Wholesale Custom Bags: Programmes, Pricing Tiers and Lead Times

What a wholesale custom bag programme actually covers

A wholesale custom bag programme is a bulk production agreement built around the buyer's own specification: your dimensions, materials, colour references, hardware, branding and packaging, produced in the hundreds or thousands and shipped as cartons, pallets or full containers to your distribution centre or 3PL. Wholesale here describes the commercial shape of the relationship — tiered unit pricing, a minimum order quantity, a production calendar and a repeat cycle — not a product category. A flat drawstring pouch and a multi-panel technical carry solution both run through the same programme, quoted against the same four quantity tiers.

The distinction that matters commercially is between wholesale custom bags and buying from stock. Stock means the style, fabric and colourway already exist; goods ship within days, with no tooling, no sampling round and no exclusivity. Wholesale custom means you own the specification, which brings a 500-unit MOQ per style and colour, a sampling round of 6-10 working days (12-15 for complex builds), a mass production window of 35-50 days, tooling and screens at USD 300-2,500, and a sample charge of USD 50-150 credited back on the first bulk order. In exchange you get exclusivity options, colour continuity across seasons and a unit price that falls measurably as volume rises.

Wholesale is also distinct from retail in the obligations it carries. A wholesale custom order transfers a production lot that must arrive with the right barcodes, carton markings, origin labelling and documentation to clear customs and drop into a retail or e-commerce fulfilment flow without rework, so packaging, compliance and freight belong in the first enquiry. Programmes where the buyer supplies only a logo run as private label bags; programmes built from a buyer's drawings run as OEM or ODM.

Five buyer profiles account for most wholesale enquiries, and each optimises a different variable.

Buyer type	Typical order quantity	Primary decision point	Common SKU count in a first programme
Retail chain and variety store	3,000-10,000 per SKU	Landed cost, retail barcode and packaging, replenishment reliability	4-12 SKUs
E-commerce and marketplace brand	500-1,500 per SKU	Unit-to-unit consistency, FBA prep, review-driven returns	2-6 SKUs
Corporate gifting and HR programmes	500-2,000	Logo placement, presentation packaging, fixed delivery window	1-3 SKUs
Promotional products distributor	1,000-5,000	Unit price ceiling, imprint area, hard event deadline	1-4 SKUs
Team, school and club buyers	500-1,000 per colourway	Colour match, numbering, re-order continuity next season	2-5 SKUs

Retail chains buy on landed cost and replenishment, trading specification freedom for container efficiency. E-commerce brands buy on consistency, because a photographed unit that differs from the next one generates returns, so they invest in a tighter AQL and better hardware. Corporate gifting buys on the delivery window, so air or express freight replaces sea freight. Promotional distributors buy against a unit price ceiling set by their own customer, which makes the brief a value-engineering exercise. Team and school buyers buy on colour and continuity, re-ordering against the same Pantone reference next season.

Capacity matters once a programme becomes a repeat cycle. QUANZHOU JUNYUAN BAGS runs wholesale programmes through our 4,950 m² SGS-verified production base, staffed by 137 people across 7 production lines and 149 machines with a nominal monthly output of 200,000 bags. A 500-unit style occupies one line for a few days; a 10,000-unit programme runs across several lines at a fixed weekly output, so a container date can be committed rather than estimated. Repeat programmes reuse the same patterns, dies and approved materials.

Wholesale pricing tiers and what moves the unit price

Wholesale bag pricing is a ladder, not a negotiation. Every quotation is built from a bill of materials plus labour plus overheads plus amortised tooling, and the variable that changes the arithmetic meaningfully between buyers is quantity. The four tiers below are indicative FOB Xiamen ranges for standard specifications; a heavy fabric, a branded hardware set, a multi-colour print or a laboratory testing requirement will move a style up within its band. All figures are confirmed against a completed tech pack.

Quantity tier	Simple styles (flat tote, drawstring, pouch)	Mid-structure (daypack, duffel, insulated cooler)	Complex structure (multi-panel, laptop compartment, technical carry)	Tooling amortisation effect	Notes
500 units	USD 3.60-4.10	USD 8.20-9.80	USD 16.00-19.00	USD 0.60-5.00 per unit	Entry tier. Tooling dominates; mill minimums apply to custom-dyed fabric.
1,000 units	USD 3.10-3.60	USD 7.10-8.40	USD 14.00-16.50	USD 0.30-2.50 per unit	Better fabric buying; line changeover still charged in full.
3,000 units	USD 2.70-3.20	USD 6.10-7.30	USD 12.30-14.40	USD 0.10-0.83 per unit	Custom dye lots become economic; print plates fully amortised.
10,000 units	USD 2.40-2.90	USD 5.20-6.30	USD 11.00-13.00	USD 0.03-0.25 per unit	Tooling negligible; continuous run lowers labour and waste.

The tooling column is the one buyers underestimate. Tooling and screens cost USD 300-2,500 in total depending on what the programme needs: a cutting die, a moulded puller, an embroidery digitising file, a set of print screens or a heat-transfer plate. That is a fixed cost. Spread across 500 units it adds USD 0.60-5.00 to every bag; across 10,000 units it adds USD 0.03-0.25. It is the clearest reason the 500-unit price is not the 10,000-unit price divided by twenty, and why a buyer who expects to reorder should treat the first order as an investment in reusable tooling.

Eight variables move the unit price within a tier. Fabric, and the denier or ounce weight within each type. Fabric weight in GSM, which drives material cost and freight weight. Hardware brand, where a named zipper and buckle set costs several times a generic equivalent and reduces field failures. Decoration: screen print, heat transfer, sublimation, embroidery, woven label or silicone patch. Packaging, from a bulk polybag to a printed box or gift carton. Trims such as webbing, binding tape, lining and padding. Testing, invoiced at cost. And tooling amortisation. Material selection is covered in more depth in the custom bag materials reference.

Commercial terms sit on top of the unit price. Quotations are issued FOB Xiamen under Incoterms 2020: the price covers goods and export clearance to the vessel, while freight, insurance, duty and inland delivery are the buyer's account. Payment is T/T 30/70, with 30 per cent deposit releasing materials and capacity and 70 per cent against documents before shipment; L/C at sight is available for full container loads. Because the deposit releases a production slot and the balance releases the container, the payment schedule is tied to the timeline below. The full cost structure is on the custom bag cost and MOQ page.

From enquiry to repeat order: the wholesale timeline

A wholesale bag programme runs on two clocks in sequence, and quoting one number for both is the most common planning error. The development clock runs from a complete tech pack to a signed pre-production sample. The production clock starts at sample approval and deposit and runs 35-50 days. Freight runs after that, not during it. The table gives both clocks, the party responsible for each step, and the point at which each step most often stalls.

Stage	Duration	Owner	Common bottleneck
Enquiry to written quotation	24-48 hours	QUANZHOU JUNYUAN BAGS sales and costing	Incomplete tech pack: no dimensions, fabric spec or quantity split
Sampling and sample build	6-10 working days; 12-15 for complex builds	Our production team	Base fabric out of stock, or a custom dye lot not yet arrived
Sample courier and buyer review	3-5 days each way, plus 1-3 days to sign off	Courier and buyer	Feedback arriving after the production slot is released
Deposit payment, T/T 30/70	1-3 days	Buyer finance	Bank cut-off times and intermediary bank delays
Material procurement and inbound inspection	7-12 days	Our production team	Mill lead time on custom-dyed fabric or branded hardware
Mass production	35-50 days	Our 4,950 m² SGS-verified production floor	Line changeover, peak-season congestion, public holidays
In-line and final inspection	2-4 days	QC team and nominated third party	Rework loop when a defect is found late
Sea freight	25-35 days	Forwarder	Port congestion, rollover, transhipment delay
Air freight or express courier	5-8 days by air, 3-5 days by courier	Forwarder or courier	Space availability and volumetric weight on bulky cartons
Import clearance and delivery	2-7 days	Broker and buyer	ISF filing, HS classification, origin marking queries

Working backwards from a required in-stock date makes the arithmetic concrete. Suppose goods must be on a retail floor or in a fulfilment centre on 1 December. Allow 5 days for clearance and inland delivery, 30 days for sea freight, 3 days for inspection and balance payment, 45 days for mass production, 10 days for sampling and 3 days of courier each way, plus 5 days of contingency. That puts sample approval around mid-September and the completed enquiry around late August, three months before the goods are needed. Compressing the calendar is possible but expensive: air at 5-8 days instead of sea at 25-35 days removes roughly three weeks.

The two dates wholesale buyers most often miss are the sample approval date and the deposit date. Capacity is allocated by week, and a slot held without an approved sample is released to another programme; a buyer who takes three weeks to review a September sample can lose a November container even though nothing about the bag has changed. Agree a review window at quotation stage and approve the pre-production sample against a written checklist. The steps from cutting and printing to sewing, assembly, inspection and packing are set out on the bag manufacturing process page.

MOQ, colourways and how to split a programme

The wholesale MOQ is 500 units per style and per colour. The unit of the minimum is the style-colour combination, not the order, and this is where most first-time wholesale budgets go wrong. A buyer who wants one bag in three colourways is placing a 1,500-unit order, not a 500-unit order; a buyer who wants three different styles is placing three 500-unit orders. The arithmetic is simple, but the consequence for cash flow and warehousing is not.

Three configurations of a 1,500-unit programme all clear the MOQ but behave differently in cost. One style in three colourways keeps a single tooling set, pattern and cutting die, and multiplies only the fabric purchase and the colour changeovers. Three styles in one colourway each keep one fabric purchase but triple the tooling, patterns and line changeovers. Two styles sharing one base colourway plus one accent splits the difference. The first is normally cheapest per unit, because tooling is shared and the line stays on one construction.

• One style, three colourways: 3 x 500 = 1,500 units, one tooling set, three fabric dye lots, one construction.
• Three styles, one colourway each: 3 x 500 = 1,500 units, three tooling sets, one shared fabric purchase, three constructions.
• Two styles, one shared base colourway and one accent: 4 x 500 = 2,000 units if each style-colour pair stands alone.
• Consolidating two styles into one production window saves one line changeover but does not merge their tooling costs.
• Placing one 1,500-unit order instead of three separate 500-unit orders removes duplicate inspection, duplicate documentation and duplicate freight handling.

Buyers often ask why a 250-unit order cannot simply be priced at half of 500. Most of the cost beneath a unit price is fixed per batch, not per piece. A mill dyes to a minimum lot measured in hundreds of metres, so the price per metre at half the volume is not half; it may be higher. A print screen is exposed once regardless of run length. A sewing line is changed over and balanced once per style, costing setup hours whether the run is 250 or 5,000. A pre-production sample is built once. Final inspection carries a fixed attendance cost. Below the threshold the fixed costs do not fall, so unit price rises faster than quantity falls.

There are legitimate ways to work with a tight budget without breaking the MOQ. Reduce the colourway count and commit to one or two. Use a stock fabric colour rather than a custom dye lot. Choose screen printing over a moulded badge so tooling stays at the low end of the USD 300-2,500 range. Consolidate two planned orders into one run and take the inventory risk once. Each is a trade against something else, and the right answer depends on whether the binding constraint is cash, shelf price or calendar.

Quality gates for wholesale volumes

Wholesale volumes need a written inspection scheme rather than a promise of care. The default is AQL 2.5 under ISO 2859-1, equivalent to ANSI/ASQ Z1.4, at General Inspection Level II, with an acceptance quality limit of 0 for critical defects, 2.5 for major defects and 4.0 for minor defects. A critical defect makes the product unsafe or illegal, a major defect is one a customer would notice and return, and a minor defect is a workmanship deviation that falls short without affecting use. Buyers launching into a retail chain often tighten to AQL 1.5 for the first two shipments.

The sample size follows the lot size. At General Inspection Level II, a lot of 501-1,200 units draws 80 pieces, accepting 5 and rejecting 6 at AQL 2.5 for majors; 1,201-3,200 draws 125 with 7 and 8; 3,201-10,000 draws 200 with 10 and 11; and 10,001-35,000 draws 315 with 14 and 15. Because sample size grows far more slowly than the lot, inspection cost per unit falls sharply as volume rises, another reason wholesale pricing improves with scale. Each gate below has a defined plan, decision and record.

Inspection gate	Sampling plan	Decision rule	Record produced
Incoming material check (IQC)	Fabric 4-point system per roll; hardware functional check per lot; colour against the approved swatch under D65	Accept, written concession, or reject and return to supplier	Material inspection report, lot traceability, shade band record
First-piece and pre-production sample	100 per cent measured against the tech pack: dimensions, GSM, stitch density, hardware, print placement	Written sign-off required before bulk cutting	Signed pre-production sample, measurement sheet, photographs
In-line inspection	20-32 pieces per line per day, targeted at operations where defects originate	Stop the line on any critical defect; retrain on repeated majors	Daily defect Pareto by station, corrective action note
Final random inspection	AQL 2.5, General Inspection Level II; Critical 0, Major 2.5, Minor 4.0	Pass, rework with 100 per cent re-inspection of that defect type, or reject and remake	AQL report with defect classification and packing photographs
Third-party inspection	SGS, Intertek or Bureau Veritas against the buyer's own checklist and AQL	Buyer-nominated: balance payment follows the report	Independent inspection report for retail compliance files
Loading supervision	Carton count, marking verification, pallet configuration, container condition	Release to load or hold pending correction	Loading photographs, container and seal numbers, packing list

Settle three things at quotation stage: the AQL applied, who pays for a re-inspection when a lot fails, and whether your own third party may attend. A failed lot is a normal part of a large programme, so the remedy cost should be allocated before it is needed. Specify your own defect definitions too: a scratch on a hidden panel and a broken zipper pull are both defects, but in different classes. The full framework is on the custom bag quality certification page.

Compliance documentation wholesale buyers ask for

Wholesale buyers importing into the EU, UK, US, Canada or Australia are the importer of record, so the compliance burden sits with them even though the evidence comes from the supply chain. List the required documents in the initial enquiry rather than after production, because laboratory testing adds calendar time and cannot be produced retroactively from a finished shipment.

Document or regulation	Scope and typical requirement	Issued by	Notes for wholesale orders
REACH (EC 1907/2006)	SVHC screening; Annex XVII restrictions on azo dyes, nickel release, phthalates	Accredited laboratory	Required for EU placement. Test per material and colour; re-test on material change.
California Proposition 65	Warning obligations for listed substances including lead, phthalates and BPA	Accredited laboratory	Drives label artwork; confirm before packaging is printed.
CPSIA	Lead and phthalate limits plus a Children's Product Certificate under 12	Laboratory and importer	School and youth team bags usually fall in scope; tracking labels apply.
EN 71-3	Migration of certain elements where a bag is classified as a toy	Accredited laboratory	Relevant for novelty and children's character bags in the EU.
OEKO-TEX Standard 100	Textile certification against a limit value catalogue by product class	Certificate holder and institute	Valid one year per material; check the scope covers your fabric and trims.
Global Recycled Standard (GRS)	Recycled content claim with chain of custody	Certification body, Transaction Certificate per shipment	A recycled claim needs a Transaction Certificate for the specific lot.
amfori BSCI or Sedex SMETA	Social audit: labour standards, health and safety, working hours	Independent audit firm	Chains require a current report naming the facility and a valid date.
Origin marking, 19 CFR Part 134	Conspicuous, legible and permanent origin marking on the article	Importer, executed in production	Must survive handling; chains are strict on placement and legibility.
ISF 10+2	Advance electronic cargo data before ocean loading at origin	Importer or broker	File at least 24 hours before loading; late filings risk holds.
UFLPA	Rebuttable presumption against goods with inputs from named regions or entities	Importer, with supply chain evidence	Cotton and some fibres attract scrutiny; keep mill records per lot.

Two practical warnings apply throughout. Test reports are per material and per colour, not per style, so a five-colourway programme in one fabric may need five sets of colour fastness and chemical tests; budget them at quotation. And validity dates matter: an OEKO-TEX certificate runs one year, a BSCI or SMETA report has a validity window, and a Transaction Certificate is issued per shipment. A document that expired before production is not evidence. The documentation pack ships with the commercial invoice and packing list.

Packaging, barcodes and retail readiness

Wholesale orders fail at the dock more often than they fail in production. A carton without a scannable barcode, a pallet that does not match the retailer's deck standard, or a wood pallet without a treatment stamp will hold a shipment at a distribution centre even when every bag inside is perfect.

Barcodes start with a GS1 company prefix. Retailers and marketplaces generally require a GS1-issued GTIN, rendered as GTIN-13 (EAN-13) outside North America and as UPC-A within it; numbers bought from a reseller may not resolve in the GS1 registry, a common cause of listing rejection. Amazon sellers also need an FNSKU label per unit for FBA inventory, and the carton must satisfy FBA inbound rules: the widely applied limit is 22.7 kg (50 lb) per carton unless the contents are a single oversized unit, dimensions must fall inside the stated maximums, and ISTA 3A transit testing is the usual evidence a packed carton survives distribution.

Pallet configuration depends on destination. European distribution centres commonly work to the 1200 x 800 mm Euro pallet, many export operations use 1200 x 1000 mm, and North American mass retail is built around the 48 x 40 in GMA pallet (1219 x 1016 mm). Specify cartons per layer, layers per pallet, total stack height including the deck, and whether the load is stretch-wrapped, corner-boarded or strapped. Set carton compression strength against stack height and storage period. Any wood packaging must comply with ISPM 15 with a visible treatment stamp; heat-treated, plywood or plastic pallets avoid the issue entirely.

Requirement	Common specification	Where it applies	Frequent mistake
Retail barcode	GS1-issued GTIN-13 or UPC-A at the required magnification and quiet zone	Retail chains and most marketplaces	Using resold or invented numbers that do not resolve in the GS1 registry
FBA carton	Maximum 22.7 kg per carton, FNSKU per unit, ISTA 3A transit test	Amazon FBA inbound	Printing artwork before the barcode number is confirmed
Pallet format	1200 x 800 Euro, 1200 x 1000 industrial, or 48 x 40 in GMA	Destination distribution centre	Building to the wrong deck standard and being refused at goods-in
Stacking and wrapping	Cartons per layer, layers per pallet, total height, wrap and corner boards	All palletised freight	Over-height pallets that cannot be racked or double-stacked
Wood packaging	ISPM 15 heat treatment or fumigation with a visible stamp	International wood pallets and crates	An unstamped pallet holding a whole container at import
Packaging EPR	National producer responsibility registration and reporting	EU member states and the UK	Registering after the first shipment rather than before it

Packaging EPR deserves a specific note for European buyers. Placing packaged goods on an EU or UK market generally requires registration with the national producer responsibility scheme and reporting of packaging placed on market, with Germany's VerpackG and LUCID register, France's household packaging scheme and the UK's packaging waste regulations being the most frequently encountered. The obligation sits with whoever first places the packaged product on that market, so confirm which party carries it before the first container ships.

Freight, duties and landed cost for wholesale orders

Landed cost decides whether a wholesale programme works, and it is always larger than the FOB number. Quotations are issued FOB Xiamen, covering the goods and export clearance to the vessel. Everything after that — freight, insurance, terminal handling, duty, import VAT or GST, brokerage and inland delivery — is the buyer's account and should be modelled before the order is placed.

Container planning starts with volume. A 20GP carries roughly 28 CBM and a 40HQ roughly 68 CBM, and for bags the constraint is usually volume rather than weight. The figures below are planning estimates for standard packing; a compressed style beats them and a rigid one falls short.

Bag type	Packing method	Carton dimensions (cm)	CBM per carton	Approximate units per 20GP (28 CBM)	Approximate units per 40HQ (68 CBM)
Flat tote or drawstring pouch	Flat folded, 100 per carton	60 x 40 x 40	0.096	26,000-29,000	63,000-70,000
Utility or cosmetic pouch	Nested, 120 per carton	55 x 45 x 35	0.087	34,000-38,000	83,000-92,000
Daypack or school backpack	Flat packed, 25 per carton	60 x 45 x 45	0.122	5,300-5,900	13,000-14,400
Laptop or technical carry	Flat packed with inserts, 20 per carton	62 x 48 x 45	0.134	3,900-4,300	9,500-10,500
Insulated cooler or lunch bag	Assembled, 20 per carton	58 x 48 x 42	0.117	4,500-5,000	11,000-12,200

Duty follows the HS classification, which follows construction and outer surface material rather than what the buyer calls the product. Bag lines under HS chapter 42 carry materially different rates by subheading: a plastic or textile outer surface, a leather outer surface and a travel or sports designation can each land in a different line. Indicative planning ranges are roughly 6-20 per cent ad valorem on US chapter 42 lines, 3-9.7 per cent on EU and UK lines, about 5 per cent in Australia and 10-11 per cent in Canada, before any trade remedy or preference programme. These figures remain subject to the customs authority's determination at the time of clearance; confirm the classification and rate with a licensed broker before committing pricing.

Import VAT and GST sit on the duty-paid value. Indicative standard rates are 19 per cent in Germany, 20 per cent in France, 21 per cent in the Netherlands, 20 per cent in the United Kingdom, 10 per cent GST in Australia and 5 per cent federally in Canada. VAT-registered businesses normally recover import VAT as input tax, so it is a cash-flow item rather than a cost. Taken together, a sea-freight wholesale order typically lands at roughly 1.25 to 1.75 times the FOB value, and an air-freight order at roughly 1.6 to 2.4 times. That multiplier is the fastest way to test a buy price against a target shelf price.

• FOB Xiamen unit price, quoted against a confirmed quantity tier and tech pack.
• Freight: sea 25-35 days, air 5-8 days or courier 3-5 days, plus terminal handling.
• Customs duty at the rate determined for the confirmed HS subheading at clearance.
• Import VAT or GST, recoverable for registered businesses but funded at the border.
• Brokerage, ISF filing, inland delivery and any pallet handling surcharge.

How to brief a wholesale bag programme

The quality of a wholesale quotation is a direct function of the quality of the brief. A complete tech pack produces a firm price in 24-48 hours; an incomplete one produces a range and a follow-up question. The list below is what a costing team needs to price a bulk programme accurately and commit to a production slot. Send it as one package, with artwork attached rather than described.

• Product type and intended use, with target dimensions in centimetres and a stated tolerance.
• Material specification: base fabric, denier or ounce weight, coating or finish, lining, recycled content claim.
• Colour references as Pantone TCX or TPX codes, noting which panel takes which colour.
• Hardware specification: zipper and buckle brand or grade, finish, sizes and puller style.
• Construction notes: seam type, stitch density per inch, reinforcement and binding, lining, pocket layout, padding.
• Artwork as vector files (AI, EPS or PDF) with exact placement, size and colour count per print position.
• Branding elements: woven labels, printed labels, hangtags, care labels, badges and their attachment method.
• Quantity split by style and colourway, stated as style-colour pairs so the MOQ can be checked.
• Target FOB Xiamen price, if there is a ceiling, so value engineering can be proposed in the first quotation.
• Required delivery date and destination port or distribution centre, which fixes the freight mode.
• Inspection standard: AQL level, defect definitions, and whether SGS, Intertek or Bureau Veritas will attend.
• Compliance needs: REACH, Proposition 65, CPSIA, EN 71-3, OEKO-TEX, GRS or a social audit report.
• Packaging specification: polybag, individual box, hangtag set, carton marking, GS1 barcode, pallet format.

The omissions that cause the most rework are consistent. Buyers give dimensions but no tolerance, so a 1 cm deviation becomes an argument. They specify a fabric but no weight, so costing assumes a default. They send a JPEG logo rather than a vector file, so print setup stalls. They state a total quantity but not the colour split, so the MOQ check cannot be completed. They omit the delivery date, so the quote is priced for sea freight when the programme needs air. Each gap costs calendar days, and in a wholesale programme calendar days convert directly into shelf weeks.

Two closing points. Material selection, coating and seam construction should be decided together, because a coated fabric, a welded seam and a hydrostatic or spray test result are one engineering decision rather than three line items; that interaction is covered in the custom bag materials reference. And the sample charge of USD 50-150, refundable against the first bulk order, plus tooling and screens at USD 300-2,500, should be budgeted as development cost. Further programme notes are published in the blog.

Ready to price a wholesale bag programme? Send the tech pack, the style-colour quantity split and the required delivery date, and a written FOB Xiamen quotation comes back within 24-48 hours. Request a wholesale quotation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the minimum order quantity for wholesale custom bags?

The wholesale MOQ is 500 units per style and per colour, so one bag in three colourways is a 1,500-unit order. Tooling and screens cost USD 300-2,500 in total and are amortised across the run, which is why smaller quantities carry a higher unit price. Consolidating styles into one order removes duplicate inspection and freight.

How does wholesale bag pricing change between 500 and 10,000 units?

Indicative FOB Xiamen prices fall steadily with volume. A simple style moves from USD 3.60-4.10 at 500 units to USD 2.40-2.90 at 10,000; a complex multi-panel build moves from USD 16.00-19.00 to USD 11.00-13.00. Tooling amortisation drops from USD 0.60-5.00 per unit to USD 0.03-0.25, and fabric buying improves.

How long does a wholesale custom bag order take from enquiry to delivery?

Quotation comes back in 24-48 hours, sampling takes 6-10 working days or 12-15 for complex builds, and mass production runs 35-50 days after sample approval. Add 25-35 days for sea freight, 5-8 for air or 3-5 for courier, plus 2-7 days for import clearance. Plan roughly three months from enquiry to stock.

What payment terms apply to wholesale bag programmes?

Standard terms are T/T 30/70: a 30 per cent deposit releases materials and books the production slot, and the 70 per cent balance is paid against shipping documents before the container is released. L/C at sight is available for full container loads. Quotations are issued FOB Xiamen under Incoterms 2020, with freight and duty to the buyer.

Which quality inspection standard do you use for bulk bag shipments?

Final inspection uses AQL 2.5 under ISO 2859-1, equivalent to ANSI/ASQ Z1.4, at General Inspection Level II, with Critical 0, Major 2.5 and Minor 4.0. A lot of 501-1,200 units draws 80 pieces, accepting 5 and rejecting 6 for majors. SGS, Intertek and Bureau Veritas inspections are supported on buyer nomination.

Can I mix colours or styles to reach the wholesale minimum order?

The 500-unit minimum applies per style and per colour, so mixing does not reduce it, but it does change the cost. One style in three colourways shares one tooling set and one construction, while three separate styles each carry their own patterns, dies and line changeover, which makes the second option more expensive per unit.

What compliance documents can you provide for EU and US bag imports?

The documentation pack covers REACH (EC 1907/2006) SVHC screening, California Proposition 65, CPSIA testing, EN 71-3 where a bag is classified as a toy, OEKO-TEX Standard 100, GRS transaction certificates, amfori BSCI or Sedex SMETA audit reports, and 19 CFR Part 134 origin marking. Laboratory testing is invoiced at cost.

How many bags fit in a 20GP or 40HQ container?

A 20GP holds roughly 28 CBM and a 40HQ roughly 68 CBM. Flat-packed daypacks at 25 per carton give about 5,300-5,900 units in a 20GP and 13,000-14,400 in a 40HQ; flat totes at 100 per carton give about 26,000-29,000 and 63,000-70,000. Confirm with a packing plan before booking.

Do you handle GS1 barcodes and Amazon FBA prep for wholesale orders?

Yes. Units can be labelled with GS1-issued GTIN-13 or UPC-A and with FNSKU labels for FBA, packed to the 22.7 kg per carton limit and validated against ISTA 3A transit testing. Pallets are built to 1200 x 800, 1200 x 1000 or 48 x 40 in GMA, with ISPM 15 treatment on any wood packaging.

What is included in the sample fee and is it refundable?

The sample charge is USD 50-150 per sample, covering pattern making, cutting, sewing and a courier-ready finished unit, and it is credited back against the first bulk order. Sampling takes 6-10 working days, or 12-15 for complex builds. Tooling and screens are quoted separately at USD 300-2,500.

Can you sign an NDA and protect my artwork and tooling?

An NDA covering designs, tech packs and artwork is standard and can be signed before files are exchanged. Tooling you pay for is yours: identified, photographed and recorded, with a stated storage period. Artwork, digitising files and colour references are transferable, so a second source remains available to you.

What file format and details do you need to quote a wholesale order?

Send vector artwork in AI, EPS or PDF, dimensions with tolerances, fabric and denier, Pantone TCX references, hardware brand and grade, construction notes, the quantity split by style and colour, target FOB price, delivery date and destination, plus your AQL and REACH, Prop 65 or CPSIA requirements. Quotation follows in 24-48 hours.