Sourcing
What to Ask a Home Textile Supplier Before Your First Order
Before your first order, ask a supplier the questions that separate a maker from a middleman and a realistic promise from an optimistic one: what it actually produces in house, its minimums per quality and colourway, how sampling and approvals run, the true lead time from approved sample to shipment, and the commercial terms. The answers you want are specific. A supplier that gives you ranges, names its stages and concedes what it does not do is easier to trust than one that says yes to everything.
This guide sets out the questions worth asking, grouped by what they tell you, and what a useful answer looks like.
Start with what they actually make
The first thing to establish is whether you are talking to the business that makes the goods or one that arranges for someone else to make them. Both can be valid partners, but they answer to different standards, and a quote reads differently once you know which you have.
Ask what the supplier owns and runs itself.
- Which stages happen in your own facility, and which are outsourced?
- Do you own the looms or knitting machines, or buy greige cloth?
- What fabrics and constructions are on your floor right now?
- What have you made for buyers in my category?
A manufacturer can describe its own production, from yarn through cutting, making, finishing and packing, and name the constructions it runs. H & J Exim, for example, is a home textile manufacturer in Gurugram, India, working 100% in house from yarn to carton, with its own looms and knitting machines. A trading house or agent will instead describe the factories it works with. Neither answer is wrong, but a vague answer to a direct ownership question is itself information. Ask to see the capabilities written down rather than described in general terms.
Minimums, and how they are counted
Minimum order quantity is where a first order most often stalls, because buyers and suppliers count it differently. The headline number matters less than the unit it applies to.
Ask how the minimum is structured, not just what it is.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Is the minimum per style, per quality, or per colourway? | Decides whether you can split it across a size range |
| Can one minimum cover several sizes? | A per colourway minimum can, a per size one cannot |
| Does it change for woven versus knitted? | The two programmes often carry different floors |
| What happens to the price below your comfortable run? | Tells you the real cost of a small first order |
A minimum set per quality and per colourway is friendlier to a new brand than one set per size, because a single run can be divided across a size curve. As a general frame, a workable starting point is from 50 pieces, from 50 on knitted and 100 on woven, set per quality and per colourway rather than per size. Confirm the structure in writing before you design your range around it.
Sampling and approvals
Samples are where your specification meets the supplier's interpretation of it. The questions here protect you from paying for bulk that does not match what you signed off.
- How long does a counter sample take from an agreed specification?
- Are samples chargeable, and is the cost adjusted against the first bulk order?
- How do you match colour: Pantone TCX, lab dips, strike offs?
- What do I approve before bulk starts, and in what form?
A credible answer gives timings and a clear approval trail. Counter samples typically run about one week on woven goods and about ten days on knitted, from an agreed specification. Samples are normally chargeable and adjusted against the first bulk order, which is standard and reasonable; treat a supplier that samples entirely free with mild caution, because the cost is usually recovered somewhere. On colour, you want to hear about lab dips and strike offs issued for your approval, not a promise that it will "look right". If you are building a private range, the private label terms should spell the sampling process out.
Lead time, and the two clocks
Buyers routinely confuse the production clock with the shipping clock. Ask about both separately, or you will plan against the wrong date.
- What is the bulk lead time after sample approval?
- Does that clock start at approval or at deposit?
- What is the transit time to my port on top of that?
- What most often delays an order at your end?
Production and transit are two different timers. As a general frame, bulk runs from 60 days FOB after sample approval, and sea transit to your market sits on top of that, not inside it. A supplier that answers with one combined number is either rounding heavily or does not distinguish the two, and you will feel the gap when you plan a launch. The most useful answer names the delays the supplier actually sees, yarn availability, approval turnaround, peak-season congestion, because it shows the person has run real orders.
Quality, and who carries the risk
Before the first order you cannot inspect the goods, so you are really asking how quality is controlled and what happens when something is wrong.
- What in-process and final checks do you run?
- What are your tolerances on size, weight and colour?
- What happens if a batch fails inspection: rework, replace, credit?
- Can I appoint a third-party inspector before shipment?
You are listening for a process rather than a reassurance. A supplier that names its checkpoints and states tolerances is describing a system; one that simply says the quality is good is describing a hope. Agree tolerances in writing, because "close enough" means different things to a maker and a buyer, and colour especially needs a signed standard to argue against later.
Terms, documents and how you will communicate
The last group is commercial and practical, and it decides how the relationship runs day to day.
| Ask about | What to confirm |
|---|---|
| Incoterm | FOB, CIF or CFR, and what each includes |
| Port and documents | Which port, and whether export paperwork is handled |
| Payment terms | Deposit, balance, and against what triggers |
| Markets served | Whether they already ship to yours |
| Single point of contact | Who you deal with, and their response time |
Confirm the shipping terms and the port. Shipping is commonly FOB Nhava Sheva with inland transport and export documentation handled, and CIF or CFR available on request. Ask which markets the supplier already exports to; a factory shipping to the USA, UK, Europe or Australia has met those markets' documentation and labelling expectations before. And ask who your contact will be and how fast they reply, because a first order lives or dies on communication. An inquiry response inside one to two business days is a reasonable expectation.
A short conceding note
No supplier is right for every buyer. A very small first order, a broad cross-category basket, or a product outside a factory's competence can all point you elsewhere, and a good manufacturer will tell you so rather than take work it cannot do well. The questions above are as useful for hearing an honest no as for confirming a yes. If your range fits a maker's floor, the answers should be quick, specific and consistent; if they are not, that is your answer. See what a direct programme covers in the products range, or talk to us with your specification.
Common questions
What is the single most important question to ask first?
Ask what the supplier makes in its own facility versus what it outsources. It tells you whether you are dealing with a manufacturer or an intermediary, and every other answer, on cost, control and quality, reads differently once you know.
How do I know if a supplier's lead time is realistic?
Ask them to separate production from transit and to say when the production clock starts. A realistic answer gives bulk time from sample approval, then adds sea transit on top, and names the delays they actually see. One combined number is a warning sign.
Should I be worried if samples are chargeable?
No. Chargeable samples are normal and usually adjusted against the first bulk order. It is worth confirming that adjustment in writing. A supplier that samples entirely free has recovered the cost somewhere, so ask where.
How many suppliers should I ask before the first order?
Enough to compare answers on the same specification, usually two or three. You are not only comparing price but consistency: whether minimums, lead time and tolerances hold up when asked directly. A supplier whose answers stay specific under questioning is easier to trust.