How To Import Consumer Products from China?
Clothing products and other similar products are one of the biggest consumer products from China to other countries. There are a lot of factors involved in selecting between the huge range of clothing manufacturers from China. These factors include the selection of the fabric, preparation of samples, tech pack designs, etc.
Purchasing clothes wholesale from China
If you are looking to buy clothes or consumer products from China, then you must be aware that the manufacturers are never ready with the products stocked in-house. They always offer the production process as one of the many services to their clients. Many vendors are unable to store the materials due to a shortage of warehouses.
This is because they make space only for the necessary fabrics and hence, other products like zippers do not find a place in the warehouse.
How to get good quality clothes and consumer products from China
All the manufacturers in china have different price ranges and quality. It would be like shooting in the dark if you just google and choose any random factory from the web without even confirming the capabilities of the supplier. It is very important that you first make sure that all of your priorities are requirements will be met by the supplier.
This is very important to avoid any complications in the future. Here is a list of factors which you must look out for while buying clothes and other consumer products from China:
1- Product range- all the producers have different products and they have different niche areas. When you plan for importing products, you must look for products which meet your demands and cater to your needs. Other aspects which are also important are the technical aspects of the product.
Printing is one of the technical aspects of the products.
2- Required minimum order quantity- another factor to be kept in mind while procuring consumer products from China is that all the suppliers have different minimum quantity orders. This means that you will have to place an order for the minimum number of pieces to do business with them.
This is determined by various factors such as the order, fabric, colour, and size of the product. Besides that, it is important to note that the minimum order quantity sometimes refers to the minimum number of products supplied by the supplier to the sub-contractor.
This allows you to reduce the minimum number of orders that you can place with the same factory.
3- Test reports- in most countries, clothing textiles are governed by a few tests. This is specifically the case in Europe, Australia, and USA. These nations employ the safety rules which need to be abided by the producer. These include restrictions on chemical materials and the use of heavy metals and pollutants.
There are many manufacturers of consumer products from China who have little or no awareness of these factors. Small producers mainly do not know these rules and regulations. Thus, this becomes an issue while importing. Although the sub-contractors supply all the raw materials to the manufacturers, it can still pose a problem.
To make sure that the products do not fail the tests, it is very important to test the final products by the producer. This exercise of testing the products is considered to be a tedious task and expensive task, especially by small factories. If you are a contractor who is importing to Europe, Australia, or USA, then the best thing will be to choose a producer who provides certified third-party testing and reporting.
SGS and Intertek are very important while buying clothes and consumer products from China.
4- Quality of the textile- before you move forward, you must ascertain and stick to your priorities regarding the specifications of the fabric. It would be idiotic to assume that the supplier will meet your preferences. You must be vigilant and skeptical when it comes to consumer products from China because ultimately, you will be at the losing end.
One of the good strategies is to be on the lookout for 2 types of suppliers. One is the clothing manufacturing supplier and the second is the fabric supplier. Although it will be much more time-consuming than moving forward with a single supplier, it is a much safer strategy when it comes to assuring the quality of the products.
Besides that, explaining the quality needs to the supplier can be a little more difficult than you would imagine. If you are communicating through calls, emails or texts, then this whole process will take weeks if not months. For those who have a specific requirement for the fabric, the best option is to look for the best textile vendor.
You must procure your samples directly from them and then these raw materials will be used by the factory of the manufacturing supplier.
How to get clothes made in China?
Once you are done with shortlisting the apparel manufacturers, here are the few steps that you should follow:
Design your tech pack. There are multiple steps included in this process.
- Draft and drawings of the design- this is the finished garment design as shown in the design.
- Sewing models- sewing pattern is different for different components of the garment such as the sleeves and collars.
- Nomenclature of the bill of materials- this refers to the names of all the raw materials that have been involved in making the item.
- Nomenclature of the sizing guide- the charts of measuring display letters like S, M, L, XL, etc. you have the option of choosing any of the ISO-certified standards of sizing.
- Allocation of sewing – sometimes, it becomes very important that the product’s dimensions are mentioned inside the size chart of the product.
- Measuring accuracy- to enable the natural dimensions of the fabric, they are cut, sewed and then pre-washed. It is very important that the deviance from the mentioned dimensions of the fabric is mentioned and precise.
Conclusion
Buying clothes and other consumer products from China is a task which required adherence to a lot of modalities and factors. Make sure that you stick to all the guidelines.