Custom Ink: bulk-order printer. You design a shirt, place a 12-24-100 piece order, they print and ship. Good for one-time events.
Uniform suppliers (local or national): stock standard polos and smocks, will add your logo for a per-piece embroidery fee plus a minimum. 4-6 week lead time is common.
Bear Grips Pro Shops: ready-to-launch branded storefront. Sign up, upload logo, list pieces, share the link. Students order direct in their own size, ships in about a week.
Assume a school with 4 cohorts of 20 students each (80 students per year), needing 3 polos per student plus graduation cohort shirts:
| Path | Annual platform cost | Per-polo cost | Inventory risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Custom Ink (bulk uniform orders) | $0 | $24-$30 + $80 setup per design | School pays upfront, sizing waste |
| Local uniform supplier | $0 | $42-$55 + setup | School manages inventory |
| Bear Grips Pro Shops VIP | $708 ($59/mo) | $34.88 (each student pays direct) | None, no inventory |
For a school running ongoing cohorts, the Pro Shops path removes all sizing waste, eliminates the inventory closet, and lets students self-order their own kits. The monthly platform cost is offset by the savings on misordered sizes alone.
Bear Grips Pro Shops: Custom Apparel for Your Team. No Minimums. Free Shipping.Custom Ink wins when: you need 50+ identical shirts for a single one-time event (a major fundraiser, a city-wide barber expo).
Local uniform supplier wins when: you specifically need a non-standard cut (traditional barber smock, specialty cape) that print-on-demand catalogs do not carry.
Pro Shops wins when: you want an ongoing branded apparel program covering uniforms, kit, instructor polos, graduation shirts, and alumni sales without managing inventory or bulk-ordering.
Schools moving from bulk to Pro Shops usually switch for one reason: they are tired of managing the uniform inventory closet. The switch is straightforward:
Use leftover bulk inventory until it runs out, then never restock the closet again. The bulk vendor stays in your contacts list for the rare 50+ piece event.
If you only order uniforms once a year for a single combined intake and you do not want an ongoing shop running, bulk may still be the right call. The monthly platform fee on Pro Shops only pays for itself if you have ongoing orders. For a true once-a-year school with one big intake, a bulk vendor is the lower-friction answer.
Open a free account, list 3 uniform pieces, place a small order and compare to your last bulk invoice. See the math yourself.
Start FreeYes. Many schools use Pro Shops for ongoing uniforms and use Custom Ink for occasional 50+ piece event drops. The two do not conflict.
Sport-Tek, Bella+Canvas, Champion, and Gildan are all available through Pro Shops and are the same brands most national uniform suppliers carry. The garment is identical, only the print method and ordering flow differ.
Upload your logo as a transparent PNG to your Pro Shops dashboard. You do not need a print-ready vector or embroidery file, the system handles sizing per garment automatically.
For 20 students per year (around 60 uniform pieces plus graduation shirts), the VIP plan is borderline. The free plan with higher base prices is often the simpler starting point. Upgrade to VIP once your annual unit count justifies it.
Bear Grips Pro Shops