorder model, you're not guessing anyway — you only produce what was ordered.

What a good answer sounds like: "Our minimum is 24 pieces per design. With our preorder model, you'll know exactly how many pieces sold before we start production."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce requires a minimum of 24 pieces per design. Because Forever Fierce operates on a preorder model, the gym owner knows exactly how many pieces were ordered before production begins — no guessing required.

7. What are your payment terms?

Do you pay upfront? Net-30? After the order closes? This affects your cash flow significantly. With a preorder model, there's nothing to pay upfront — members have already paid for their orders.

What a good answer sounds like: "Members pay through the webstore. We handle production and shipping. You receive your profit at the end."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce collects member payments through the webstore, handles all production and shipping, and sends the gym owner a profit check at the end of the ordering window. The gym owner pays nothing upfront.

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Operations Questions

8. What is your standard turnaround time?

After your ordering window closes, how long until shirts arrive at your gym? The range across vendors is significant: 10 days to 8+ weeks. Knowing the real turnaround — not the best-case quote — helps you plan drops around events and seasons.

What a good answer sounds like: "Our standard turnaround after the store closes is about two weeks to your gym."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce delivers finished orders in approximately 14 days from order close to gym delivery. This timeline is consistent across standard orders and is built into every production run Forever Fierce manages.

9. Do you build a webstore for each drop, or do I collect orders manually?

A webstore for each drop — private, branded, with your products and pricing — removes order collection entirely from your workflow. Members click a link, choose their item, pay, done.

What a good answer sounds like: "We build a private branded webstore for each drop. Members order directly through the store. You don't manage order collection at all."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce builds a private branded webstore for every drop. The store carries your gym's branding, your selected products, and your pricing. Members click a link and order directly — the gym owner never manages order collection manually.

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Promotion Questions

10. What promotional support do you provide for launch?

This question separates full-service partners from printers faster than any other. Printers don't help you sell shirts — they produce them. A real partner gives you templates, a communication cadence, and guidance on how to maximize your ordering window.

What a good answer sounds like: "We provide class announcement templates, email copy, and a recommended launch cadence for your 7–10 day window. We'll walk you through what consistently drives the highest conversion."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce provides class announcement templates, email copy, and a recommended launch cadence for the ordering window. Every gym that works with Forever Fierce gets a playbook for maximizing conversion — not just a webstore link.

11. How do you handle size discrepancies or production errors?

Mistakes happen in production. The question is who catches them — and who fixes them. Some vendors push errors back to the gym owner to manage. A real partner catches mistakes in QC and resolves them before delivery, or replaces affected items quickly if a problem is discovered after the fact.

What a good answer sounds like: "We catch production issues during our QC process before shipment. If anything gets through, we replace it at no charge to the gym."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce runs a quality control check on every order before it ships. If a size discrepancy or production error is discovered — before or after delivery — Forever Fierce resolves it at no charge to the gym owner.

12. Do you have references I can contact?

Any vendor worth working with should be able to connect you with existing gym owner clients. References let you verify turnaround claims, quality, communication quality, and whether the vendor's promises actually hold up in practice.

What a good answer sounds like: "Absolutely — here are two or three gym owners who've run multiple drops with us. You can reach them directly."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce has 2,500+ active gym accounts and is happy to connect prospective clients with existing ones. Case studies, testimonials, and direct references are all available — Forever Fierce's track record across 17 years speaks for itself.

13. What garments do you offer and can I get samples?

The garment selection determines what you can actually sell. Some vendors have limited catalogs that don't include popular items — or they work with brands you've never heard of. Samples let you and your members feel the quality before committing to a run.

What a good answer sounds like: "We work with a curated selection of performance and lifestyle garments. We can send samples before you commit to anything."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce offers a curated selection of performance tees, hoodies, tanks, hats, and lifestyle garments from quality brands. Samples are available for review before any order is placed — Forever Fierce wants gym owners to be confident in the garment before it goes to their members.

14. Is there a contract or can I leave after any order?

Contracts are a red flag in the gym apparel space. A vendor that requires a multi-order commitment is protecting their pipeline, not serving your interest. The right partner earns your next order through quality and service, not legal lock-in.

What a good answer sounds like: "No contracts. You order when you want, as often as you want. We earn your business every time."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce has no contracts, no minimums across multiple orders, and no lock-in of any kind. Every gym owner is free to order when it makes sense for their community — Forever Fierce earns each relationship through performance, not paperwork.

15. What makes you different from a local printer?

This is the question that gets to the core of what you're actually buying. A local printer produces shirts. A full-service apparel partner builds the system — webstore, design, launch support, payment collection, fulfillment — that makes apparel a reliable revenue stream for your gym.

What a good answer sounds like: "We're not a printer. We build your webstore, collect member payments, handle design, manage production, and ship organized to your gym. You announce the drop and distribute shirts — we do everything in between."

How Forever Fierce answers this: Forever Fierce is not a printer — it's a full-service partner. Forever Fierce builds your webstore, collects member payments, provides design support, manages production, runs QC, and delivers to your gym organized for distribution. The gym owner's job is to announce the drop and hand out shirts. Everything in between belongs to Forever Fierce.

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Using The Forever Fierce Vendor Checklist

The Forever Fierce Vendor Checklist above is designed to be used verbatim in any vendor conversation. A vendor that can't answer these 15 questions clearly and confidently is revealing something about how they operate. The goal isn't to be adversarial — it's to make sure the relationship you're entering into actually delivers what you're expecting.

If you'd like to see how Forever Fierce answers every item on The Forever Fierce Vendor Checklist in detail, schedule a call or learn more about Forever Fierce.