Oct. 09, 2026
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You need five things before a factory can price a sweater honestly: a dimensioned sketch or reference garment, a yarn callout with composition and count, a graded size specification with tolerances, the quantity split per style and colorway, and your labeling plus packing requirements. Send all five and most mills can return a workable FOB number within one or two business days; send a mood photo alone and you get a placeholder that commonly moves 15 to 30 percent once real details arrive, because the factory priced an assumption rather than a garment. The conditional part matters: if you are only testing whether a concept is commercially viable, a rough shape-of-price from a photo plus target quantity is genuinely useful. If you have already committed shelf space or a launch date, do not ask for a number until those five items exist, or build them with our team through our custom knitwear development process first.
In short: treat the quote request as a specification document, not as an email. Every variable you leave open is one the factory prices conservatively, and you pay for that caution per unit.
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Item |
What it fixes in the quote |
What happens when it is missing |
|
Dimensioned sketch, tech pack, or reference sample |
Construction method, stitch structure, seam and linking plan |
Every factory invents its own construction, so comparing quotes becomes meaningless |
|
Yarn callout: composition, count, blend ratio |
The largest single cost line in most knits |
Quotes swing widely because each mill substitutes a different yarn to hit your target price |
|
Graded size spec with measurement points and tolerances |
Grading work, yarn consumption per size |
Garments arrive true to a sample but off your size chart |
|
Quantity per style, per colorway, plus size ratio |
Machine setup amortization and dye-lot minimums |
The price quoted assumes a volume you never intended to order |
|
Labeling, hangtag and packing instructions |
Trim sourcing and packing labor hours |
Accessories get quoted later as an unwelcome extra line |
Notice that none of these five is a price question. Price becomes easy to discuss once these are settled, and stays vague indefinitely while they are not.
Yes, and each starting point buys you a different level of price accuracy. Choosing deliberately is better than apologizing for an incomplete file.
|
Starting point |
Workable when |
Price accuracy you should expect |
Still missing |
|
Physical reference sample |
You have a garment whose fit and hand you want reproduced |
Within roughly 10 percent once we confirm the yarn |
Size intent for your own market, labeling standard |
|
Tech pack with measurements and BOM |
You have in-house technical capability |
Firm FOB quote with few open items |
Physical confirmation of hand feel and drape |
|
Flat sketch without measurements |
Early concept testing |
Indicative range only, usually quoted wide |
Everything downstream: grading, consumption, finishing |
|
Mood photo or collage |
Deciding whether to develop at all |
A band wide enough to kill or keep the idea |
Real pricing; treat any number here as provisional |
FNJIA accepts all four starting points, and when a client arrives with nothing but an idea our team advises on fabrication and printing options and produces the technical drawings and tech packs needed to turn a sketch into something a machine can knit.
Fiber name alone is not a specification. "Wool sweater" covers everything from a coarse lambswool at a low count to a fine extrafine merino at a count that costs several times more, and a mill quoting either is acting reasonably.
Four elements close the gap. Composition with percentages settles most of it, since a 30/70 wool-acrylic and a 70/30 blend differ in hand, pilling behavior and invoice. Yarn count governs how much fiber goes into each garment and therefore dominates material cost, while gauge drives machine time, covered in our guide to choosing the right knit gauge for private label knitwear. Brushing, washing or enzyme treatment then change both cost and measured size after laundering.
If you are choosing between cotton, wool, cashmere and acrylic mainly on cost, read our knitwear fabric guide before locking a target price, because swapping fiber to hit a number usually relocates the problem into returns.
This is where quoting stops being a product decision and becomes a cash decision.
|
Variable |
Direction of effect |
When it dominates the price |
Practical trade-off |
|
Total pieces per style |
Higher volume spreads setup and dye-lot cost over more units |
Small first orders below the yarn purchase lot |
Consolidate colorways into one run rather than cutting every style |
|
Number of colorways |
Usually its own dye lot and often its own knitting run |
Any style with more than three colors |
Start with two strong sellers, extend after sell-through |
|
Pieces per colorway |
Very low per-color counts are often priced as a custom dye lot |
Deep shade cards or jacquards |
Use stock-shade yarns for test quantities |
|
Private labels and hangtags |
Trim minimums apply per design, not per garment |
First orders under one thousand units |
Stock generic labels for the pilot run, switch once volume justifies it |
|
Size ratio |
Extremes of the grade consume more yarn and add grading work |
Plus-size ranges or long size sets |
Confirm your ratio before quote rather than after sample approval |
FNJIA publishes two starting figures, and which one applies matters. Our custom program page states an MOQ of 100 pieces per item and our FAQ states 300 pieces per design: both are honest numbers, since a stock-yarn cotton or acrylic style in existing shades can often run at the lower figure while a custom-spun cashmere, mohair or alpaca blend dyed to your own shade carries the higher one because the yarn order itself has a purchase minimum. Private woven or satin labels and custom hangtags have their own 1,000-piece minimum, though applying them to garments adds no separate sewing charge. When that minimum exceeds what your first drop needs, we hold the surplus for your later runs.
Sampling creates most later disputes, and every one is cheap to prevent here.
|
Check |
Why it fails later |
Evidence worth asking for |
|
Measurement method |
Flat measurements and on-body expectations produce different numbers from the same garment |
A size chart stating how each point was measured, and tolerance in centimeters |
|
Shrinkage behavior |
Knits relax after washing, and a garment cut from unwashed fabric moves in the customer's first wash |
Confirmation that fabric was washed before cutting, plus a measured wash test |
|
Color standard |
Screens and showroom lighting distort perception of dyed yarn |
Approval against a physical lab dip or reference swatch, viewed in agreed lighting |
|
Decoration placement |
Print and embroidery position drifts between sample and bulk line |
Photo or video documentation of the approved sample before it ships |
|
Trim and label placement |
Back-neck application, care label position and hangtag fixing are compliance-relevant |
Packing instruction sheet attached to the approved sample record |
Settle regulatory content early because it shapes the label file and your clearance. The European Union requires fiber composition percentages, and the United States requires fiber content, country of origin and care instructions, with care symbols generally aligned to ISO 3758 practice. Exact wording belongs with whoever files your entry.
Ask for pre-shipment documentation as standard. We send product videos before samples ship so changes stay cheap.
Development as well as execution. Our team assists with fabric and printing method selection, sources trims locally including buttons, zippers, patches and laces, generates the pattern and tracks each detail through sample correction. Once quantities, colors and sizes are confirmed and the deposit clears, bulk production runs 15 to 20 working days after pre-production sample approval. Every garment passes incoming material inspection, in-line inspection, random sampling and final inspection before packing, and we support on-site factory inspections if your team prefers to audit in person.
Q: We only have a hand-drawn sketch and a target retail price. Is it worth contacting suppliers yet?A: Yes, provided you frame it as a feasibility question. A target price plus a sketch lets a factory show which constructions sit near your number, and that shapes the design before you invest in a full tech pack. Send an expected quantity range too, since feasibility without volume is guesswork.
Q: Should we develop our own tech pack or let the factory produce one?A: Bring your own if you can, because it carries your sizing intent and survives changes to supply chain. First-time brands usually move faster letting the factory draft one from a reference sample, which is more accurate on construction.
Q: What is a realistic first order size to avoid paying pilot-run premiums?A: Around 100 to 300 pieces per design is the practical entry point for most knits, with private labels and hangtags priced at a 1,000-piece minimum. Below that range you can still produce, but per-unit cost rises because yarn lots, dye lots and machine setup are amortized over fewer garments.
Q: How long from approved sample to goods leaving the factory?A: Roughly 15 to 20 working days after pre-production sample approval for most styles, plus packing and transit. Air freight runs about 12 to 15 working days and sea freight 25 to 40 days, so the transport choice usually dominates your calendar more than production does.
Q: Can we reuse our approved samples for a second factory to quote against?A: You can, and it helps comparability, but send the size chart and yarn specification with it. A sample without its specification invites each factory to reverse-engineer a cheaper version, giving quotes that look close for garments that are not.
Send whatever you have — a reference sample, a sketch, or a tech pack in progress — to fnjia@fnjiaknitwear.com. FNJIA will review which of the five inputs are missing, flag anything that would move your unit price after approval, and return either a firm FOB quote or a short list of the details still required to produce one.
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