How to prepare a vintage football shirt sourcing brief

A useful sourcing brief says which football shirt you want, which requirements are essential and what alternatives you would consider. Add size or measurements, acceptable condition, budget with currency and delivery country. Mark missing information as “to confirm”. This gives you a way to compare candidates with your goal, without mistaking a similar reference for an item you have decided to buy.

1. Identify the shirt you want

Record the team, season and kit: home, away, third or another version. Include a photo or link and explain what it shows: your target design, a particular detail or a listing that is no longer available. A reference image does not establish that an item is still for sale.

State whether you want a shirt made during the original period or would consider a later reissue. Record name, number and patch preferences separately. If the year or version is uncertain, keep that question in the brief instead of assuming the reference caption is correct.

2. Separate essentials from alternatives

An alternative should reflect your own decision. You might accept another label size only if the measurements work, while ruling out any different season. You do not need to relax every requirement. Use this blank table to state each limit and when you would review another option.

Detail	Must have	Alternative I would consider
Team, season and kit	______	______ / none
Version and print details	______	______ / to confirm
Size or measurements	______	Only if: ______
Condition and accessories	______	I would accept: ______

If few options appear, reconsider one condition at a time and retain the others. “Show me this alternative too” expands what you want to examine; it does not authorise buying it.

3. Explain your fit and condition requirements

Alongside label size, share measurements from a shirt that fits as you want: pit-to-pit width and length in centimetres, with their measurement points. Compare garments using the same method. The vintage shirt measurement guide explains how to prepare this reference without relying on the size letter alone.

For condition, replace “good” with what you would accept and what you would reject. Separate fabric, crest, sponsor and nameset; acceptable wear in one area may not be acceptable in another. Use the condition recording guide. If an important area has no photo, mark it as undocumented.

4. Define budget coverage and destination

Give a range, its currency and whether it covers one shirt or several. Say whether it is for the item alone or should cover delivery to your country. When comparing proposals, identify what each includes across these cost groups:

• The item: seller price and delivery within China, where applicable.
• The service: agreed sourcing or purchase-assistance charges.
• Checks: arrival checks and an external assessment, if agreed.
• Delivery: packing, consolidation, international shipping and applicable destination charges.

Include the delivery country from the start. If a date matters, explain it so feasibility can be checked; stating it does not confirm a deadline. Amounts that depend on packing or other unresolved details should remain labelled as estimates or pending, rather than being presented as a confirmed total.

5. Compare each candidate before deciding

Keep each listing and its answers together so photos of similar shirts do not get mixed. The photos to request before buying checklist helps complete the evidence for a particular candidate. Then summarise your decision with a record like this:

Candidate or link	Matches / still to confirm	My next decision
______	Requirements met: ______	Request more information: ______
______	Open details or differences: ______	Consider alternative / reject: ______
______	Item and costs reviewed: ______	Purchase confirmation pending: ______

Distinguish a seller’s statement, what a photo shows and an external assessment. If you need that assessment, agree its provider and scope. Before authorising a purchase, confirm the exact item, differences you accept, charges and available terms. Finding a candidate does not confirm availability or resolve unknown details.

6. Take your brief into the conversation

Open the shirt sourcing chat template, copy it and complete it in WhatsApp or Telegram with your references and priorities. Leave unknown details as “to confirm”. Review the message and send it yourself when ready; there is no website form to complete.

Read about the jersey sourcing service for the scope agreed before starting, including what happens if no suitable option appears. Sharing a brief starts the conversation; purchasing and shipping require their own confirmations.

7. Sources and scope

This guide responds to specific problems in three public discussions: an Italian club shirt request combines measurements, unacceptable defects and shipping costs; a search for less common national-team kits raises version, size and destination obstacles; and a Boca supporter seeks a shirt they missed, but the size of a suggested option does not work.

These are individual experiences reviewed during research, not evidence of current stock, current seller policies or general demand. The tables are original editorial tools for organising a search; they do not describe completed orders or authenticate shirts.