Licensed College Products
Step into your college bookstore and you'll find a lot more than books. In fact, the books will probably be in the back, and up front, attractively displayed, will be about fifty different items with the college logo. Sweats, backpacks, wristbands, notebooks, t-shirts, ball caps – the list goes on.
Of course, you're going to want at least a few of these things. That is, in addition to the sweatshirt your parents went out and bought as soon as you got your acceptance letter. And the college wants you to have them. Besides demonstrating your school spirit, licensed college products bring in a lot of money for your school. This is a good thing. The more money they make by licensing the college logo, the less they have to raise tuition.
The thing is, the school makes money on licensed college products no matter where you buy them. So if the bookstore seems a little pricey, try going to amazon.com and searching for the name of your college. You'll be amazed at what comes up. And besides the stuff you can buy directly from Amazon (Auburn University duct tape, anyone?), you can find a link to your school's online store.
You can also find college conference items. Search for "college banners," for example, and you can choose from pennant sets for the Big Ten, ACC, Ivy League, SEC – pretty much every major conference. Start here and scroll down to find your choices: Big Ten Conference College Pennant.