- The Boxonomist
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- 14th Edition
The Boxonomist
Actionable strategies you can implement right now to grow your gym.
No Inventory, No Risk
Good Morning, Team!
This week’s edition is one of the most valuable in our opinion. We’re going to explain how you can have unlimited apparel options available 24/7 to your clients. You never need to worry about preorders, sizes, colors, what logo you want where, what shirt SKU for men vs women, etc. again.
You also will never need to hold inventory or have random XXL shirts hanging around in the closet from 3 years ago that never sold.
Using print-on-demand services like Printful, you’ll have access to a vast range of custom merchandise—from t-shirts and hoodies to hats and water bottles—without ever needing to invest upfront in bulk orders.
Why Print-On-Demand Works for Your Gym
Traditional retail involves the headache of inventory management, upfront costs, and the risk of unsold merchandise gathering dust. Print-on-demand eliminates these issues entirely. When a member orders a product, the service prints and ships it directly—meaning you only pay for what’s sold. This not only reduces financial risk but also opens up unlimited design possibilities. You can experiment with new designs, seasonal collections, or even member-inspired gear without worrying about leftover stock. Yes, the margins are lower than what you’re used to getting, but the volume can be much higher and with significantly less effort on your part.
How to Get Started
Go to Printful and set up a free account ← that link should give you a discount on your first order.
Create a free e-commerce site such as Etsy, or a nicer paid one like Shopify ($29/m) and link the store
Design as many apparel items on Printful as you want. Experiment with colors, logo placement, different SKUs, etc
Pick your favorite mockups, set your pricing to make sure you profit, and push to your store
Advertise
There are a lot of little tricks that we’ve learned after doing this thousands of times, such as pricing strategies and optimizing shipping costs. Also there are certain types of designs that work better than others (like never having white ink → switch it to slightly off-white in Canva). Just reach out if you want help.
If it’s all set up correctly, once someone orders you do literally nothing and just collect profit. They get their cool new apparel item shipped to them, and you have more shirts circulating your community.
Wrap-Up
Selling apparel through print-on-demand services is a smart, risk-free way to add a new revenue stream to your gym. No inventory, unlimited options, and zero risk of dead stock mean more money stays in your pocket and more style options for your community. Embrace this modern approach to merchandising and watch your gym’s brand—and revenue—grow.
The Boxonomist Team
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