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· 4 min read
How to Collect Shirt Sizes for a Group
Manesh Jayawardhana
CIO & Co-founder
Sixty-four people, one order, and a reorder for four shirts three weeks later that costs more per shirt than the original run of sixty-four.
Group shirt orders fail in predictable ways, and all of them are cheaper to prevent than to fix.
Collect names with sizes
The most common mistake, and it makes everything afterwards harder.
A list of sizes with no names cannot be chased. You know forty-one people replied and sixty-four are coming, and you have no way to work out which twenty-three to ask.
Names also let you resolve the inevitable problems: someone gave a size for their child rather than themselves, someone replied twice, someone changed their mind. All of that is trivial with names and impossible without.
Cuts size differently and must be tallied separately
Unisex and fitted shirts are cut differently. A medium in one is not a medium in the other, and the difference is large enough that people order a size up or down depending on which they are getting.
If you offer both, collect them as separate options and tally them separately. A combined count of “22 mediums” split across two cuts produces an order where a share of the shirts fit badly, and those are the ones that go unworn.
Youth sizes are a third category with its own scale entirely.
| Cut | Tally separately? |
|---|---|
| Unisex | Yes |
| Fitted | Yes — different sizing |
| Youth | Yes — separate scale |
| Combined “22 mediums” | Meaningless |
Spares go on the middle sizes
Order 5 to 10% over, and weight the extras toward medium and large.
That is where late additions concentrate, because it is where the distribution is thickest. It is also where mis-sizing concentrates for the same reason — someone who ordered a medium and needed a large is a common swap, and having a spare large makes it a non-event.
Ordering spare extra-smalls and 3XLs is how people end up with unworn shirts and no medium for the person who turned up unexpectedly.
The economics support it: the marginal cost of five extra shirts in an order of seventy is small, and a reorder for five is priced as a tiny order plus setup.
Deadlines and non-responders
Set a deadline and state what happens after it. “Sizes by the 14th, anyone who has not replied gets a large” converts an indefinite chase into a decision.
Some people will not reply regardless of how many reminders are sent. A stated default is more respectful of your own time than a fourth reminder, and it is usually roughly right — large is the modal size in most adult groups.
For a group where getting it right matters more, a short list of non-responders and one direct message each is more effective than a group reminder, which everyone assumes is aimed at someone else.
Publish a size guide with the request
Sizing varies enormously between manufacturers, and asking people for a size without a reference produces guesses.
The printer supplies measurements — chest width and body length per size — and circulating those with the request costs nothing. People measure a shirt they already own and compare, which is far more accurate than recalling what size they usually buy.
That matters most at the ends of the range, where manufacturer differences are largest and where a wrong size is least likely to be wearable by someone else.
It also reduces the swap requests afterwards, which are the part of a group order that takes the most time and produces the most irritation.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Collecting sizes without names.
- Combining unisex and fitted into one tally.
- Ordering exactly the counted number.
- Spreading spares evenly across all sizes.
- No deadline, so the order waits indefinitely on four people.
How to do it with T-Shirt Size Collector
The T-Shirt Size Collector tallies and tracks who has replied.
- Collect names alongside sizes so non-responders can be chased.
- Tally each cut separately.
- Add 5 to 10% spares weighted toward medium and large.
- Set a deadline with a stated default for non-responders.
Other event tools are in the tools directory.
Frequently asked questions
How many spares should I order?
Around 5 to 10%, weighted toward medium and large. That is where late additions and mis-sizes concentrate, and a reorder for four shirts costs far more per unit than the original run.
Should I offer fitted and unisex?
If the group wants both, yes — but tally them separately. The two cut differently, and a combined count produces an order where a share of the shirts fit badly.
What about people who do not respond?
State a default with the deadline. A stated default is more respectful of your time than a fourth reminder, and large is the modal size in most adult groups.
Final thought
Collect names, not just sizes. Everything that goes wrong afterwards is fixable with names and unfixable without them.