Pro: Your athletes, arguably, NEED some supplements. The top performers need help with recovery, and most coaches recommend fish oil to their CrossFitters. Selling them from your gym helps with quality control: "They have to buy them SOMEwhere...."
Pro: You WILL make a bit of revenue, usually 20-30 percent over wholesale, with supplements on the low end and shirts on the higher.
Con: You taint the recommendation for supplements if you stand to gain financially. This varies by client, but if you have a clear vested interest in the sale of OmegaBowelBlast, it shadows the transaction. Your clients have been fooled before, after all.
Con: You tie up thousands of dollars in inventory costs.
While my recommendation will be shared another time, this great idea came from David Marshall of CrossFit Muskoka:
$1 from the sale of every retail item goes toward the purchase of new equipment for the gym. Dave takes a picture of the 'next big thing,' and posts it near his retail area. "Here's what we're working toward, and here's when we'll buy it!"
While it's likely true that you're doing the same thing, informally, Dave's idea reinforces the concept of reinvestment in the minds of his client. He's not just raking in profit: money paid by his clients is reinvested back into their experience. It's a good reminder of the closed environment of your gym: money spent here stays here.
He may or may not have a giant novelty thermometer set up.
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