Questions Worth Asking a Manufacturer Before You Order
By The Velocity Wear Team
Most first-time brands evaluate suppliers on price and responsiveness, which is understandable and insufficient. Price tells you about one order. What you actually want to know is how the relationship behaves over several — on consistency, on reorders, and on what happens the time something goes wrong, because eventually something will.
On minimums and quantities
- What is the minimum, and is it per design or per order? Per design is what determines how many things you can test.
- Are mixed sizes included inside the minimum, or is there a minimum per size? This changes the answer completely for a brand with a size range.
- What are the price breaks, and at what quantities? You want the tier table, not a single number.
- Is there a minimum on a reorder, and does it differ from a first order?
On lead time
Ask what the production lead time is and, crucially, what it is measured from. "Two weeks" means very different things measured from order placement, from payment, or from artwork approval.
Ours is 10 to 15 working days from artwork approval, before freight. The clause matters because approval is the step you control, and a lead time quoted from an event you cannot influence is not a commitment you can plan around.
Then ask separately about freight, sampling time, and whether a reorder of an approved design is faster than a first run. It should be, because the setup already exists.
On samples
Can you get a sample before bulk, what does it cost, and how long does it take? Is a size set available? Will the sample be produced the same way as the bulk run, or is it a one-off made by a different process?
That last question matters more than it sounds. A sample made differently from the production method is a nice object and a poor prediction.
On the garment itself
What is the fabric composition and weight in GSM? Is it combed ring-spun or open-end? Can you have the full measurement table across every size? What is the shrinkage after washing, and is the fabric pre-shrunk?
A supplier who answers those precisely knows their product. One who answers vaguely may still be fine, but you will be specifying into fog, and every ambiguity becomes their decision rather than yours.
On labelling — the one brands forget
Can you produce custom labels to my artwork, woven, printed or heat transfer? Can they carry the compliance content I need — bilingual fibre composition for Canada, country of origin and care for the US, a CA number or RN?
And when does that content have to be final? The answer should be at artwork approval, because labels are made during the run. A supplier who has not thought about this is a supplier who will surprise you.
On consistency across runs
How is colour specified and matched? Can a repeat run be cut from the same dye lot where continuity matters? Is the stitch file for an embroidered design retained and reused, or re-digitised each time?
These are the questions that separate a supplier for one order from a supplier for a brand. Consistency across runs is what makes a series of production orders feel like a product line.
On what happens when it goes wrong
This is the question people avoid because it feels awkward, and it is the most informative one. What happens if a run does not match the approved sample? Who assesses it, what evidence do you need, and what are the options?
You are not looking for a promise that nothing will go wrong. You are looking for a clear, unembarrassed answer, because a supplier who has a process for this has been through it before and a supplier who is uncomfortable with the question has not thought about it.
On the commercial terms
What currency will you be invoiced in? What is the deposit and when is the balance due? Is the price quoted delivered, and if so, does it include duty? Who is the importer of record?
Get all of that in writing before the order rather than discovering it when a shipment is at a border. Ambiguity in commercial terms is only ever expensive in one direction.
