how to outsource t-shirt production to china - any experiences?
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Discuss the various finishing services that can help showcase your brand. Topics include custom neck tag labels, hang tags, garment washes, folding, bagging and even shipment/packaging options.
how to outsource t-shirt production to china - any experiences?
how to outsource t-shirt production to china - any experiences?
Quote:
Originally Posted by tqualizerman
I'd be happy to ... not quite sure where to start ... so if anyone has a question about this, just ask and I'll start a thread with the answer and I guess we can go from there.
Hi Mike,
Solmu is right, that would be an incredible topic to read around here. Outsourcing is big, and getting bigger and bigger. To hear from someone with first-hand experience will be truly appreciated in this forum.
Maybe you could start off with some of your very first steps. How did you locate your potential suppliers? What criteria did you use in selecting the right one for you? What was your experience with communication, any particular obstacles? What were some of the barriers in general - cultural, language, business conduct etc? Some ideas to start with. I'm sure other members will add on a lot more soon. Look forward to your posts Thanks
Re: how to outsource t-shirt production to china - any experiences?
I cant speak for Michael Annushka, but here in Toronto the manufacturing of t-shirts is not too expensive. We have vary well trained sewers etc...
Importing ready made yes.
From what I know China is a world leader in the manufacturing sector. I know not much meat in my post, sorry.
Re: www.tqualizer.biz -- would appreciate your opinions
Annushka,
There was a thread started yesterday by a new member (can't remember his handle), under Member Introductions. He works in China in a factory. He offered any advice to anyone who had questions about manufacturing in China. If I find it, I'll post it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Annushka
Hi Mike,
Solmu is right, that would be an incredible topic to read around here. Outsourcing is big, and getting bigger and bigger. To hear from someone with first-hand experience will be truly appreciated in this forum.
Maybe you could start off with some of your very first steps. How did you locate your potential suppliers? What criteria did you use in selecting the right one for you? What was your experience with communication, any particular obstacles? What were some of the barriers in general - cultural, language, business conduct etc? Some ideas to start with. I'm sure other members will add on a lot more soon. Look forward to your posts Thanks
Re: how to outsource t-shirt production to china - any experiences?
For the record, Annushka's post above was split off from the tqualizer review thread, there that member said that he would be happy to share info about his experience outsourcing t-shirts to China if there were specific questions. So I made Annushka's great post with specific questions it's own separate thread.
I sent Michael a message with a link to this thread, so hopefully if he has time, he'll add some input here.
Of course, if any other members have experiences or answers they want to share, feel free to jump right in
Re: how to outsource t-shirt production to china - any experiences?
I had my first lot of T-Shirts made in China when I 1st started 6-9 months ago. Found a supplier thru a forum and he made me my tshirts 4 different designs and they where quite good. But emailing and waiting was the biggest downfall but with the designs on there they cost me less than $3 each for 100 of each design.
Re: how to outsource t-shirt production to china - any experiences?
Quote:
Originally Posted by monsta imports
I had my first lot of T-Shirts made in China when I 1st started 6-9 months ago.
Only The First Lot? Did You Continue To Use Their Service?
Quote:
Originally Posted by monsta imports
But emailing and waiting was the biggest downfall
I Know What You Mean. I've Dealt With People Overseas Thru E-Mail And The Biggest Problem Is The Time Difference. You Send Them An E-Mail And They Reply While You Sleep, Then You Get Back To Them While They're Sleeping. A Small Conversation Can Take Days. (Well At Least Here In California)
Quote:
Originally Posted by monsta imports
the designs on there they cost me less than $3 each for 100 of each design.
What Kind Of Designs Did You Do? Artistic? Funny Quotes? Logos?
Re: how to outsource t-shirt production to china - any experiences?
We initially got started in China because a business contact ended up moving there after discovering the technology that makes T-Qualizer work. He ended up buying a majority stake in the factory that he discovered.
That was about two ago now, and we've come a long long way from those first days. One of the first products we began importing to Canada was the basic FlashWear line.
The idea behind this product is to take any company logo, build an electroluminescent panel out of it, make it flash and light up, and integrate it into hats and shirts.
Finding a source for the t-shirts is not a problem. There are plenty of sources. That said, what did we learn very quickly?
1) some suppliers will show you the best of the best samples they have, and they are fine tees.
2) some suppliers will then turn around and mix in cheap shirts with the nice stuff. We got orders of 50% great shirts/50% garbage shirts or 33/33/33 splits of different quality shirts when we first started.
Why did they think they could get away with this? A big part of the problem is that so many Chinese businesses only care about the immediate deal, and try to make as much money as possible. They do not see the potential for many, many orders to follow. Partly because there are countless sources for shirts in China, and many businesses don't expect you to ever come back anyway. So by packing our orders with crap shirts, they maximized their dollar and we never did business with them again. They went on to the next unsuspecting company, and we learned a lesson.
One of the biggest factors that makes this type of business practice possible is that most of Chinese business remains cash based, and as a customer sourcing something, you're going to pay 50% cash up front and 50% when the order is ready. In general, there are no terms given. You don't get to pay in sixty days. If something goes wrong, your money is gone. You will never see it again.
There are a few things that are going to make doing business with China more bearable. I will be happy to elaborate on any of these, and these are just the few that pop to mind immediately:
1) having a western contact on the ground, who resides there and communicates directly to your source. Not only do you have to make sure your order is placed and paid for, you alos need to get it delivered.
2) Communication is the biggest obstacle right now between China and the Western world. If you are fluent in Mandarin or Cantonese and can read this posting as well, go and spend time learning up on Chinese business and go there. You will become one of the most valuable pieces of business real estate, because you can communicate between two very very very different worlds. This is something both sides need.
3) find the most direct route to your source. The Chinese supply chain is driven by ladders of sales agents, who sell 'up the ladder' each adding their own markup of course. This creates tonnes of issues, your price is higher of course, but also, if something goes wrong, you're never going to get it fixed if there are six sales agents in the way.
4) ALWAYS insure your shipments from China. Things go missing, and boats sink. They do not yet have the same regulations, check points and safety codes (and where they do exist, they are rarely enforced.) Boats sink.
I might be getting off topic right now, so I will stop and hopefully someone has some more questions. Like I said before, there is a lot we have learned by doing business in China, and I am only speaking from experience. I expect some people may disagree with me, but I would welcome their input and stories about their experiences as well.
__________________
T-Qualizer: the t-shirt that flashes to the beat of your music - http://www.tqualizer.biz
Last edited by Solmu : December 14th, 2006 at 06:59 PM.
Reason: removed url as per forum guidelines
Re: how to outsource t-shirt production to china - any experiences?
Quote:
Originally Posted by monsta imports
A good thread with a lot of valid points.
The only problem I have found is emailing back and forth.
Waiting for samples and then waiting even longer for your order.
Sea freight bites assssssssssss but is good for your profit.
Very well made items and good quality.
Dan
Email has certainly helped make doing business with China so much "faster" than I expect it used to be. Email allows for you to have things documented, but at the same time is totally useless unless you have someone on the other end who understands every nuance or accidental slang term you throw in there. A '.' in the wrong place can change the entire meaning of your message, and you may not find out until the order is finally in your hands and its way too late!
Email has also allowed us to supply video proofs to our clients of their t-shirts/posters etc, which saves a lot of time. We supply a lot of electroluminescent posters into the advertising industry, and this is where there are no comfortable timelines, so video proofs/.GIF animations/PDF diagrams have allowed us to complete orders within a client's budgeted timeline.
Sea freight from China to Canada and the US will average about 20-30 days, and Dan is right, is a fraction of the cost of air freight.
In China, the best air freights we have secured are about $7 USD/kg, so while you can get things within about 7 days through the major logistics companies (UPS, FedEx, etc) its going to cost you.
HOWEVER, if this is when you need things, always insist that your source *pre-pays* the shipping for you, as it will likely cost your shipping costs in half.
__________________
T-Qualizer: the t-shirt that flashes to the beat of your music - http://www.tqualizer.biz
how to outsource t-shirt production to china - any experiences? 
Thanks
Re: www.tqualizer.biz -- would appreciate your opinions 
(Well At Least Here In California)
Re: how to outsource t-shirt production to china - any experiences? 
