Questions to Ask a Clothing Manufacturer
For an apparel brand vetting a factory before the first order. 29 questions on minimum quantities, sampling rounds, fabric sourcing and lead times, inspection standards, sizing consistency, cost breakdowns, payment terms, labeling, audits, and freight.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
What do you make most of? Tell me three styles that run through here every week.
Why ask it
Factories are specialized by machine and by habit: a knit T-shirt line is not set up for tailored outerwear or stretch swimwear. The regular production tells you what will come out well, regardless of what the capability list claims.
What's your minimum, and is that per style, per colorway, or per size?
Why ask it
A 300 piece minimum can mean 300 total or 300 per color, which is the difference between a viable first run and dead stock. Fabric minimums from the mill often sit underneath and are the real constraint.
How many units a month can you produce, and how full are your lines right now?
Why ask it
You want to be neither their largest customer nor their smallest. Being a rounding error means your order gets bumped when a bigger one arrives; being their whole book means their survival depends on you paying on time.
Is the sewing all done here, or is any of it subcontracted?
Why ask it
Subcontracting is normal and not a problem in itself, but undisclosed subcontracting is where audits and quality standards stop applying. Ask which operations go out, to whom, and whether those sites are inspected too.
What do you need from me to quote this? Will you work from a tech pack, or do you need a physical sample?
Why ask it
A factory that quotes from a sketch will price against its own assumptions and charge you for the difference later. Asking for graded specs, stitch details, and a bill of materials is a good sign, not an obstacle.
How many sample rounds are included, and what does each one cost and take?
Why ask it
Sampling is where the schedule usually goes wrong: two or three rounds at two to three weeks each, plus shipping in both directions, is common. Get the cost per round and whether sample charges are credited against production.
Can I supply my own fabric? If you source it, do I approve the mill and see lab dips?
Why ask it
Approving lab dips and a fabric handloom before bulk is how color disasters get caught cheaply. A factory that resists showing you the mill is protecting a margin on materials, which you should at least know about.
What are the fabric and trim lead times, and are they inside the production time you quoted?
Why ask it
Mills often need longer than the sewing itself, and zips, elastic, and custom labels are the classic hold-ups. If the quoted lead time excludes materials, the number you were given is not the date you will receive goods.
From approved sample to goods on a boat, how long, and what usually pushes that date?
Why ask it
The delays worth naming are national holidays, mill delivery, and the queue in front of you. A factory that has thought about it will mention a specific shutdown period. One that quotes the same lead time for every order has not planned yours.
How do you inspect finished garments? Every piece, or a sample, and against what standard?
Why ask it
Ask whether inspection is a stated sampling standard with defined accept and reject levels, or one person's eye at the end of the line. Also ask who inspects: an in-house team reporting to production has an obvious conflict.
What defect rate do you consider normal, and what happens to the pieces that fail?
Why ask it
A factory claiming zero defects is either not counting or not telling you. What matters is the threshold at which they remake, and whether rejected pieces are destroyed, sold locally, or quietly shipped to you at the bottom of the carton.
How do you keep sizing the same between this run and the next one?
Why ask it
Repeat customers notice size drift before you do. Look for measurement tolerances written into the spec, retained approved samples kept at the factory, and someone measuring against the graded chart rather than against last week's batch.
Can you break the unit price into fabric, trims, and labour?
Why ask it
A single number cannot be negotiated or checked, while a breakdown shows where cost sits and what changes if you simplify a detail. Refusal to itemize usually means the price includes a margin they would rather not discuss.
What are your payment terms, and what deposit do you need up front?
Why ask it
Deposits are standard and are also your only leverage: paying in full before inspection removes any reason to fix problems. Ask whether the balance falls due before shipment, on inspection, or on delivery, because that clause matters more than the price.
If the goods come out wrong, what do you do? Remake, discount, or refund?
Why ask it
Push for who pays freight in both directions, since on a small order return shipping can exceed the value of the goods. A clear remake policy in writing is worth more than reassurance in a call.
Can you handle labels, hangtags, care labels, and polybags, or do I supply them?
Why ask it
Trim sourcing sounds minor and stops shipments. Whoever supplies these owns the lead time, and if it is you, they need to arrive at the factory before sewing starts, not before the ship date.
Who's responsible for getting the fibre content and country of origin labeling right?
Why ask it
Labeling requirements differ by destination market and mistakes can hold goods at customs or force relabeling. You need the factory to confirm in writing which claims it is standing behind, and you should verify the rules for where you sell.
Who has audited this factory, and can I see the report? Could I visit, or send someone?
Why ask it
An audit within the last couple of years, with the report available rather than described, is the answer that counts. Willingness to accept a visit or a third-party inspector is the strongest signal you can get before money moves.
Which shipping terms do you quote on, and who books the freight and clears customs?
Why ask it
A price that sounds low often ends at the factory gate, leaving you with freight, duty, and a customs broker. Ask for the quoted term by name so you can compare quotes on the same basis and work out the true landed cost per unit.
Can you put me in touch with two brands you make for who are around my order size?
Why ask it
References at your volume matter, because a factory's behavior toward a 5,000 piece customer says nothing about how it treats a 500 piece one. Ask those brands about the second order, when the initial attentiveness has worn off.
Are you the factory yourself, or an agent placing work with factories?
Why ask it
Agents are useful and expensive, and the important thing is knowing which you are talking to. If it is an agent, ask which factory the work goes to and whether you can know its name, because a supplier who will not name the production site cannot show you an audit for it either.
Do you work cut, make and trim only, or full package including sourcing?
Why ask it
This decides who buys the fabric, who carries that cash and who is at fault when the material is wrong. Small brands often assume full package and get quoted cut, make and trim, then discover mid-project that fabric sourcing is their job.
Who does your patternmaking and grading, and can I keep the patterns?
Why ask it
The pattern is the asset. If their in house patternmaker develops it, ask in writing who owns it and whether you receive the digital files, because a factory that holds the pattern holds the ability to reproduce your product and the ability to make leaving expensive.
What happens if the bulk fabric does not match the sample lot?
Why ask it
Shade variation between dye lots is normal and it is the most common reason a finished run looks wrong. Ask whether they send a bulk fabric cutting for approval before cutting, and what happens to the schedule if you reject it.
What is included in the price you quoted, and what is billed separately?
Why ask it
Trims, labels, care and content tags, hangtags, poly bags, printing, embroidery, washing and pressing are often quoted outside the garment price. Two quotes are only comparable once you have pulled all of these into both of them.
Can I or a third party inspect before the goods ship?
Why ask it
Once a container leaves, your leverage is gone and your options are a discount or a return you cannot afford. A supplier who welcomes a pre shipment inspection is telling you something. One who calls it unnecessary is telling you something else.
How many people work here, what are the hours during your peak season, and are they employees or brought in for the season?
Why ask it
Peak season hours are where labor problems concentrate, and a factory that has thought about it will answer with specifics about shifts and overtime. Heavy use of short term agency labor also tends to mean the people making your garment change from run to run, which shows up in the stitching.
Where would my order sit in your calendar, and what happens when a larger customer books the same slot?
Why ask it
Small brands get bumped. Ask directly what share of their capacity your order represents, because being a tiny account in a large factory means slipping dates, and being a large account in a tiny factory means you are the one funding their payroll.
What is your reorder minimum and lead time if this sells?
Why ask it
Brands negotiate hard on the first order and forget the second, then find the reorder minimum is the same as the original and the fabric is discontinued. Ask whether they will hold fabric for a repeat and what that costs to reserve.
Vetting a Factory
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you ask anyone to quote
Have a tech pack, even a rough one
Flat sketches, a bill of materials, graded measurements with tolerances, stitch and seam details, label placement, and packing instructions. Every gap in that document becomes a decision the factory makes without you and charges you for.
Know your quantities and your ceiling
Decide the number of styles, colorways, and the size split before the conversation, plus the price you cannot exceed. Factories quote fast against numbers and slowly against ideas.
Send the same brief to every factory
Identical style, quantity, fabric, and shipping term to each. Otherwise you will be comparing an all-in delivered price against an ex-factory price and choosing the wrong one.
How the sampling sequence usually runs
- First prototype: proves the pattern and construction. Expect it to be wrong somewhere, and mark up the physical garment rather than describing changes in prose.
- Fit samples: one or more rounds in your base size, fitted on a consistent body or a graded form. Record every change in the spec, not just in email.
- Pre-production sample: made in the real fabric, real trims, on the real line. This is the one you approve and the one they must be held against.
- Sealed sample: an approved sample kept by both sides, referenced in the order. Without one, quality disputes come down to whose memory is better.
- Top of production: a piece pulled from the first bulk output, checked before the line runs to the end.
Comparing quotes fairly
- Build a landed cost per unit: unit price, freight, insurance, duty, broker fees, and the cost of the sampling rounds spread over the order.
- Add the money you will spend on inspection, whether that is a third party or your own trip.
- Note the minimum per colorway, not just per style, then recalculate the order you would actually place.
- Note the payment terms alongside the price. Cheaper goods with the full balance due before inspection can be the worse deal.
- Check what happens to the price at half and at double your quantity, since the first order is rarely the one that decides the relationship.
Reasons to walk away
- No willingness to be visited or inspected, or a factory address that turns out to be a trading office.
- A quote given without a tech pack and without a single technical question in return.
- Refusal to itemize fabric, trims, and labour, or to name the mill supplying the fabric.
- Pressure to skip the pre-production sample to save time before a launch date.
- Full payment demanded before inspection, or terms that change once you commit.
- Vague answers about subcontracting, or about who else's brands run on the same line.
- An audit report that is described but never sent.