Athletically Fit Golf Shirts

[Golfisfun]

Hi all-

I'm entertaining the idea of starting a line of athletically fit golf shirts for a very reasonable price.  I'm talking shirts for people who are in average to excellent physical shape, basically not large like your average club golfer ;)  I'm just trying to see if there is interest for a product such as this.  I have found brands that do have a slimmer fit such as J Lindberg, but they run $125 which I think is ridiculous.  Any feedback would help!

Adam

[Shorty]

Why is it ridiculous?

If they didn't sell at that price, people wouldn't buy them.

Rule number one of economics: Price is set by demand and supply.

It would be "ridiculous" if a company sold their products for less than they could.

Nobody holds a gun to your head to force you to pay $125 for a shirt.

If you want to set up business and produce and sell shirts that you think people will buy, that's fantastic. Good luck. You have to find a niche where people will think that your shirts are worth the money they pay, be it $25 or $125.

[Golf Ghost]

There are many non-designer name branded shirts that have a slim fit or what you refer to as a "athletic" fit. Sligo is one brand that comes to mind, not to mention brands like Puma offer slim fit polo. I also find Nike to be "athletic" fitting myself, this coming from a guy who is 6'0", 165 lbs. Trust me, I'm all for wanting a nice fitted shirt and there are already plenty out there that are not designer branded (JL,RL,Lacoste, etc)

[jp19]

Wow. You must be pretty well off shorty, to not think that 125 dollars for a shirt is "ridiculous".

Great job on the economics lesson too.

Sign me up for some shirts Golfisfun. I find it ridiculous how hard it is to find a shirt that fits correctly.

[GaijinGolfer]

$125 is a bit pricey.  I cringe at paying $50 for one (which is why I dont own any Underarmor polos).  I'll keep my $20-$35 Lands' End polos, thanks...

Golfisfun, to answer your question, I think there is a market for this, especially if you can undercut the prices of the brands that are currently making similar shirts.  IMO theres a lot of overpriced, "golf" clothes on the market.

My girlfriend works in the clothing industry, so she has given me an inside view of the industry and you wouldnt believe that amount of markup that there is on clothing.

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by jp19

Wow. You must be pretty well off shorty, to not think that 125 dollars for a shirt is "ridiculous".

Great job on the economics lesson too.

??????

I didn't say that I would pay that much. I thought it was pretty clear that I am saying that JL wouldn't be in business if others didn't want to pay their prices.

Who are we to criticise others for paying what they want to pay?

As for the "economics lesson", it's pretty obvious that it is needed if someone who wants to go into business sees a successful company and calls their prices "ridiculous".

[Shorty]

Quote:

O

My girlfriend works in the clothing industry, so she has given me an inside view of the industry and you wouldnt believe that amount of markup that there is on clothing.

It's no secret that it's up to 300% most of the time.

They still make a good profit at 50% off.

IN any case, the OP needs to concern himself with the production and wholesale costs, not the retail costs, which everyone knows are high.

[Clambake]

Back to the OP's original question "is there any interest?", for me the answer is no.   There seems to be a wide variety of golf shirts available in athletic fit and "more portly" styles readily available at price points from $20-200, and I do not feel an interest in yet another line.

[Golfisfun]

Thank you very much everyone for your responses.  This was merely to see if there is any buzz about.  Thank you to all who expressed both interest and disinterest.

Shorty-  Thank you for not answering my question.  You must be as smart as you think that perceptive reading skill.  But please don't preach to us about your superior economic prowess.  Obviously I wasn't speaking from the standpoint of the business who is  making money off of their products at the prices they have chosen to set.  I was merely coming from the standpoint of a consumer, stating an opinion that I hold (and I believe many people agree with) that $125 is very, very expensive for one shirt, even though they are extremely nice (I own one).  I would think someone with your knowledge would know that profit maximization for the firm does NOT maximize welfare for the consumer.  Price is set by the intersection of supply and demand  under strict perfectly competitive conditions, which exist in the realm of theory next to unicorns and leprechauns.  Such a situation does not exist in the real world, and rarely comes even close.  Maybe "ridiculous" was not the correct word to use, but I don't think I am the only person to who ever described them that way.  If you don't find $125 to be a lot of money, then I can respect your opinion.  But please, go take your pretentious attitude elsewhere, like the universities, where you can talk about economic theory until you are blue in the face.

jp19- I'll definitely send you one, should I decide to take on this endeavor :)

Clambake- Thank you very much for responding.  Could you please list some of the cheaper brands, say in the $20-40 range?  My target price would be in that range, as I have contacted many manufacturers, and golf shirts are not that expensive to make :)

TitelistWI- Thank you very much for your response.  Would it be alright if I maybe contacted you sometime in the future to gain a little more insight on the industry?

Again, thank you everyone for your responses.  Maybe to make it more clear, this is NOT intended to be a primary source of income.  It is meant to be a supplemental source of income so I may indulge myself in my more expensive habits (like golf!).  I am not looking to build a clothing empire or anything.  Just something small on the side that I like and have an interest in.  Anyways, thank you all very much again for your help!

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Golfisfun

Shorty-  Thank you for not answering my question.

What an aggressive response!  You'll make a lot of friends in business with that attitude.

Perhaps you missed the bit in my initial response where I wrote:

I f you want to set up business and produce and sell shirts that you think people will buy, that's fantastic.

Good luck. You have to find a niche where people will think that your shirts are worth the money they pay, be it $25 or $125.

As for the price of the JL shirts, my point is that if they can charge that much, and people want to buy them, why shouldn't they?

I would personally never pay that much for even an "athletically fit" shirt, but I have no issue with those who do.

As for your pretentiuous and verbose tirade regarding demand and supply and the "real world", leprechauns and unicorns do not inhabit a world were manufatcturers merely set a price at the point where people will pay it.

And I hardly think that profit maximisation for the firm equaling welfare maximisation for the consumer (your terms, not mine) is someting that overly concerns companies that sell for relatively high prices, because a person paying $125 for a shirt may well think his welfare is being well catered for.  In fact, their sales would most likely go down if the prices fell too much. Companies like JL are selling exclusivity, more than anything else. But.... the girlfriend of a Sandtrapper who "works in the clothing industry" will be able to tell you that.

If you are able to manufacture, promote and distribute good quality shirts at a price that consumers like - that would be great.

[Leftygolfer]

I'd be interested.  I find that most golf shirts are either A) too big and B) too short.  I'm 6 1 and right between a large and medium.  I wieght 200 pounds but hide it well.  Anyway, a great marketing idea IMO would be to make a Medium long.  Also, I am a huge fan of micro polyester.  It holds up well and is confortable.  But if it fits well and is reasonable I'd be interested.  I always buy closeout of the high end shirts and get good deals.  I agree I would never pay 60 dollars for a shirt.  Even if had money, I'd still be wearing last year's style.

[Golfisfun]

Hey Lefty, thanks!  I agree, I find most golf shirts to be either too short or too big, particularly in the midsection.  Another part that bothers me is the sleeves.  I find them to be too long and wide, because they usually go all the way to my elbows.  I also agree with them being too short.  I am a shade over 6 foot, 182 lbs, and usually after a few swings, my shirt sometimes gets yanked and becomes untucked.  Thanks for the advice on putting out a "long version" as I also know taller people who size up simply to have enough shirt to tuck in!

I would definitely use and athletic/dry fit material for my shirts.  I have been talking to manufacturers and that material really is not that much more expensive than normal cotton!  Plus, I want to make a shirt that I would love to wear myself, which is definitely of a micro polyester/dry fit material like you suggested.

Also, as an aside, what kind of colors/designs do you like for your shirts?  I personally like designs and bright colors, but I just want to see what other people think.

Thank you again for all of your help everyone.

Best,

Adam

[Shorty]

Adam -

I actually have some experience in the manufacture of shirts. From the design to production to wholesale to retail stages.

There are a few bits of advice that I can give you if you are interested.

I can share them here, or if you want to do it via PM, that's fine.

[Golfisfun]

Sure, thank you very much!  I'd prefer the PM if that's ok with you, as I do not want this thread to turn into a discussion about manufacturing :)

[newtogolf]

I think you'll find varying definitions of athletic fit.  I was thinking you were targeting those with broader shoulders and chest, slimmer waist, but kind of lost me with the sleeves.  Most sleeves on "athletic fit" golf shirts I've tried tend to be too tight and short on my arms which is annoying because they pull during my swing.   Would be interested in seeing what you develop.  Good Luck.

[johninspain]

I would like to add my thoughts on this.

Most manufactures do a "fitted" golf shirt, just viewing the Masters made me think how far these guys had come in terms of fitness and body shape etc, i mean did you see the size of the shoulders on tiger !.

My pal has done exactly what you are proposing, called Levente Golf, and to be fair his stuff is good quality at good prices, but even in XXL i cant get anywhere near it, as cant most of the average golfers.

Looking at the profile of the "AVERAGE CASH RICH" golfer (now i haven't actually done this properly so i am taking a Guess) i would say he is 35+, married, couple of kids, plays on a weekend with his buddies, goes for a beer after a game, and is larger than your athletically fit guys.  These are the guys spending there money and these are the guys I would be going after.

Golf is expensive as we know all to well, recently i went on a shopping trip for new gear, clubs etc.  I went back this week to get some summer tops and shorts as the weather has turned here in Spain.

We have a huge where house type place up the road selling most brands.  You can see my size from the topic with my swing.

From the whole shop i could only find 1 top from Nike that fit me (XXL) and the rest from Asworth (who are known for big sizes) Only one brand with a pair of shorts that fit properly , Cutter and Buck.  Yes i could find other pants and shorts but they either needed pulling up round my neck or on my hips.

The problem with this is the shorts were over €80 and 3 tops came to €180 so i got a roasting when i got home.  The other thing wrong with it is the Ashworth tops are cotton, and i would like to take advantage of the materials like Dry Fit from Nike, Climacool from Adidas, the Nike top i got is great, its kind of perforated. (i have looked on-line for others but cant find them, its 100% polyester )

So to wrap this up i would go the other way, produce a line that fits us normal to bigger guys COMFORTABLY with hi tech materials and i would by your gear straight away.  And dont forget us bigger guys make up most of the market AND ANY BIGGER GUY WILL TELL YOU........................................ WE REMEMBER WHAT BRANDS FIT US PROPERLY !!!

[Double Bogey]

I will have to agree that a long or tall line would be helpful.  I am 6'8" and weigh 240 with wide shoulder long torso and average waist, and buying shirts is awful.  I tend to buy XXL for the shoulder width, but that makes the body and sleeves HUGE.  Most of the "athletic" fit sleeves are either banded or too tight (as mentioned above).  It drives me nuts to see some one on the course with their shirt untucked.  It looks sloppy but I know from experience that sometimes it cannot be helped.  Nike, Adidas, and UA need to add another inch or so to the length.  Hell I would pay an extra 5-10 dollars for that.  So if you start a line that has longer length out of "dri-fit" type materials I would be in for some... assuming the quality is good.  :)

[Golfisfun]

Unfortunately John, my aim is to not target the "average" golfer, as that would doom my product from the start.  The competition in that market is far too fierce for my little self to ever create profit.  As I have defined my goals, I want an automated, supplemental source of income (yes, this process can be automated).  Plus, it is something I would love to do.  So this requires me to target a niche market.  Since I am a young, athlete/golfer, I am looking to target this market, which I realize is a small fraction compared to the whole population of golfers.  But that is the point.  It is not so important that my market HAS money (such as your average country club golfer), but SPENDS money, which I believe describes young people (we love to buy stuff!).

I hope though, that maybe you could fit into my shirts if I make them!  May I ask what specific parts do not fit you right (ie. shoulders, too short, sleeves, etc.)?

Best,

Adam