Plus Effort

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Direct answers about how we work, what we make, and how to start. If something's missing, email hello@pluseffort.com.

Getting Started

How do I request a quote from Plus Effort?

Fill out the quote form on our site, or email Kevin or Scott directly. We respond within one business day.

The fastest path is the Request a Quote form. Tell us what you're outfitting, rough roster size, and your timeline. Kevin or Scott will personally respond within one business day to set up a conversation.

Who does Plus Effort work with?

High school and prep school athletic programs, collegiate athletic departments, and club and youth athletic programs.

We work with programs and organizations that want premium custom apparel and personal service. Most of our work is with high school and prep school athletic programs across Virginia. We also partner with collegiate athletic departments and club and youth programs including travel ball, AAU, and college club sports.

Do you work outside of Virginia?

Yes. Virginia is our home market, but we ship and serve programs across the country.

Our sales team is based in Charlottesville and most of our current work is with Virginia programs. But there's no geographic limit. If your program is a good fit for what we do, we'll work with you regardless of where you're based.

What's the first step if we want to work together?

A fifteen-minute conversation with Kevin or Scott. No pitch deck, no forms to fill out first.

We start every relationship with a direct conversation. Tell us about your program, what you need, and what hasn't worked with past vendors. By the end of the call, you'll know if we're a fit, and we'll know what to put in a proposal.

Can Plus Effort outfit an entire athletic department?

Yes. Department-level outfitting across every sport is our highest-value offering.

We work with athletic directors who want one partner across every sport instead of ten vendor relationships. You get consistent quality, consistent service, and consistent brand identity across your entire department. One proposal, one standard, one point of contact.

Our Process

What's the process for ordering custom team uniforms?

Conversation, custom proposal, mockup approval, production, delivery. Usually three to six weeks end to end.

Step one is a conversation to understand what you need. Step two is a proposal with specific brand, fabric, and decoration recommendations. Step three is mockup approval, where you see exactly what you're getting. Step four is production and delivery directly to your facility.

Do I see mockups before anything is produced?

Yes. You approve every mockup before a single stitch is sewn.

No work enters production without your explicit sign-off. You see digital mockups of every piece, with the exact colors, logos, and decoration methods specified. If something looks wrong, we revise. We don't start cutting fabric until you say yes.

Can I make changes after approving a design?

Before production starts, yes. Once items are in decoration, changes become a new order.

We hold your approval as the green light for production. Small tweaks caught quickly are usually accommodated without issue. Structural changes after decoration has started become a separate order since the materials are already committed.

How is my order delivered?

Direct to your facility, quality-checked by hand before it leaves us.

Every order ships directly to your school, athletic facility, or wherever you tell us to send it. Before it leaves, it gets a hand quality check. If something is wrong when it arrives, we fix it, no charge, no argument.

What happens if a uniform arrives damaged or with an error?

We replace it. No forms, no account manager, no charge.

Mistakes happen in custom production. When they do, you call or email Kevin or Scott directly and we fix it. We replace damaged or incorrect pieces at no cost to you, usually with a faster turnaround than the original order.

Products & Customization

What decoration methods do you offer?

Screen printing, embroidery, tackle twill, heat transfer, and sublimation.

We use all the major decoration methods and we match the method to the product. Screen printing for high-volume spirit wear. Embroidery for premium pieces like coaching polos. Tackle twill for jerseys. Heat transfer for complex multi-color graphics. Sublimation for performance fabric with all-over designs.

What's the difference between screen printing and embroidery?

Screen printing is ink on fabric, best for high-volume. Embroidery is stitched thread, best for premium.

Screen printing lays ink on the surface. It's cost-effective at volume and handles vivid colors on tees, hoodies, and spirit wear. Embroidery stitches thread directly into the fabric for a textured, premium finish. It's the right choice for polos, jackets, caps, and anything that needs to feel expensive.

When should I use tackle twill versus heat transfer?

Tackle twill for jerseys and letter jackets. Heat transfer for complex multi-color graphics.

Tackle twill is layered fabric pieces stitched onto the garment, the classic look for athletic jerseys, varsity letter jackets, and numbered uniforms. Heat transfer uses printed vinyl or dye pressed into the fabric, ideal when the design has intricate detail or gradient colors that twill can't replicate.

What brands do you carry?

Nike, Under Armour, Adidas, Augusta, Holloway, and Champion are our primary partners.

We partner with the most respected athletic apparel brands in the category through our print vendor relationships. The brand mix we recommend depends on your sport, climate, budget, and what you're outfitting. We only stock what we'd put on our own teams.

Can you match our school colors exactly?

Yes. We match to Pantone specifications or to physical color samples you provide.

Color consistency matters. If your school has specific Pantone colors documented, we match to those. If not, send us a physical sample of the color you want and we match to it. Every subsequent order will hit the same color, so your gear looks consistent year over year.

Pricing & Minimums

How much do custom team uniforms cost?

Most full uniform orders fall between $60 and $150 per player, depending on sport, fabric, and decoration complexity.

Football uniforms cost more than basketball jerseys. Performance fabric costs more than cotton blends. Tackle twill decoration costs more than screen printing. We give you a specific per-unit price in your proposal so you can plan your budget against actual numbers, not ranges.

Is there a minimum order size?

No hard minimum. Larger orders earn better per-unit pricing, but nothing is gated behind a number.

Some national vendors won't take your call unless you hit a dollar threshold or a unit count. We don't operate that way. Smaller orders cost more per unit than larger ones because of the math of custom production, but we'll work with you at any scale that makes sense for your program.

Do you offer discounts for athletic departments ordering across multiple sports?

Yes. Department-level orders get better pricing across every sport.

When we outfit an athletic department, we're producing more volume and sharing setup costs across sports. Those savings pass through to you in the form of better per-unit pricing. Department-wide proposals are almost always cheaper per unit than individual sport proposals.

How does Plus Effort pricing compare to national vendors?

Competitive on price, better on service. We're not the cheapest option, but we're the most accountable one.

Big national vendors win on raw volume pricing when comparing identical SKUs. What they can't match is the service: a direct line to the founder, faster turnaround on problems, and actual accountability when something goes wrong. The full cost of custom apparel includes the cost of delays and hassles. We're cheaper on that math.

Yes. Send us what you have in any format and we'll vectorize, clean up, or refine it.

Logos come to us in every possible state: vector files, old JPGs, scanned printouts, screenshots. We take whatever you have and produce production-ready artwork. If your current logo needs a refresh, we'll tell you honestly and recommend changes. We don't force redesigns, but we don't rubber-stamp bad files either.

Timelines & Logistics

How long does it take to get custom uniforms made?

Three to four weeks for custom decorated apparel. Five to six weeks for full uniform sets.

Those timelines start from the moment you approve your mockups, not from when you first call us. Production and decoration take the bulk of that time. We tell you the exact date your order will ship before you commit, and we hit those dates.

How far in advance should we order for a new season?

Eight weeks before your first game for uniforms. Six weeks for sideline and travel gear.

Order early and you get a calm production timeline, no rush fees, and room for revisions. Wait until the week before season opener and you're into rush-fee territory if we can accommodate the order at all. Eight weeks out is the sweet spot for uniform orders.

Do you offer rush orders?

Sometimes. We tell you honestly whether we can hit your date before you commit.

Custom production has real physical constraints. We can compress timelines by paying rush fees to our decorators and prioritizing your order in the queue, but there's a point where the math doesn't work. If you need something fast, call us and we'll tell you the truth about whether it's possible.

Can you deliver to our school directly?

Yes. We ship directly to your athletic facility, school address, or wherever you specify.

Most orders ship to a single address of your choosing: the school, the athletic department office, a coach's facility. We can also split shipments if you need uniforms to one location and spirit wear to another. Shipping is included in our proposal pricing. The number on your quote is the number you pay.

Do you handle reorders for new players mid-season?

Yes. Reorders ship faster than original orders because the artwork and specs are already locked.

New players transfer in. Jerseys get damaged. Reorders are a normal part of the season and we build for them. Because your artwork, colors, and specs are already on file, reorder turnaround is usually one to two weeks instead of the original three to six.

About Plus Effort

Where is Plus Effort located?

Charlottesville, Virginia.

We're a Charlottesville-based company. Our primary market is Virginia and the surrounding region, though we serve programs nationally when the fit is right. Being local means our co-founders can show up in person at your program when it matters.

Who founded Plus Effort?

Kevin Badke and Scott Reinen, two Charlottesville operators with deep athletic and business backgrounds.

Kevin coaches football at St. Anne's-Belfield School and founded the local nonprofit Man in the Glass. Scott has coached youth baseball for twelve years and spent his career building growth programs for media companies and venture-backed startups. Both of them will know your name and answer your emails personally.

How is Plus Effort different from BSN Sports?

Direct founder access, faster turnaround, and accountability when something goes wrong. Not a call center.

BSN is a great operation at national scale. What they can't offer is the thing that matters most to a lot of programs: a direct phone number to the people actually running the company. With Plus Effort, the founders handle your account. When there's a problem, you're not routed through tiers of account managers. We fix it ourselves.

How is Plus Effort different from SquadLocker or similar team-store platforms?

SquadLocker is self-service e-commerce. We're a full-service apparel partner with custom proposals and personal support.

Team-store platforms work well for programs that just want a link to send parents. We work with programs that want a partner across the whole operation: uniforms, sideline gear, coaching kits, and branded departmental apparel, all custom-proposed and personally managed. Different model, different fit.

What makes Plus Effort a premium apparel partner?

Personal service, quality brand partnerships, and founders who've lived in locker rooms.

Premium doesn't mean expensive. It means the service and the product both work. We source from the best brands in the category, decorate with precision, and back every order personally. When a coach calls Plus Effort, they get a founder, not a ticket number.

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