Choosing a Wholesale Denim Jacket Supplier
By The Velocity Wear Team
Judge a denim jacket supplier on what they will put in writing: the minimum, the fabric specification, the decoration method, the production window and what happens if the run is wrong. A per-piece number on its own tells you nothing, because two quotes can differ by a third and describe entirely different garments. Ask the specification questions first and the price question last.
What should you ask before the first quote?
Six things, and they take one email. What is the minimum, and does it apply per design or per order? What fabric and weight is the jacket, and is it rigid or washed? Which decoration methods can they run in house? How long is production, and is that counted from enquiry or from artwork approval? What does a sample cost, and is it credited? And where do they deliver? Answers to all six let you compare anything that comes back. Our own positions are set out on the wholesale denim jackets page and the pricing page, and the general version of this checklist is in questions worth asking a manufacturer.
How do you compare two quotes fairly?
Normalise them before you look at the totals. Put both onto the same fabric weight, the same decoration at the same size, the same labels, the same quantity and the same delivery point. Then work out the cost per jacket landed at your address including freight and duty, not the cost per jacket leaving a factory. Differences that looked enormous frequently vanish at that point, and occasionally the cheaper quote becomes the expensive one. Check which quantity the price refers to as well: a figure quoted at five hundred pieces is not comparable to one quoted at fifty, and the gap between bands can reach 35%. Ask every supplier to quote the same quantity, in the same currency, so you are reading one variable rather than four.
Which answers should worry you?
Vagueness about the fabric is the first warning. A supplier who will not state a weight and a finish is leaving themselves room to substitute. A production window quoted from enquiry rather than from artwork approval is a second, because it makes the schedule meaningless. A minimum that moves depending on how keen they are is a third: it suggests the number was never based on setup cost. And any reluctance to supply a paid sample before a fifty-piece commitment should end the conversation, since the sample is the only proof available. The case for that stage is made in our sampling guide.
What does a good supplier ask you?
This one is underrated. A supplier who takes the order seriously will ask what the jacket is for, who wears it and in what conditions, because those answers change the fabric recommendation. They will ask for the artwork early rather than at the end. They will ask about the size breakdown before quoting a schedule. And they will tell you when what you have asked for is a bad idea, which is more valuable than agreement. Silence on all of those, followed by a fast low number, usually means somebody is quoting a garment rather than solving a problem.
Ask what happens when something goes wrong, and listen to how specific the answer is. Every manufacturer produces the occasional flawed piece, and the difference between suppliers is not whether faults occur but what is done about them. Somebody who describes their quality check, tells you what counts as a defect and explains how a short or damaged delivery is resolved is describing a process. Somebody who says it never happens is describing a sales pitch. Ask the question early, while you are still an enquiry rather than an invoice, because the answer is more candid then.
