When manufacturing or starting any type of business, sampling is important to test your product. Sampling can be managed in many different ways. When manufacturing clothing from scratch, sometimes it's good to find stores that sell products that are the same shape or quality that you are trying to achieve. I've also known people to tailor their clothes in the UK and send them abroad to replicate, this can be expensive but will be worth it when you get the finished product.
Sample clothes will always be more expensive than bulk/wholesale clothing, which is why branded plain clothing have reduced their sample prices to wholesale prices to make it easier for you to check out the quality of the plain hoodies, t-shirts, joggers and caps before committing to a bulk order. Samples are a great way to launch your products before receiving the bulk order and to also check out the quality of product, almost every manufacturer and wholesalers will offer samples to their customers.
Depending on the business and the product you are working on, many businesses operate in different ways. When ordering some companies take orders for samples and some don't, just because they don't take individual sample orders this doesn't mean you won't receive a sample. If this is the case the manufacturer will supply you a sample before they start the bulk production, not every manufacturer works like this but i find this more cost effective but can also be a risk if the manufacturer struggles with your design concept. To avoid this from happening, spend some time creating tech packs with clear sketches and details about the product you are creating so that way you are eliminating any room for error.
When manufacturers and wholesalers offer cheap samples this runs the risk of new companies constantly ordering samples to fulfil customer orders, this is like drop shipping. This slows down order fulfilment times and also increases expenses, the point of sampling is to see a product before you place the bulk order or the bulk order is started.
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Jon Kelly
January 20, 2022
Do you do an oversized sweatshirt please??