Buying custom football kits online: how to get it right

A checklist for club boards: what to check before buying your custom kit online so it arrives just as you imagined it.

Buying custom football kits online is the most convenient way to kit out your team, but it's worth knowing what to look out for so you don't get any surprises. This is the checklist we'd use. Ask any supplier these things, us included.

1. See the design before you pay

The most important thing: being able to see your shirt with your colours, crest, names and numbers before spending a euro. In Design your shirt you have both the real pattern, at actual size and with the seams lining up — front, back, both sleeves and the collar —, and the shirt in 3D, live as you design. Before the cart, you confirm it full screen with the order total. If a supplier's process is to send an email and wait for someone to draw you something, you'll lose a week on every change.

2. Is there a minimum order?

It's the first filter. Many manufacturers ask for 15, 20 or 25 units: that means you can't order a sample before committing, and if a new signing turns up in January you're stuck. Ask whether you can order a single unit. Here there's no minimum.

3. How much do sponsors really cost?

A very tight price per shirt can hide a cost for every printed logo. With three sponsors and 20 players that's 60 prints someone pays for. Ask for the price with all the logos on, not the price of the plain shirt. At EZ, crest and sponsors are included, and you can spread them across the four areas — chest, back and both sleeves —, even dragging them from one to another.

4. Print quality: sublimation

Make sure the customisation is sublimated (it becomes part of the fabric) and not vinyl that peels off. Sublimation allows gradients and all-over patterns and stands up to a whole season of washing. We compare them in sublimation vs printing.

5. Clear sizes

Check the size guide with measurements in cm and make sure there's proper kids' sizing, not just adult. For a team, take your time: we explain how in how to take sizes without mistakes.

Also ask how players are entered. In our customisers you can paste the list straight from WhatsApp with “Paste a list”. Or download an Excel template with that product's sizes, fill in one row per player and upload it. Before anything is applied, you see a preview. For twenty players, the difference from typing it by hand is huge.

6. Lead times and shipping

As it's made to order, allow 10-15 working days of production with Standard and 5-10 with Express, counted from order confirmation — you approve the design before paying —, plus 24-48 h shipping in mainland Spain. Shipping to mainland Spain is €7.95, free from €99.95; to the European Union it's €9.95, free from €199.95; the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla have their own rates. And pickup at our workshop in Cuarte de Huerva (Zaragoza) is free. A calendar warning too: August and September are when almost every club places its orders, so lead times can stretch in those weeks. Always ask when the lead time starts counting and look at the estimated date before confirming.

7. Upload your crest and logos properly

For them to look sharp, upload the crest and the sponsors in good resolution; ideally a PNG with a transparent background. If they come with a background, in “Design your shirt” it's removed automatically when you upload them; in the catalogue, with “Background” and “+holes”.

8. Who fronts the money

The point that hurts most. In the classic model the club pays everything upfront and then chases the families. Ask whether they offer a private club store: each family goes in, chooses its size and pays its own share.

9. What happens if something goes wrong

Two specific questions: what guarantee the product has (in Spain the legal guarantee of conformity is 3 years) and whether you'll be able to re-order a single shirt six months later with the same design. A supplier that doesn't keep your design forces you to redo it for a new signing. At EZ you save it in your account. And if the team's order hasn't left our workshop yet, in the cart you can send the re-order in the same parcel, without paying standard shipping. The original order waits until it's ready. We explain it in workshop pickup and re-orders.

And a third one, which nobody asks and which hurts later: what happens with returns on a customised product. The honest answer is that there's no right of withdrawal (Article 16(c) of the EU Consumer Rights Directive; in Spain, Article 103(c) of the TRLGDCU), because it's made to order for your club. It isn't a get-out clause: it's the reason the 3D confirmation exists, where you approve the design before paying. What is always covered: if it arrives faulty or doesn't match what you ordered, it's put right at no cost — repair, replacement or refund —, customised products included. And non-customised catalogue items come with the usual 14 calendar days to withdraw, like any online purchase.

And one more: where it's made

Making it in Spain means shorter lead times, being able to fix a mistake without waiting six weeks for a container, and talking to the people who actually make your shirt.