Pillar guide

Team stores: how they work, who they're for, what they cost

A team store is an online storefront where families of a single team or program order custom-branded gear (jerseys, warm-ups, spirit wear, accessories) on a per-family basis. Each family pays at checkout. Each family's gear ships directly to their door. The coordinator never collects cash, never holds inventory, never distributes by hand. This guide covers the full picture: how the model works, when to use it, what it costs, and how to run a successful one.

What changed: from group orders to per-family stores

The traditional team-gear flow looked like this: coach posts a Google Form, parents fill it out, coach collects checks at practice, coach drives to a screen-printer, coach distributes the gear at a Tuesday practice (3 weeks later). Half the families forget to pay. A quarter ordered the wrong size. The coach is out 8 hours.

The modern team-store model replaces all of that with software. Each family orders online, pays online, and gear ships to their door. The coordinator's job is reduced to: pick the catalog, set the close date, share the link. That's it.

For a side-by-side of this shift, see our comparison to traditional ordering.

Who runs team stores

The modern team-store model serves a wide range of program types:

• Booster clubs: multi-team boosters fund travel, equipment, and program upgrades through gear margin.
• Athletic directors: ADs run district- or school-wide stores for spirit wear and team-specific lines.
• Youth leagues: recreational leagues run a season-opening store for jerseys + family fan gear.
• Club teams: travel programs run pre-season stores for warm-ups, bags, and tournament gear.
• High school programs: sport-specific stores per season — fall football, winter basketball, spring lacrosse.
• Parent groups: informal parent-run stores for a single team for a single season.

What it costs (and how teams make money)

On modern team-store platforms like TeamStores.AI, the platform itself is typically free. The economic model is:

1. The platform sources gear at wholesale.
2. The coordinator sets a markup on each product (typically 15-35%).
3. Families pay base + markup at checkout.
4. The markup is the team's fundraising revenue, paid out via Stripe Connect.

A 30-roster team with $85 average orders and 70% participation typically raises ~$4,200 per store. See full pricing details.

The three quality knobs that matter

When stores underperform, it's almost always one of three things:

• Image quality. Low-res or stock-only photos kill conversion. Real game-day photos beat anything else.
• Shipping price. If shipping is more than 12% of the order value, parents see it on the cart page and bounce. Flat $5 (or free) wins.
• Close-date too far out. Counter-intuitive but true: 4+ weeks kills urgency. Pull it in to a specific Sunday 14-21 days out.

Together these explain ~80% of the participation gap between top stores and bottom stores. For more, see our blog and long-form guides.

By sport

Each sport has its own catalog of jerseys, warm-ups, and accessories. Browse our sport-specific guides:

• Swimming stores
• Lacrosse stores
• Volleyball stores
• Soccer stores
• Basketball stores
• Football stores
• Field Hockey stores
• Track & Field stores
• Water Polo stores
• Cross Country stores
• Hockey stores
• Wrestling stores
• Gymnastics stores
• Rowing stores
• Baseball stores
• Softball stores

How TeamStores.AI compares

The team-store category includes a few well-known platforms. We've written balanced side-by-sides:

• vs SquadLocker — category-peer; we focus on faster setup + fundraising tools
• vs Custom Ink — Custom Ink is group-order; TeamStores.AI is per-family
• vs OrderMyGear — they go to market through decorators; TeamStores.AI is self-serve
• vs TeamSnap — TeamSnap is roster + scheduling; TeamStores.AI is gear; complementary
• vs Bonfire — Bonfire is one-off campaigns; TeamStores.AI is recurring team stores
• vs BSN Sports — BSN is full-service team dealer; TeamStores.AI is gear-fundraising-focused
• vs Lids Team Sports — Lids is sales-rep-led; TeamStores.AI is self-serve

Common questions

See the full FAQ index for more.