Approval packet
School merch approval packet
Everything you need to get a school merch order signed off — a vendor one-pager, the purchasing facts your office asks for, a budget-justification template, and a neutral vendor-comparison sheet. Fill the prices in from your own free quote.
Get it approved without the back-and-forth
Getting a school apparel order approved usually stalls in the same place: the person who wants the shirts and the person who signs the check aren't the same person, and the approver needs facts, not enthusiasm. This packet gives you those facts in a form a principal, activity director, or district purchasing office can review in a couple of minutes.
It has four parts. The vendor one-pager states who we are, what we provide, and our published minimum, quote turnaround, and production window — the basics an office needs to set up a vendor. The purchasing-facts sheet covers how we handle purchase orders, Net 30 terms for schools and districts, W-9s, and itemized invoicing. The budget-justification template is a simple fill-in structure that turns your quote into the line-item request your approver signs. And the vendor-comparison criteria sheet gives you neutral columns to line up any vendors you're considering, apples to apples.
The one thing the packet never does is invent a price. Every price cell is blank on purpose — you drop in the real per-unit and total figures from a free, itemized quote, so what your approver sees is a real budget, not a guess. When you're ready for those numbers, request a quote and we'll turn your items and quantities into the exact figures to complete the packet.
Prints the four-part packet below. Fill the price fields from your own free quote.
Part 1 · Vendor one-pager
Your Merch Factory
What we provide
- Custom branded merch made or sourced to order — apparel, drinkware, bags, caps, and desk & event items.
- A free mockup with every quote, so you approve exactly what will be produced before anything is made.
- Itemized, delivered pricing — standard shipping to one US address is included in the per-unit price.
- A published minimum of 50 units per item, with the per-unit price dropping as the quantity rises.
- A quote, typically within 12 hours; production runs about two weeks from an approved mockup.
- Delivery to one address or many, with every piece inspected before it ships.
- A make-it-right guarantee: if we get your print wrong, we reprint it free.
Part 2 · Purchasing facts
How ordering and payment work
- Purchase orders
- We accept purchase orders. You approve a quote, your office issues the PO against it, we produce and inspect the order, and we invoice.
- Net terms
- Net 30 for schools and districts. Companies can pay by card or check, and we handle corporate POs case by case.
- W-9
- A current W-9 and remittance details are sent on request, so accounts payable can set us up as a vendor before the PO goes out.
- Invoicing
- We invoice against your purchase order once production is scheduled. Every invoice is itemized to match the approved quote.
For the full process, see buying custom merch with a purchase order.
Part 3 · Budget-justification template
Turn your quote into an approvable request
Fill this in from your free quote and hand it to a principal, activity director, or district purchasing office. The price rows are blank on purpose — enter the real figures from your itemized quote so what's approved is a real budget, not a guess.
| Purpose | School spirit wear / event apparel |
| Item(s) | |
| Quantity (min. 50 per item) | |
| Per-unit price — from your quote | |
| Total — from your quote | |
| Budget line / account | |
| Requested by | |
| Approver | |
| Date |
Ordering for a club? The student org budget template also computes per-member cost once you add the numbers.
Part 4 · Vendor-comparison criteria
Compare vendors apples to apples
Neutral criteria to line up any vendors you're weighing. The columns are blank for you to fill from each vendor's own quote and public pages — we don't pre-fill answers or name competitors.
| Criterion | Vendor A | Vendor B | Vendor C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Published minimum order | |||
| Mockup / proof policy | |||
| Decoration methods offered | |||
| Turnaround (quote + production) | |||
| Delivered pricing (shipping included?) | |||
| PO / Net-30 support | |||
| Reorder process |
Want a side-by-side you don't have to build? See our bulk custom t-shirt company comparison.
Approval packet FAQ
Four parts: a vendor one-pager (who we are, what we provide, our minimum and timeline), a purchasing-facts sheet (purchase orders, Net 30, W-9, invoicing), a budget-justification template you fill from your quote, and a neutral vendor-comparison criteria sheet. It's built to hand straight to whoever signs off.
No — and that's on purpose. Every price field is blank so you fill in the real per-unit and total figures from your own free quote. That way your approver reviews an accurate budget rather than an estimate.
Yes. Schools and districts can order on a purchase order with Net 30 terms — you approve a quote, your office issues the PO, we produce and invoice. A W-9 is available on request. See our purchase-order page for the full process.
Request a free quote with your items and quantities. We send an itemized, delivered quote — typically within 12 hours — and you drop those per-unit and total figures straight into the budget-justification template.
Get the numbers that complete the packet
Send your items and quantities for a free, itemized quote — the real per-unit and total figures to drop into the budget-justification template.
Instant mockup · Quote in 12h · Nothing's made until you approve