Choosing a Wholesale Jacket Supplier
By The Velocity Wear Team
Judge a jacket supplier on how specifically they answer, not on how quickly they discount. Ask for the shell fabric and weight, the lining, the decoration method and placement sizes, the minimum, the lead time from approval, and what a sample costs. A quote that names all of those can be compared. One that says only a price per piece cannot.
What should you ask before the first order?
- What exactly is the shell, the lining and the fill, with weights?
- Which decoration method is in the price, and at what finished size?
- What is the minimum per design, and does a second colourway count separately?
- How many working days is the build, and does the clock start at approval?
- What does a pre-production sample cost, and is it credited against the order?
- Which markets do you deliver to, and who is the importer of record?
None of those are awkward questions and all of them have short answers, which is the point. A supplier who deals with outerwear every week answers them without consulting anyone. The broader version of this checklist is in questions worth asking a manufacturer.
How do you compare two jacket quotes fairly?
Line the specifications up before the numbers. A softshell at one weight and a softshell at another are not competing products, and neither are two padded jackets with different fills. Then check what sits outside the per-piece figure: setup charges, label costs, sample fees, freight, duty. A quote that looks 10% cheaper and then adds freight and screen setup is not cheaper. Finally check the quantity band, because a price quoted at 250 pieces against a price quoted at 50 tells you nothing about either supplier. Our bands run from 50 to 99 up to 1,000 and over, reaching 35% off the 50-piece price at the top, and they are published on the pricing page.
Which answers should make you walk away?
Vagueness about fabric is the first. If nobody will tell you the shell composition and weight, the specification can change between the sample and the bulk and you will have no basis to object. Unwillingness to sample is the second, because it usually means the finished garment will not survive inspection. A lead time quoted from the day of enquiry rather than from artwork approval is a third, since it hides where the delay will actually appear. And anything presented as free that plainly costs money to make should prompt a question about where that cost has been moved to.
How do you test a supplier cheaply?
Order a sample and read the proof. £150 buys a finished garment in your specification, credited against the bulk order, and it tells you about stitching, zips, shade and branding in ten minutes of handling. The proof tells you something different but equally useful: whether the supplier reads a brief carefully and states placements in millimetres. A supplier who gets both of those right on a small commitment is a reasonable bet for fifty pieces and a good one for five hundred. Choosing the blank itself matters too, and how to choose blank garments for printing is a useful companion piece before you compare quotes on the wholesale jackets range.
