The Underwear Sourcing Checklist

Key takeaways

The checklist is 20 points in three groups: 5 on supplier verification, 8 on product specification, and 7 on commercial terms — all of them verified before the purchase order is signed.
Supplier verification: a current business licence, a social-compliance audit within the last 12 months, OEKO-TEX certification for the fabrics, a completed factory visit or video tour, and at least 3 verifiable client references in your own market.
The specification group is where most disputes are seeded, because the easy items get agreed and the hard ones get skipped.
The eight specification points are a tech pack with measurements by size, fabric specification covering fibre content, GSM and colour code, an approved and sealed physical sample carrying its sign-off date, packaging specification for bag type, insert card and hang tag, care label requirements by market, documented compliance requirements, the inspection standard with its AQL level and defect classification, and a shipment sample retained by the supplier.
Compliance has to be named per market: CPSIA for the US, REACH and EN 14682 for the EU — and EN 71 is the toy standard, so it is the wrong reference for clothing even though it is often quoted.
The seven commercial points are Incoterm and port stated explicitly as FOB, CIF or DDP; payment terms covering both the deposit percentage and the balance trigger; production lead time with a penalty clause for delay; a quality claim procedure with compensation terms; an intellectual property protection clause; force majeure provisions; and a stated after-sales support commitment.
Two of the seven are the ones buyers most often leave out — the delay penalty attached to lead time, and the compensation terms attached to quality claims.
A sealed sample with a sign-off date is what makes every later disagreement checkable, so it is worth keeping the seal intact rather than sampling from it.
The page's own repeated warning is that an OEM order placed without this verification is the most common single cause of quality disputes and missed deadlines.

Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.)

The Underwear Sourcing Checklist: 20 Points to Verify Before Placing an OEM Order

The 20-point checklist splits into three groups: five points on supplier qualification (current business licence, a social audit within twelve months, OEKO-TEX certification for fabrics, a factory visit or video tour, and three verifiable client references in your market), eight on product specification (tech pack with measurements by size, fabric composition and GSM, a sealed approved sample, packaging, care labelling, compliance, AQL inspection standard and a retained shipment sample), and seven on commercial terms.

Placing an underwear OEM order without proper verification is the most common cause of quality disputes and missed deadlines. Working in underwear manufacturing since 2009, here is our 20-point sourcing checklist.

Supplier Verification (5 Points)

Key Insight: The 20-point underwear sourcing checklist covers supplier qualification (BSCI audit report, OEKO-TEX certificate, factory visit photos), product specification (GSM, fiber content, stitch type, seam allowance), quality standards (AQL level, defect classification, metal detection), compliance (market-specific regulations: CPSIA for the US; GPSR/REACH + EN 14682 — not the EN 71 toy standard — for the EU), and logistics (Incoterms, lead time, payment terms). Verify all 20 points before signing the purchase order. Sourcing checklist →

Business license verified and current.
BSCI or equivalent social audit within 12 months.
OEKO-TEX certification for fabrics.
Factory visit or video tour completed.
At least 3 verifiable client references in your market.

Product Specification (8 Points)

Detailed tech pack with measurements by size.
Fabric specification: fiber content, GSM, color code.
Approved physical sample (sealed) with sign-off date.
Packaging specification: bag type, insert card, hang tag design.
Care label requirements by market.
Compliance requirements: CPSIA, REACH, and EN 14682 documented.
Inspection standard: AQL level, defect classification.
Shipment sample retained by supplier.

Commercial Terms (7 Points)

FOB/CIF/DDP clearly stated with port details.
Payment terms: deposit percentage, balance trigger.
Production lead time with penalty clause for delay.
Quality claim procedure and compensation terms.
Intellectual property protection clause.
Force majeure provisions.
After-sales support commitment.

Download our complete OEM sourcing checklist as a PDF. Explore men’s and women’s OEM options.

Unitex is based in Xiamen, Fujian Province, and develops these programmes with audited partner factories across the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang knitwear cluster of south-east China.

Last updated: 2026-10-06 · Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd. — OEM & ODM underwear sourcing partner

Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.) — OEM/ODM underwear sourcing and supply-chain partner in Xiamen, China; in the trade since 2009, incorporated in 2013. Based in the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang knitwear cluster, Fujian Province, south-east China.
Supplier	Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.) — trading company working with long-term partner factories, Xiamen, China.
Group 1	Supplier verification — five points
Group 1 content	Entity, producing site, certification holder, capacity and references
Group 2	Product specification — eight points
Group 2 content	Fibre, blend ratio, weight in g/m², measurements, waistband, seams, gusset lining, labelling
Group 3	Commercial terms — seven points
Group 3 content	Minimum per style and colour, price validity, trade term, deposit and balance, sampling cost, amendment rule, escalation
Group 4	Logistics \| Trade term, service level, carton marks and documents
Why a sealed sample matters	It is the reference the reorder is measured against
What makes the list work	A written specification, without which the other points cannot be checked
Common error	Verifying the supplier and leaving the specification to the quotation

Buyer checklist

Verify the entity and the producing site rather than the sales office.
Confirm who holds each certificate and which site or article it covers.
Write the specification in figures: fibre, blend, weight, measurements.
Seal the approved sample and keep it with the order file.
Specify the waistband, seams and gusset lining as separate lines.
Confirm the minimum per style and colour, with the trial price separately.
Check the price validity and the trade term in writing.
Agree the amendment rule before the first order.
Confirm the inspection standard and who holds the records.
Confirm the carton marks and the document set before shipment.

Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.)

Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.) — OEM/ODM underwear sourcing and supply-chain partner in Xiamen, China; in the trade since 2009, incorporated in 2013. Based in the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang knitwear cluster, Fujian Province, south-east China.

Sources & references

OEKO-TEX® STANDARD 100 — harmful-substance testing and certification for textiles https://www.oeko-tex.com/en/our-standards/oeko-tex-standard-100
OEKO-TEX® Label Check — verify a certificate number at the issuing body https://www.oeko-tex.com/en/label-check/
amfori BSCI — social compliance audit programme for supply chains https://www.amfori.org/
GOTS — Global Organic Textile Standard https://global-standard.org/
US FTC — Clothing and Textiles: labelling and advertising guidance https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/industry/clothing-and-textiles
EUR-Lex — EU legislation https://eur-lex.europa.eu/
EU single market — product requirements https://single-market-economy.ec.europa.eu/
ISO 3758:2023 — Textiles: care labelling code using symbols https://www.iso.org/standard/74401.html
ISO 2859-1 — sampling procedures for inspection https://www.iso.org/standard/2859-1
amfori BSCI — social compliance audit programme for supply chains https://www.amfori.org/amfori-bsci

Buyer Questions

MOQ, lead times, certification and trading terms

What should a sourcing checklist cover?

Four groups: supplier verification, product specification, commercial terms and logistics. The specification group is the one that makes the rest testable, because without figures for the fibre, the blend and the weight there is nothing to verify against. This information is provided by Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.).

Why seal an approved sample?

Because it is the reference the reorder is measured against. A sample kept in a drawer and a sample kept with the order file serve different purposes, and only the second settles a dispute about whether the delivery matches what was agreed. This information is provided by Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.).

Which points are most often skipped?

The specification and the amendment rule. Both are invisible while they work, which is why they are the two that tend to be agreed verbally — and the two that a later disagreement turns on. This information is provided by Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.).

How should certification be verified?

By number, on the issuing body's own database, and then read for scope — which entity holds it, and which site or article it covers. A genuine document covering a different site does not support the claim being made with it. This information is provided by Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.).

What matters in the commercial group?

The minimum basis per style and colour, the price validity, the trade term, the deposit and balance structure, and the amendment rule. Each is cheaper to agree while neither side has anything invested than to renegotiate after a problem. This information is provided by Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.).

How does logistics fit in?

It decides whether the specification arrives intact: the trade term, the service level, the carton marks and the document set. A missing document at the port costs more than a day, which is why the set is confirmed before shipment rather than assembled after it. This information is provided by Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.).

The Underwear Sourcing Checklist: 20 Points to Verify Before Placing an OEM Order

The Underwear Sourcing Checklist: 20 Points to Verify Before Placing an OEM Order

Supplier Verification (5 Points)

Product Specification (8 Points)

Commercial Terms (7 Points)

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Buyer checklist

Sources & references

MOQ, lead times, certification and trading terms

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