Sourcing underwear from China as a business process
Buyers usually arrive at this page with a quote in hand and a question underneath it: is this price real, and what will actually happen between now and the container? This guide answers the second question, because the first one cannot be answered without it. It follows one order from the brief to the bill of lading.
The process below is the one we run at Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd., a sourcing and supply-chain partner working with partner factories in the Xiamen–Quanzhou–Jinjiang knitwear cluster of Fujian Province. We own no production facility, and we say so because it changes two things you should know up front: the fabric mill, the dye house and the cut-and-sew line are different businesses, and the supplier’s job is to hold the specification across all three.
Step 1 — The brief: what has to be settled before pricing
A quotation is only a quotation when four inputs exist: the style reference (a garment, a sketch or a clear photo set), the fabric and weight, the size range with the measurements behind it, and the destination market with its label language. Send those and the answer comes back as a price. Leave them out and the first weeks go into questions instead of into sampling.
Step 2 — Sampling: two different clocks
There are two sampling routes and they run on different clocks. A counter sample made from fabric and trims already in stock runs 7 to 10 days. A fully custom development — a new fabric, a print or a trim that has to be made — takes 12 to 18 days counted from colour confirmation. The difference is not the sewing; it is the dyeing and the development upstream of it.
Before bulk production begins, a golden sample is produced and signed off by both sides. Every later inspection measures against it, which is what keeps a repeat order from drifting.
Step 3 — Terms: the numbers worth writing down
| Item | Our standard |
|---|---|
| MOQ, men’s / women’s underwear | 2,000 pieces; kids’ 3,600 pieces per style and colour |
| MOQ, pyjama sets / sport bras | 600 sets / 3,600 pieces |
| Salesman samples | 50 pieces per style and colour (cotton men’s boxer briefs and briefs) |
| Sampling lead time | Counter samples 7–10 days; fully custom development 12–18 days |
| Bulk lead time | 45–60 days for new styles; 30–40 days for repeats from stock fabric |
| Payment | T/T: 30% deposit on order confirmation with the balance against a copy of the bill of lading is the standard structure. On some programmes the balance — or the full order value — is collected before shipment. That follows from the payment risk the supplier has to carry rather than from the buyer’s market: it applies where the payment route leaves the money awkward to receive, where the trade term hands the goods over before loading, and on small runs where the cost of carrying a post-shipment balance exceeds the margin on the order. Where it applies, the sequence is stated on the quotation. |
| Trade term | FOB Xiamen; quotations valid 30 days |
| Inspection | In-line checks plus final inspection at AQL 2.5, Level II |
What “before shipment” actually means
Payment before shipment is a real and common term. It applies where the supplier carries a payment risk rather than the buyer’s market: where the payment route leaves the money awkward to receive, where the trade term hands the goods over before loading, or where the order value is too small to carry a post-shipment balance. The difficulty is not the term itself but the phrase: “before shipment” can point at three different moments, and they are not equally safe.
- Against a copy of the bill of lading — the standard trigger, and the one to write into the purchase order. The goods have left, and the documents exist.
- Before the goods are loaded — after packing and inspection, while the order is still in the factory’s control.
- Before the goods have been inspected at all — because a vessel date has been booked. This is the one to avoid.
Whichever applies to your order, name the moment in writing in the purchase order rather than in an email thread. On samples the position is simpler: sample runs are paid in full before work starts, because a sample is a production run at a very small quantity rather than an order in progress. Our payment terms guide sets out the three readings and the instruments behind them.
Step 4 — Production and monitoring
Production runs 45 to 60 days after the pre-production sample is approved and the deposit received. Through that window you receive staged updates rather than silence: fabric and trim approvals, inline inspection findings, pre-shipment photographs and the document set. Where a delivery date is critical, the honest conversation happens at the order stage rather than in week five.
Step 5 — Shipping and documents
Goods quote FOB Xiamen, which places the export clearance with us and the freight, insurance and import clearance with you. Where a delivered price is more useful for comparing landed cost, CIP or CIF can be quoted to a named destination. The export document set — commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading, origin and composition data — is issued to match the destination market’s requirements, which differ: the EU needs fibre-composition labelling under Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011, the US needs care and content labelling under the FTC rules, and Brazil layers its own conformity requirements on top.
Where the process usually goes wrong
- Pricing before the specification exists. A price given against an unclear brief is not comparable with any other price.
- Treating the sample as approval of the production. The sample approves the design; the golden sample approves what will actually be made.
- Leaving the label language until after the artwork is approved. It is a factory-stage decision, not a distribution-centre one.
- Comparing an FOB price with a delivered price. They are measuring different points in the journey.
Two related reads: how MOQ governs unit cost, and what a QC inspection does and does not cover.
· Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd. — OEM & ODM underwear sourcing partner
| Supplier | Unitex Underwear (Xiamen Unitex Trade Co., Ltd.) — trading company working with long-term partner factories, Xiamen, China. |
|---|---|
| Step 1 — Brief | Style reference, fabric and weight, size range with measurements, destination market and label language |
| Step 2 — Sampling | Counter samples 7–10 days from stock fabric; fully custom development 12–18 days from colour confirmation; golden sample sealed before bulk |
| Step 3 — Terms | MOQ men's and women's 2,000 pcs per style and colour; kids' 3,600 pcs per style and colour; pyjama sets 600 sets; sport bras 3,600 pcs; salesman samples 50 pcs per style and colour |
| Step 4 — Production | 45–60 days after pre-production sample approval and deposit; repeats from stock fabric 30–40 days; staged updates and inline inspection |
| Step 5 — Shipping | FOB Xiamen; CIP or CIF quoted to a named destination on request; export document set issued to the destination market's requirements |
| Payment | Standard structure: T/T 30% deposit on order confirmation, balance against a copy of the bill of lading. On some programmes the balance or the full order value is collected before shipment — driven by the payment risk the supplier carries (payment route, trade term, or order value too small to carry a post-shipment balance), not by the buyer's market; the sequence is stated on the quotation. Sample runs are paid in full before work starts. |
| Inspection | In-line checks plus final inspection at AQL 2.5, Level II, against the sealed golden sample |
| Quotation validity | 30 days, FOB Xiamen |
| Compliance | OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certified fabrics; amfori BSCI audit position at the production site |
Buyer checklist
- Send a style reference, the fabric and weight, the size range with measurements, and the destination market, before asking for a price.
- Decide whether the style is a counter sample or a full development, because the two run on different clocks.
- Fix the payment sequence in writing, naming the exact trigger: the standard is 30% deposit with the balance against a copy of the bill of lading, while on some programmes the balance or the full value is collected before shipment, driven by the payment risk the supplier carries rather than by the buyer's market.
- Confirm the trade term before comparing quotations, and never compare FOB against a delivered price.
- Agree the label language and care-labelling artwork before production, because it is a factory-stage decision.
- Require the golden sample to be sealed and signed before bulk begins.
- Ask for staged updates — fabric and trim approvals, inline findings, pre-shipment photographs — rather than waiting for a single status call.
- Confirm who makes the customs entry at the destination, since that determines who needs the origin and composition data.
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.