Merch tables have physics: limited space, volunteer staff, impulse buyers. Socks win at all three — if they are specified for the table.

Perceived value beats cost

A well-knitted pair reads as a real product, not a giveaway, and prices accordingly.

The margin per square inch of table beats shirts, and nobody has to guess a size across a crowd.

Packaging is the salesperson

Carded pairs hang and display themselves; banded pairs show the knit; boxes justify gift pricing.

Loose socks in a bin sell like loose socks in a bin.

Size bands simplify everything

Two or three shoe-size bands cover almost everyone and keep the table simple.

That is a stocking decision made at order time, not a table-day problem.

Do the maths before the run

Unit cost, table price, margin per pair — on the quote, before committing.

A fundraiser that cannot see its margin is not fundraising; it is gambling.