Picking a Clothing Supplier: Salons
By The Velocity Wear Team
Judge a salon uniform supplier on four answers: what the minimum is and whether it is per design, how long production runs after artwork approval, what a sample costs and whether it is credited, and whether towels can go on the same quote. Our answers are 50 pieces per design, 10-15 working days, £150 credited against bulk, and yes.
What should a salon ask before placing a first order?
Ask how the minimum is counted rather than what it is. A supplier quoting a low headline number that turns out to be per size, or per colour, is quoting something different from a supplier whose minimum is per design with sizes mixed freely inside it. That single distinction changes what a quote means more than the per-piece figure does.
Then ask when the production clock starts. Any lead time quoted from the day of enquiry is a lead time that includes your own artwork decisions, which nobody can predict. A figure counted from artwork approval is one you can plan against. Our terms are on the salons and barbers page, with the full wholesale range alongside.
How do you compare two quotes honestly?
Put both on the same basis before you look at the numbers. Quantity, decoration method, number of print positions, whether a sample fee is included, whether delivery is in the figure and which currency it is quoted in. Invoicing runs in seven currencies here, and a quote converted at a different rate on a different day is not a like-for-like comparison.
Then check what happens as quantity rises. A discount of up to 35% is available as volumes increase, measured from the 50-piece price, and the tiers run 50-99, 100-249, 250-499, 500-999 and 1,000 plus. A quote that shows only one number tells you nothing about what a second site or a bigger team would cost. A longer list of questions sits in questions worth asking a manufacturer.
Which answers should make a salon pause?
Vagueness about fabric is the first. A supplier who cannot say what weight a tunic is, or what it is made of, is a supplier reselling something they have not handled. The second is a refusal to sample, or a sample offered at no cost with no explanation of how that works; a sample is a real garment made on a real machine and it has a real cost, which is why ours is £150 and credited rather than given away.
The third is silence on bleach and tint. Salon uniform meets chemicals that most branded clothing never sees, and a supplier who has run salon work will raise colour choice and staining before you do. If nobody mentions it, ask directly, then check the answer against what you find in towels for salons and spas.
Reply speed during quoting is the fourth signal, and it is free. A supplier who answers a detailed email within a day while they are still winning your business is showing you the best version of their communication. If that version is already slow, consider what it looks like in week two of a production run when something needs a decision from you by the end of the afternoon.
What should a good supplier ask you back?
A useful supplier interrogates the brief. How many people wear it, how often it is washed, what temperature, whether it goes near colour work, whether the logo has to match a sign or a website, and when the kit is needed on the floor. Those questions are how a quote turns into the right garment rather than the nearest one in the catalogue.
They should also be honest about what they cannot do. Towels, jackets, bottles and keychains are quoted per job here rather than carried at a published from-price, and saying so is more useful than inventing a number that changes at invoice stage. A supplier who quotes a firm figure before knowing the spec is guessing, and that guess is not in your favour.
