Picking a Clothing Supplier: Offices
By The Velocity Wear Team
Judge an office clothing supplier on four things: what the minimum is per design, what the lead time is from artwork approval, whether a physical sample is available before bulk, and whether the quote covers decoration or adds it later. Two quotes are only comparable once all four are on the same basis, and most are not until you ask.
What should an office ask before placing an order?
Ask fewer, sharper questions. The useful ones are specific enough that a vague answer is obvious. Our corporate clothing page states our position on each, and the wholesale page sets out the minimums and tiers in full.
- 1What is the minimum per design, and does a second colourway count as a second design?
- 2How many working days from artwork approval to dispatch, and what sits outside that window?
- 3Is decoration included in the piece price, or charged as setup plus a per-unit rate?
- 4Can I have a physical sample before committing, and what does it cost?
- 5If I reorder in a year, will you still have this garment and this colour?
That last one separates suppliers who stock a stable range from those buying whatever is cheap this season. An office that plans to restock cares about it more than about the headline price.
How do you compare two quotes fairly?
Normalise them before you look at the totals. Put both on the same quantity, the same decoration method, the same number of print positions and the same garment weight, then add delivery to each. A quote that looks 15% cheaper often turns out to be a lighter garment with a setup fee arriving separately.
Then divide by something meaningful. Cost per piece is the obvious measure, but cost per wear is the honest one. A polo at a higher price that survives three years of weekly washing is cheaper than a thinner one replaced annually, and staff will wear it more willingly in the meantime.
Which answers should make you walk away?
Some responses tell you the job will go wrong before it starts.
- A refusal to quote a lead time in working days, or a turnaround promise that sounds impossible for a decorated garment.
- No physical sample offered on a first order, or a sample that cannot be produced on the actual garment.
- A price that moves after artwork approval for reasons that were foreseeable at quote stage.
- Vagueness about what the minimum covers, particularly whether sizes or colourways are counted separately.
- Claims about a product that cannot be evidenced, whether about performance, origin or environmental credentials.
Our list of questions worth asking a manufacturer goes further into the production side of that conversation.
How do you test a supplier without risking the whole budget?
Order the sample. £150, credited against the bulk order, buys you a finished garment plus a live demonstration of how the supplier communicates, how long they take to respond and whether the thing that arrives matches what was agreed. That last point is the real test, and it costs less than a day of anyone's time. The samples guide for offices covers what to inspect once it is in your hands.
Alternatively, start with the smallest genuine order you need. At 50 pieces the discount is at its lowest, rising to as much as 35% at the top tier, so a trial run costs more per piece than a committed one. For an office about to standardise its kit for several years, that premium is reasonable insurance.
Finally, check the practical fit with how your business operates. Delivery to the UK, the USA and Europe, invoicing in seven currencies and a documented specification on file all matter more to a multi-site office than a small difference in unit price.
Ask for the agreement in writing as a specification rather than as a price. A document naming the garment, the colour, the decoration method, the artwork dimensions and the quantity is what makes a disagreement resolvable and a repeat order straightforward. Suppliers who work this way tend to be the ones who deliver what was agreed, because the agreement exists in a form both sides can check.
