Frequently Asked Questions
Minimum order quantities, sampling, lead times, fabric, certification, payment and shipping — the questions buyers ask before placing a first order with a Chinese factory.
Ordering and quantities
What is your minimum order quantity?
300 pieces per style on stock fabric, mixed sizes. A custom knit or a custom dye lot typically requires around 1,000 pieces per colour because that is the mill's minimum for the fabric. Custom jacquard waistbands and printed packaging carry their own setup minimums, which we list in the quotation.
Can I place a small first order?
Yes. Around a third of our programmes start below 1,000 pieces per style. What matters more than the first order size is whether there is a realistic plan for a repeat, because development cost is amortised across the programme.
Do you produce sample quantities before a bulk order?
Always. A development or fit sample comes first, followed by a graded size set and a pre-production sample in the bulk fabric. No bulk cutting starts without a signed pre-production approval.
How is the price calculated?
By component: fabric consumption, labour operations, trims and packing, with the margin shown separately. That structure lets you see what a fabric upgrade, a smaller order or a different packing format actually costs.
Sampling and production
How long does a sample take?
A development or fit sample takes 5–7 working days after artwork and fabric are confirmed. A full graded size set takes 10–12 working days. Two fit revisions are included.
What is the bulk production lead time?
15–45 days from deposit and approved pre-production sample, depending on quantity, fabric availability and trim lead times. Repeat orders on an approved block usually run at the faster end.
How long does shipping take?
Sea freight 18–35 days depending on destination; air freight 9–13 days; express courier 3–5 days for samples. We quote both sea and air for every order so the decision can be made on cost versus date.
What causes delays?
Almost always late approvals rather than slow production. An unconsolidated sample comment, a lab dip approved two weeks after the fabric was due to be knitted, or a packing specification confirmed after cutting. We publish an approval calendar with the order so each decision has a date.
Fabric, fit and quality
Can you match a product we already sell?
Yes. Post us a production sample with your current size chart. We reverse-engineer the construction, benchmark the fabric weight and quote against the same specification before proposing any change.
What fabrics do you work with?
Combed and organic cotton, cotton/elastane, modal and micro modal, bamboo viscose, TENCEL™ lyocell, viscose, nylon, polyester, recycled polyester and blends, from 120 gsm to 420 gsm.
How do you control quality?
Five gates: incoming fabric inspection, cutting check, in-line inspection at 30% and 70%, and an AQL 2.5 final audit — plus a measurement report and photo documentation with every shipment.
Who owns the pattern you develop for us?
You do. Patterns, specifications and development created for your programme are not sold to another customer, and we will sign an NDA and exclusivity agreement for OEM programmes.
Payment, shipping and compliance
What payment terms do you accept?
T/T with 30% deposit and 70% against the copy of the bill of lading, L/C at sight, and PayPal for samples. Staged credit terms are available after a documented trading history.
Which Incoterms do you work on?
EXW, FOB Shenzhen or Yantian, CIF, CFR, DAP and DDP. Many buyers start on FOB and move to DDP once volumes justify a landed-price arrangement.
What certification can you supply?
OEKO-TEX Standard 100 fabric certificates, GOTS and GRS chain-of-custody documents, BSCI and Sedex social audit reports, and buyer-specific testing through SGS, Intertek or Bureau Veritas.
Can we visit or audit the factory?
Yes, at any stage, and you may appoint a third-party inspection company. Tell us the date when you place the order and we will schedule it alongside production so it does not add time to the shipment.
What buyers most often get wrong about a first order
First orders fail for a small number of predictable reasons, and almost none of them are about the factory’s sewing. The list below is the one we share with new customers before they place an order.
1 · Treating MOQ as a single number
Minimum order quantity is really the sum of component minimums: the mill’s fabric minimum, the elastic supplier’s minimum, the packaging printer’s setup quantity. A 300-piece style is possible when those components are stock items; 300 pieces of a custom knit is not. Ask which components set your minimum, and you will find where a small order can and cannot be made cheaper.
2 · Assuming sampling is the slow part
Sampling a garment takes days. Approving it is what takes weeks. Programmes that run late almost always have an approval bottleneck: comments arriving in three emails, a lab dip approved after the knitting slot has passed, a size chart change after the pattern was graded. A schedule that includes approval dates, not just production dates, is the single most useful document a buyer can keep.
3 · Specifying fabric by name rather than by behaviour
‘Micro modal’ describes a fibre and a structure, not a performance. Two micro modal knits at the same weight can differ by 30% in stretch and by a full size in shrinkage. Specify weight per square metre, stretch, recovery and the wash condition the garment has to survive, and the quotes you receive become comparable.
4 · Comparing unit prices across different specifications
A lower quotation is usually a lighter fabric, a shorter inseam, a lower-grade elastic, or a packing format that excludes something you assumed was included. Ask for the fabric weight, the elastic specification and the packing breakdown on every quote. Factories that answer those questions in writing are the ones worth comparing.
5 · Leaving compliance until the end
Care labelling, fibre composition, country of origin and testing protocols are decided at specification stage. Correcting them later means reprinting labels, re-packing cartons or re-testing a lot — all avoidable costs that fall on the buyer, not the factory.
Request a sample & pricing information
Send us your tech pack, target price or a reference sample — we reply with a quotation, a realistic lead time and a fabric recommendation within one working day.
- Free sampling plan & cost breakdown
- MOQ from 300 pcs per style
- Reply within 1 working day