Many brands seek to produce custom caps to enrich their range of clothing, develop their notoriety or even enhance their image. Also, many artists, youtubers or personalities use merchandising to stand out and generate revenues.

But, finding the best solution to achieve the production of a quality custom baseball cap, at the best cost while respecting deadlines and requirements on all the details is not an easy task. Many factories or resellers seek to maximize their profit to the detriment of the customer rather than build a relationship of trust with the client and offer him the best possible product and thus, make him want to continue the collaboration for the next project.

To sell these custom made caps, these derivative products or these high-end advertising items, we introduce a unique method. So, how do you create your custom baseball cap ? Here is the procedure in 13 steps !

Of course, we recommend this method to our customers, to guide them in this experience and offer them our expertise. They thus benefit from our production knowledge and our graphic designers in order to develop the best possible product, very useful when it is the first project.

Today, our custom baseball caps are worn all around the world, and our customers are very proud of it. Do you want to join the adventure? Follow the guide down below 🙂

Guide: how to create your first Baseball cap ?

1️⃣ Idea and study of the custom baseball cap market

First step, as in most projects: validate the idea by benchmarking.

Each project is different, with varying objectives and targets. Keep in mind that caps, especially the baseball caps, have probably been the most worn textile accessory in the world for several decades. It is worn by almost all ages, one size fits all and it can fit everyone. It will then be necessary to find the distinctive elements of the cap to please your customers according to their different profiles.

2️⃣ Personalized Baseball Caps: Sourcing of suppliers

Now that the idea is clearer, we have to go find the partners who will make it happen. To develop our bespoke baseball cap offer, we spent years developing processes and establishing our teams on production sites. From fabric suppliers to the best manufacturers of metal or plastic fasteners or patches, we leave nothing to chance, to meet the technical and time constraints of all projects.

Thanks to our own production lines, we are not only able to offer an, almost, unlimited number of customization options but, also, optimized production times: we have created our own production processes and trained our teams on site to always be able to respond perfectly to all requests.

Take a look at our portfolio to see that we are able to respond to all customizations and this is only possible thanks to the total control we have over every stages of production.

3️⃣ Contacting

You have the idea, you have studied the market, you have selected different supplier to produce your custom caps, it is now time to contact them.

Before contacting, the most important elements to communicate to us ait seldom seems easy and we are well aware of itit seldom seems easy and we are well aware of itit seldom seems easy and we are well aware of itre the number of units desired, the detailed description of the cap, the graphic elements such as logos or patches in very high quality and also the choice of materials and other color codes for the different parts of the cap.

Of course, when we start this collaboration for the first time, understanding every aspect of the production process doesn’t seems easy and we are well aware of it. This is why our commercial and technical team is at your disposal to create with you the perfect cap that corresponds to your project, write a correct specifications and even make you graphic proposals to which you would not have immediately thought but that work extremely well in our experience. This is how Gold Headwear manages to differentiate itself from its competitors and see the number of its regulars clients increasing every year.

4️⃣ Study of supplier quotes

You have contacted several cap manufacturer companies, with their answers, you can study the production cost of your project and then choose your partner.

At Gold Headwear, you deal directly with a factory, we have taken the time to offer you different quotes based on the different volumes of your custom cap model. We have full control over our production lines, our raw material suppliers have been working with us for a long time and our production volume allows us to negotiate attractive prices. This allows us to offer very favorable rates for our customers, especially when it comes to a retail sale. Here, our role with our customers is therefore to offer the best price for each of their projects.

5️⃣ Prototyping your personalized cap

Your cap is now designed according to your requirements, by following the necessary technical sheets mentioned above. Before launching production, you must be sure that the model respects your vision and for that, the only real solution is the creation of a sample. We offer 3 separate options, the first consists of receiving a sample of a previous production that is as close as possible to your project, it’s free and it only takes a few days to receive this sample. The second option is to produce a tailor-made sample after the payment of your deposit, which is then free. The last option is to order a tailor-made sample only, which is then systematically billed.

6️⃣ Shooting, creation of the first visuals for teasing and communication

It is time to decline the identity of your brand with your new cap! To prepare its sale in advance, it is in your best interest to create photos, scenarios and attractive visuals. It’s up to you to find the right balance between the brand image that you want to convey, the role of the product in this image, and the feeling that you want to suggest to the customer who will wear it.

7️⃣ Presale of the custom baseball

Your cap is validated, you have the first visuals and it awaits for mass production. It is already possible to offer presales and pre-orders. For artists, magazines and fashion brands, it is a good way of bringing together their best customers and offering products in preview, for example. In any case, you will always have an interest in offering to pre-sell your models, it requires almost no investment from you to offer this to your customers and it allows you to create communication and preference among your customers.

8️⃣ Mass production of the personalized baseball cap

Now it’s time to start the machines! It’ll take around thirty days to mass produce your cap. This production time naturally depends on the volume of parts desired and their complexity. You will be kept informed of the various stages of production if you wish. Our production lines have also been designed to be monitored in real time: we constantly know where your model is on the production line and we try to keep our customers informed of this information.

In addition, our tailor-made production process allows us to integrate a quality control at each important step in order to save time and guarantee the best quality to our customers.

9️⃣ Next collection’s preparation

Ideally, in order to always have stock and have more time to think, it is interesting to prepare the next order as soon as possible. So, in parallel of the first production, we advise you to think and prepare the next season with us.

To follow the market trends but also the craze of your customers on specific model of cap, we can lead you and advise you on this new order. We will be proactive on shapes, colors, design, customization options, closures, material etc … Thanks to our experience, we are constantly aware of the next trends and we can therefore provide valuable advice for the development of your next models .

🔟 Delivery and reception of batches of personalized caps

Your personalized caps arrive. A final quality control is validated before shipment of course. Then, they leave Asia to arrive where you want. We take care to select our delivery partners according to the rates they apply, but also the areas served and the efficiency of the service. Whether by air (3 to 6 working days) or by sea (30 days), we provide you with a tracking number to find out where your order is. Delivery is part of the service offered by Gold HeadWear, and we want it to guarantee a service at the level of the overall experience.

1️⃣1️⃣ Communication & influencers

Important step: publicize the product, and activate the right communication levers.Today, brands have several way to communicate about a new product: social networks, newsletters, vidéo. To facilitate the highlighting of your new caps, you can call on influencers who have an impact on your audience (choose them well in relation to their community in terms of volume and also profiles). You can also display your custom caps with persons of interest or in specifically selected magazines. There is no shortage of channels, it is all a question of objectives and targets. Last option, more classic and direct: advertising. Instagram, facebook, google ads, pinterest etc…. you have the choice to push your new product to people who might be interested.

1️⃣2️⃣ Point of sale

Finally, comes the question of your cap’s distribution. Working with resellers or partner outlets allows you to sell in larger quantities to a wider audience and over a larger geographic area. In exchange, you will then have to negotiate your sale price, cut your margin to benefit from these locations in their distribution systems. They also make it possible to reduce the time of the “last kilometer”, the longest of the entire delivery process.

1️⃣3️⃣ Direct sale of your personalized baseball cap

If you have a reputation and a sufficient community, you can adopt another retail strategy. You can sell your caps directly, via your website or your social networks. You increase your margin, but you necessarily reduce the volume of people affected and therefore the potential sales.

You have created your custom baseball cap, and deployed your brand image with an original and qualitative product. And for a minimum of hassle, since we take care of everything. See you soon for your next model!