Program builder
The menu you build from
Every guest merch program is four decisions in a row: which items people will actually carry out, which decoration method each of those items deserves, how many stations you can realistically staff, and what happens to whatever nobody claims. These are the pieces those decisions get made from — apparel, headwear, totes, patches and promo, decorated by screen, DTF, UV DTF, embroidery or laser.
Working out the mix
Start from the guest rather than the equipment. Decide what you want people carrying out, then let each item choose its own method: a simple mark repeated across hundreds of pieces belongs to screen, full-color art and per-person names belong to DTF, structured caps and heavyweight fleece often read better in embroidery, and hard goods go to UV DTF or laser. Once the items are settled the station question mostly answers itself. A t-shirt bar anchors a program built on choice, fleece sits above it as the tier people work for, and totes sit underneath as the line nobody turns down.
Then model quantity against attendance instead of ordering to headcount. Uptake is never even across a mix — the cheap, size-free line clears close to the top of its range while the premium tier rarely does, and the gap between those two is where most merch budgets quietly leak. So we size each tier on its own, agree in advance what happens to anything unclaimed rather than discovering it at load-out, and staff to the queue your crowd will actually tolerate. Crew runs $250 an hour with setup and teardown included, travel outside Orange County, LA and San Diego adds a flat $900, and Local programs start at a $3,000 minimum. The method-by-item reasoning is unpacked further in the Answers hub.