Collecting and organizing t-shirt orders can be a complicated and time-consuming task. Thankfully, there are free solutions you can use to avoid the hassle of printing paper order forms, tracking down missing information, and deciphering handwriting.
If you don't quite need a fully functional online store, JotForm provides an easy and automated way to keep track of orders which can greatly reduce the stress of getting your team or group outfitted with custom apparel.
Consider setting up an order form in JotForm if you need to:
- Set up a apparel pre-order for an event, club, trip or group.
- Collect custom information like name and number.
- Get an accurate size breakdown.
- Place orders for garments when you don’t have room for extra inventory.
Benefits
- Submitted information is automatically saved in JotForm
- No more paper forms
- Easy to provide photos of your design and links to other important information
- Easily share your form link via email, website and social media
Follow these steps to create your t-shirt order form:
1. Create Your Account
Browse to JotForm, click or tap "Sign Up" to create your free account. Once your details are submitted, you may need to verify your email address.
2. Create Your Form
Once logged in, you can click or tap "Create Form" to start from scratch. To jump-start the process, we've also created a reference form you can use to get started. You may need to browse to https://www.jotform.com/myforms/ to start editing the form.
For ease of demonstration, we will be referring to the sample form throughout the rest of this guide.
3. Fill in the Details
Give the form a descriptive title and then fill in the description section with information about when orders are due, product information, and who will be distributing the orders once they are complete.
4. Determine What Information You Need
We've included some basic information in the template from step 2 including name, email, phone, and address. You may decide that you only need name and email. You can choose to require information or let it be optional.
5. Set Up Products
This is where the power and simplicity of using JotForm become apparent. They provide a simple to use and sophisticated product creator that you can use to add product options like size and quantity.
Click or Tap the Products List icon to configure your products. In the template we've provided, each of the products is already set up with a quantity and size option.
5a. Configure Products
Start by clicking or tapping the edit icon to modify the product settings.
Here you can modify the price, add or update the product images (to show the back or side).
When you work with us, we're happy to provide product images/mockups for you to use in setting up your order form.
With the Product Settings sidebar still open, click or tap "Options"
From there, select the edit icon on the Size option. Quantity can be left as-is in most cases.
Let's say that this particular shirt is available in S-3XL, you would update those options here accordingly.
If you have questions on which sizes are available in a particular style, just let us know.
In many cases, larger sizes (2XL+) cost more than XS-XL
Thankfully, there is a quick way to set up special pricing per size option. Turn on the "Special Pricing Per Option" slider and set pricing.
If you wanted to sell this particular shirt at $10, set each option XS - XL to 10 and then XXL to 12.
Keep in mind that we charge 6% Michigan Tax (unless you have a tax exemption)
To account for this automatically, you can select the Tax option in the Product List settings and set a 6% tax rate.
*If you are outside of the state of Michigan, you do not need to add tax.
6. Share Your Form
Once your product options are configured and you've verified the form is working as expected, you're ready to start sending it out for responses. You can send your form via email, Facebook, or Twitter, or get a shareable link for other platforms (like Mailchimp) or embed it directly on your website.
Click or tap "Publish" at the top of JotForm to get the link to your form and other options for getting your form out in the world.
7. Collect Responses
As orders come in, you will automatically receive an email with each submission. JotForm also stores the information in a Spreadsheet that you can use once all orders are collected to get an export of everything.
At the top left of JotForm, select the dropdown to the right of "Form Builder" and select "Tables" to view all submission data. Click or tap "Download All" to get a file that can be sent directly to us for use in creating your invoice.
Pro Tips:
We recommend allowing up to 2 weeks for your ordering window which encourages your group to get their orders in sooner than later. Keep in mind that our production time may impact when orders can be distributed.
We charge 6% state tax on the final invoice if you are located in Michigan (unless you have a tax exemption).
Extra Credit 1: Set Up Additional Email Notifications
As mentioned, JotForm automatically sends you an email when someone submits an order. You can also set up an email that goes to the customer once they click "Submit" with order details and any other information you want to include.
At the top of JotForm, click or tap "Settings" and then "Emails." Once there, you can select "Add an email" and then choose "Autoresponder Email." Keep in mind that you must have an email address field on the form in order for this to work.
Extra Credit 2: Collect Payment
If you want to avoid the hassle of having to collect cash or checks, you can set up JotForm with a payment processor (think PayPal, Stripe, etc.) that allows you to accept credit cards.
Keep in mind that you will likely have to deal with processing fees. Good Ink is not responsible for any processing or transaction fees you incur as a result of handling orders this way. Free JotForm plans also limit the number of payment submissions (10 at the time of this writing) you can get in a month. See https://www.jotform.com/pricing/ for more information on upgrading.
