Trading T-Shirts for Profits
How Rethinking a “Freebie” Turned into $180,000 in New Revenue—and a Lot Less Headache
The Challenge
For years, a multi-camp organization offered free t-shirts to incentivize on-time payments—well-meaning, but costly.
10,000+ shirts a year
$85,000+ in giveaways
Late orders, rising costs, and constant sorting headaches
Each camp handled its own designs, inventory, and distribution. Staff were burned out, and the system wasn’t sustainable.
What We Did:
After meeting with camp managers, we worked together to make a few key changes:
Replaced the t-shirt giveaway with a pre-order merchandise discount
Centralized shirt design + negotiated bulk pricing ($3.25/shirt)
Streamlined ordering and eliminated individual sorting
Aligned staff around a shared brand and easier process
A simple shift in strategy created more margin, better systems, and less stress.
What could a better process do for you?
The Results:
Turned an $85,000 giveaway into a $12,500 controlled incentive
Generated $180,000+ in new merchandise revenue
Removed a major time burden for camp managers
Unified branding across all camp locations
Sparked lasting improvements in pre-sale and trading post systems