So if you are working with a clothing manufacturer or going to partner up with any clothing manufacturer, then you must be confused about “how do I talk to a clothing manufacturer”, or you might be thinking about what is the question to ask clothing manufacturers. Well, let me tell you one secret, the way you ask a question to your clothing manufacturer can be really helpful for your business as when partnering up with the clothing manufacturers, there are some critical questions that you need to ask a clothing manufacturer.
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Some strategic questions will help you know much about whether the clothing manufacturers you will partner up with are suitable for your business. It’s a kind of a challenging task to find clothing manufacturers and work with them. That’s why it is advised to pick up a couple of the clothing manufacturers and contact them, ask them several questions, and then shortlist your options that you think are best for manufacturing your clothing line or products.
You need to analyze what Is a clothing manufacturer and how many clothing manufacturers are there who meet your quality standards and whose sample look similar to the product you want to sell in the market because that will be the base of your business. Moreover, another you need to do is to match your budget and the cost estimation from the clothing manufacturers. This is important to work with a manufacturer that is friendly to your budget. Remember, the manufacturing costs vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so you need to have a good business model and clothing manufacturer by your side before you start things.
Are you facing problems in choosing the right clothing manufacturer? Don’t worry, and we have written a guide for that too. Read How to find a clothing manufacturer
This article mentions the critical questions you should ask the clothing manufacturer to spot the best fit for your clothing brand. So let’s dive into the topic.
To get the most information from the clothing manufacturers, here are some of the best questions you can ask your clothing manufacturers to get complete knowledge.
1. Can You Source Any Fabric For Me?
So the first thing you should know is that as a clothing brand you will be producing different types of clothes with extra fabric and features. So it’s critically essential for you to connect with a clothing manufacturer. Not every manufacturer is capable of sourcing any material for you. Suppose you are working with the clothing manufacturer and have a new design for producing a clothing line on rare clothing fabric. Now here, you need to ask your manufacturer if they can source that rare fabric for you, and if they don’t, you will lose the race here.
There are only few good manufacturers who have strong supply chain management, so they are able to source any type of fabric that you want. Here you need to find a clothing manufacturer that takes care.
2. Can You Make The Product Line That I Want?
Ask your options about what type of clothing line they can make. As a brand, you will be producing different kinds of dresses or clothing lines, so you should ask your clothing manufacturer if they can create the type of clothing you have designed or if they have previously designed the product. Let’s say that you will be selling jackets, so the best manufacturer for you here is the one who has previously worked on manufacturing the jackets.
3. What Are the Brands You Have Worked With?
This is an important question that you can ask the clothing manufacturers to know their industry experience. By asking this question, you will understand what clothing manufacturers have and which quality of work. If you are familiar with the brands, you can inspect their manufacturing quality.
You can also ask them for references for the brands they have worked with. After that, you can research these brands like how their business is going and a lot more. A clothing manufacturer that has worked with a famous brand you already know is a plus point for you to consider that clothing manufacturer.
4. Are they linked with 3rd party suppliers?
Let me tell you the difference between the direct manufacturers and manufacturers linked with 3rd party suppliers. The direct manufacturers are the ones who source the fabric and needful things by themselves. While on the other side, the clothing manufacturers that are linked with the 3rd party supplier hire someone else to source that fabric, which increases prices and complicates the process by involving several other risks and dependencies.
So you should ask the clothing manufacturer if they are linked with any other 3rd party supplier. If they are not, that’s a plus for you because such clothing manufacturers will cost you less than the 2nd type of clothing manufacturer.
5. Do you provide tech packs and sample development?
Tech pack and sample development is an essential element in the clothing industry. The tech pack is the graphical file you receive from the clothing manufacturer. It contains the visual representation of your product, its sizing details, fabric details, measurements, features and functions.
So you can ask them if you provide the tech pack before manufacturing the product in bulk. Moreover, another thing that makes the process simple is the sample development. You can ask for one or multiple samples of your products before getting started with the bulk manufacturing. Sample development is beneficial for you as it helps you have a physical look and touch over the product you will be getting in the larger quantity.
Learn more about How To Find Clothing Sample Maker
6. When can I get my delivery?
Clothing manufacturers might not be able to answer an accurate date for order delivery, but they can provide a date for a sample product. Once the sample has been approved from your side, they will be able to give you a date by which your whole manufacturing will be done.
7. Can you provide a cost estimation?
Cost estimation can give a proper idea of how your product manufacturing will cost you with any manufacturers. As we mentioned earlier, the cost can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, so you discuss the details with different manufacturers and then go with the manufacturer that best suits your budget.
Remember to provide all the technical details like designs, fabric to be used, printing methods and development instructions to the manufacturer before asking themabout thecost estimation.
8. What language do you speak?
Language is an essential factor that you should mention. If you work with international clothing manufacturers, you will be conveying your idea through communication. Therefore, it’s best if you both speak the same language. It will make your process of conveying the product idea easier.
Having the same language make things a lot easier for you. So, don’t forget to add this question to your list.
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9. Terms of payment
It’s better to take all the details in the first call, so you should also ask what the payment methods they work on are. There are a huge number of clothing manufacturers that operate on advanced models. Initially, they require a bit of amount to do sample development and tech pack designing, while the more significant part of the payment needs to be paid at the time of bulk order delivery.
So, clothing manufacturers work on different models. Some require more than a little amount from you at the initialization of manufacturing. So you can ask and select what’s best for you.
10. How do handle mishaps and claims
The primary object of the tech pack and sample development is to check if the product is right according to the needs of the customer or not. Clothing manufacturers send you the samples to have the physical creation in your hand. By having the product in your hand, you will be able to look details of your product.
A trait of good manufacturers is a tech pack sample development process. They can work over your product until you get it right according to your needs.
11. What is your Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ)?
The Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ) refers to the minimum number of pieces you can order from the clothing manufacturers. Suppose that you are a startup and don’t have much budget. In this case, you will need a manufacturer who can provide a minimum amount of product which will be more suitable for you in terms of costs.
You must know the difference between wholesaler, manufacturer, and agency. The wholesaler is someone who buys clothes from manufacturers in bulk quantities and then sells them further.
The manufacturer manufactures products based on the brands and customers’ needs and deals directly with them. If you are a startup brand, manufacturers are a good option.
While on the other side, the retailer or the clothing agency is the one who acts as a middle man between the clothing manufacturers and brands and manages the relationship between them.
If you are emailing the clothing manufacturer, you must mention a couple of points in your . Here are the following that you should include in your .
For a detailed guide on emailing a clothing manufacturer, visit here.
In this article, we have put all the questions to ask clothing manufacturers. Moreover, we have added an additional section that informs you of how to a clothing manufacturer properly. We hope his article will be helpful for you.
Welcome to part two of the Is It a Match? blog series! In part one, we covered how to find a clothing supplier for your boutique. In this blog, we’ll teach you the top 10 questions to ask your clothing manufacturer or wholesaler before contracting with them.
These questions will not only help you vet potential suppliers to see if they meet your needs, but they might also get you thinking about the small logistics that sometimes get forgotten when you’re stocking your online store or boutique.
Before your supplier discussion, you’ll want to make sure you have a clear understanding of their services. Ask them up front if they’re a clothing manufacturer or factory, a wholesaler, or an agency that manages client relationships with multiple clothing manufacturers and wholesalers.
Every business operates at a certain capacity. Get to know whether the clothing factory or wholesale supplier you contacted has the capacity to fulfill your first order and possibly even maintain and grow an ongoing relationship with your boutique business. Forming good relationships with factories and suppliers takes time, so make sure your prospects actually have the bandwidth to build that relationship from the outset.
Some clothing manufacturers create handbags, belts, trousers, dresses – you name it, they’ll do it; some wholesalers have an inventory that may include even a meager supply of every product type. However, finding out what types of products each factory or wholesaler mainly produces or specializes in will give you insight into whether their experience meshes with your needs. If your designs mainly serve plus-size females, it won’t make sense to go with a loafer manufacturer or a supplier with a sparse women’s wear inventory.
If you decide to manufacture or buy inventory from overseas, it will be helpful to know who will be handling your order or pattern, and if they are comfortable with your spoken and written language. Someone who has a good grasp on the language you’re using to communicate your order and your pattern designs will be less likely to misinterpret specialty instructions included with your design order.
Most wholesale suppliers and clothing manufacturers have a minimum order quantity unless you’re working with a resource like MakersValley that lets designers produce clothes in any quantity. That’s fairly unique. Make sure that you find a manufacturing or supply partner whose minimum order quantity fits your needs and doesn’t leave you with extra, unsellable inventory taking up your precious shelf space.
A lot of factories and wholesalers give bulk discounts so that as the quantity of your request goes up, the price per unit goes down. While it might not be realistic to ask how much a “skirt” or “denim jeans” costs (that’s too broad), asking for a range of product costs per unit and order quantity might give you a better idea of the investment you can expect to make.
Does your manufacturer or wholesaler want the full payment up front or in parts? Every shop has a different way of doing business, so find out what your options are before signing onto any type of contract.
Everyone’s business has a dream timeline, a realistic timeline, and a worst case scenario timeline. Make sure that you get a realistic expectation of the turnaround time your supplier will need to create your designs so that you can accurately plan your store’s year.
This question is easy to miss, but you should absolutely factor shipping costs into your sourcing equation. Most wholesalers and clothing manufacturers outsource their shipping to freight or shipping companies like DHL or FEDEX. Ask what yours will do, and find out how active a role you’ll need to have in setting up the final shipping of your product from the supplier to you. Some manufacturers provide their services to designers through platforms like MakersValley that take on an active role in arranging the shipping of the product from the manufacturer to fashion designer.
Most clothing factories will have some general guidelines in place to address defective products. They’ll frequently have staff onsite to check your products in the factory, but with wholesale, quality assurance can be more unpredictable.
These are our top need-to-knows, but what are yours? If you have any additional checklist questions that have helped you to evaluate manufacturers and wholesalers, don’t be shy! Share your advice in the comments.
Guest Blog Courtesy of Makers Valley, an online B2B service platform that matches Boutiques & Designers with over 150+ Italian apparel Manufacturers & Artisans, with no minimum orders, no markups (pay factory price), and a dedicated account manager to guide you through the manufacturing process.
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