Wholesale Programmes
Volume supply for retailers, distributors and e-commerce operators: tiered pricing, mixed-style orders and a seasonal calendar planned in advance.
Wholesale Programmes supply leather bags at volume to retailers, distributors and e-commerce operators. Orders are priced in volume tiers and may be mixed across styles within the total quantity, subject to a minimum of 500 pieces per style and colourway. The commercial advantage of a wholesale arrangement is less the headline price than the planning: patterns, tooling and approved materials are held against the style, so a re-order is scheduled rather than re-developed. Standard terms are FOB Xiamen with T/T 30% deposit and 70% before shipment, inspected to AQL 2.5 under ISO 2859-1.
Programme parameters at a glance
| Parameter | Commitment |
|---|---|
| Minimum order quantity | 500 pieces per style / colourway |
| Sampling lead time | 6–10 working days (12–15 days for complex constructions) |
| Bulk production lead time | 35–50 days after sample approval |
| Inspection standard | AQL 2.5 (ISO 2859-1), single sampling, general level II |
| Incoterms | FOB Xiamen — EXW, CIF and DDP available on request |
| Payment terms | T/T 30% deposit / 70% before shipment; L/C at sight for container loads |
| Verified production floor space | 4,950 m² (SGS-verified) |
| Team | 137 staff across 7 production lines |
| Equipment | 149 machines including computerised saddle-stitch and edge-painting units |
| Monthly capacity | 200,000 pieces |
| Entity | Founded 2014; principal has worked in bag development since 2004 |
What the Service Covers
A wholesale arrangement differs from a one-off order in that assets are retained between runs. That is what shortens the second programme and stabilises quality across a season.
How It Works
Wholesale programmes begin with a range plan rather than a single style. The stages below assume more than one style and at least one repeat.
- Range plan and volume — the buyer states the styles, the total programme quantity and the seasonal rhythm it needs to support.
- Tier costing — unit prices are modelled at each quantity band so the buyer can see what volume does to landed cost before committing.
- Specification and branding — materials, hardware, marks and packaging are written up once and applied across the range.
- Sampling — first builds in 6–10 working days per style, or 12–15 for complex constructions, with 4–6 working days per revision.
- Sealing and scheduling — pre-production samples are sealed and retained, and production slots are reserved against the seasonal calendar.
- Bulk, inspection and repeat — 35–50 days of production per run, then inspection to AQL 2.5, packing to specification and the next scheduled slot.
What You Provide / What We Provide
Wholesale works best when the buyer shares a forward view rather than a series of individual orders. Reserved capacity is the counterpart of that visibility.
| What you provide | What the programme team provides |
|---|---|
| Range plan: styles, quantities and seasonal timing | Tier pricing modelled at each quantity band, with the landed-cost effect of each |
| Forward volume indication for the next one or two seasons | Reserved production slots and material planning against the shared calendar |
| Brand assets, Pantone references and packaging intent | Specification, tooling drawings, first-article samples and lab dips for approval |
| Consolidated sample comments at each round | Revised samples, updated specification and a written change record |
| Sign-off on sealed pre-production samples | Retained reference samples, patterns and tooling held between seasons |
| Purchase orders against the agreed schedule | Bulk runs of 35–50 days, inspection to AQL 2.5 and packing to specification |
Volume Tiers and What Each Adds
Tiers are calculated on total programme quantity, not on a single purchase order. The bands below are indicative; the commercial terms of a given programme are set out in its quotation.
| Band | Quantity per programme | What the band adds |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | From 500 pieces per style and colourway | Standard unit pricing, full branding, retained patterns and tooling |
| Mid | 2,000 to 4,999 pieces | Improved unit pricing and priority production scheduling across the range |
| High | 5,000 pieces and above | Custom material development, top-priority queue and dedicated programme resource |
Timelines and Terms
Wholesale terms follow the standard commercial framework, with the addition of retained assets and scheduled capacity. Re-orders are shorter than first runs because sampling is already settled.
| Item | Standard term |
|---|---|
| Sampling | 6–10 working days; 12–15 for complex constructions |
| Bulk production | 35–50 days after sample approval |
| Minimum order quantity | 500 pieces per style and colourway |
| Volume tiers | Quoted against total programme quantity and confirmed in writing |
| Incoterm | FOB Xiamen; EXW, CIF and DDP on request |
| Payment | T/T 30% deposit, 70% before shipment |
| Inspection | AQL 2.5 (ISO 2859-1), single sampling, general level II |
| Capacity | 200,000 pieces per month across 7 lines; 137 staff, 149 machines |
Standards and Compliance
Wholesale buyers carry the compliance risk at destination, so documentation is prepared per shipment and matched to the material batch. Consistency between runs is the point: a re-order should not require a new compliance conversation.
- Inspection — AQL 2.5 under ISO 2859-1, single sampling, general level II, applied identically on first runs and re-orders.
- Management systems — programmes run to ISO 9001 discipline with environmental aspects under ISO 14001 practice, on an SGS-verified 4,950 m² production floor in Quanzhou, Fujian.
- Chemical compliance — REACH declarations for the European market, CPSIA and lead testing for the United States, Proposition 65 for California, and OEKO-TEX certified linings on request.
- Physical testing — abrasion, seam strength, handle and strap load, zip cycling and colour fastness, reported against ASTM methods before shipment on request.
- Consistency between runs — retained sealed samples, approved lab dips and tooling records so a re-order matches the goods already on shelf.
- Third-party inspection — SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek or a buyer-nominated inspector are welcome at any stage.
Building the Seasonal Calendar Around Retail Dates
A wholesale programme is planned backwards from the buyer's calendar rather than forwards from the order date. The date that governs the run is the one the retailer cannot move: a floor set, a catalogue promotion, or a launch a distributor has already sold to its own accounts. Sampling, bulk and transit are counted back from that date, and the production slot is reserved to protect it. A programme that starts late rarely recovers, because the queue does not shorten simply because a purchase order has been raised.
| Calendar stage | Working position | What it protects |
|---|---|---|
| Range plan and tier costing | Opened well ahead of the retail date | Locks volume bands and material call-forward before pricing is confirmed |
| Sampling and revisions | 6–10 working days per round, 12–15 for complex builds | Settles the construction before any cutting begins |
| Sealing and slot reservation | Directly after sample approval | Reserves line capacity so bulk is not queued behind new development |
| Bulk production | 35–50 days after approval | The run itself, held against the reserved slot |
| Inspection and packing | 3–5 working days | AQL 2.5 clearance and carton packing to the marked specification |
| Transit to destination | Per routing from Xiamen | Clearing customs and reaching the distribution centre before the floor date |
Two habits shorten the calendar more than any concession on price. The first is committing the range plan early enough for materials to be called forward: a hide that must be sourced after the order is placed adds lead time that no amount of scheduling recovers. The second is consolidating sample comments into one round per revision — three rounds of isolated comments consume the same calendar as three full revisions but leave a weaker specification. The programme team coordinates both and returns a written calendar before the deposit is called.
- Fixed floor dates first — the buyer names the retail date, and the run is counted back from it rather than scheduled from order placement.
- Material call-forward — hides, linings and hardware are booked against the plan so bulk never waits on a single component.
- One consolidated revision round — comments arrive together, so each round moves the specification forward instead of sideways.
- Reserved slot, not a queued order — bulk capacity is held on the calendar, which is what turns a re-order into a scheduling decision.
- Buffer before the retail date — inspection, packing and transit are planned with margin rather than assumed to run at the minimum.
Where a buyer supplies several territories, the calendar is built per destination rather than per programme. A shipment bound for a European distribution centre and one bound for a West Coast warehouse do not share a transit profile, and reserving a single block of capacity for both usually means the earlier date is set by the slower lane. Splitting the programme into two scheduled runs costs a little unit-price advantage and buys back the calendar.
What Actually Moves Landed Cost at Volume
Unit price is the number everyone negotiates and the one that explains least of the landed cost. At wholesale volumes the differences that matter are structural: how much of the range shares a material, how many hardware tools must be amortised over the run, how the carton is packed, and how many colourways the changeover has to absorb. Two programmes of identical quantity can land at materially different costs because one was specified to be repeatable and the other was not.
| Cost lever | What it changes | Where it is decided |
|---|---|---|
| Material commonality across the range | Fewer hide and lining references to buy, better yield, less cutting waste | At range planning, before costing |
| Hardware tooling amortisation | A custom tool is charged once and spread across the run and its repeats | At specification, and it falls away on re-orders |
| Colourway count per style | Each colourway adds a changeover and carries its own 500-piece minimum | At the range plan |
| Carton pack and cube | Carton count, container utilisation and per-unit freight | At packing specification |
| Order consolidation | Fewer shipments carrying the same annual volume | At the seasonal calendar |
The practical consequence is that the cheapest way to reduce landed cost is to decide earlier rather than to negotiate harder. A range built on three shared material references, two hardware finishes and one lining programme costs less to buy, less to cut and less to pack than the same quantity spread across nine references — and it re-orders more cleanly, because fewer components can disappear between seasons. The programme team models these levers at quotation stage so the effect of a specification change is visible before it is committed.
Freight deserves its own line in the calculation. A change in carton dimensions that improves container utilisation frequently returns more than a percentage point of unit price, because it applies to every unit shipped rather than to one negotiation. For that reason the quotation separates unit price, tooling, packing and freight instead of folding them into a single figure: the buyer can then see which lever is worth pulling.
Packing, Marking and Retail-Ready Presentation
Wholesale goods are handled more times than a single parcel: at the distribution centre, again at the store, and finally by the customer at the shelf. Packing is specified against that chain. A bag that arrives clean but creased, or cartoned in a way that forces the receiving team to re-label every unit, has cost the buyer money after the goods were technically delivered. Carton specification, inner packing, barcoding and marking are therefore agreed as part of the programme rather than left to the packing line.
| Packing element | Specified at programme level | Why it matters downstream |
|---|---|---|
| Inner packing | Tissue, stuffing, dust bag and silica per unit | Prevents creasing and handle imprint in transit and in storage |
| Retail labelling | Barcode, price field and country-of-origin placement | Avoids re-labelling at the distribution centre |
| Carton marking | Style, colourway, quantity and carton sequence | Makes the carton verifiable without opening it |
| Carton pack quantity | Units per carton and carton dimensions | Drives cube, container utilisation and per-unit freight |
| Pallet and container plan | Pallet pattern and loading sequence | Protects the load and shortens unloading at destination |
Marking deserves more attention than it usually receives. A carton marked only with a style code forces the receiving team to open it, count it and re-label it, which is among the most common causes of a delayed floor set. Marking style, colourway, quantity and carton sequence on the outside removes that step entirely. Where a buyer operates a scanning warehouse, the barcode and its placement are specified on the polybag or the retail tag rather than assumed, and one packed carton from the first run is sealed and retained so any dispute about presentation is settled against a physical reference.
- Sealed packing reference — one packed carton from the first run is retained as the standard for every repeat.
- Barcode placement specified — on the polybag or the retail tag, agreed before bulk rather than discovered at packing.
- Carton sequence marked — numbered cartons let the receiving team verify a shipment without counting individual units.
- Inner packing matched to the material — tissue and stuffing are specified per leather type, since not every finish tolerates the same contact.
- Forwarder requirements confirmed early — pallet height, weight limits and labelling rules differ by destination and carrier.
Presentation also carries the brand decision. A wholesale buyer selling at a premium price point needs the unboxing to survive the shelf rather than just the photograph: the dust bag, the tag and the way a handle is wrapped are part of what the customer touches. Those elements are specified alongside the branding package and repeated on every run, so a re-order arriving two seasons later matches the goods already sitting on the shelf.
Extending and Replenishing a Live Programme
The most valuable thing a wholesale relationship accumulates is not price but precedent. Once a style has been sampled, sealed and run, adding a colourway or a companion piece becomes an extension of an approved platform rather than a fresh development. That is why a second season is usually faster than the first, and why range extension should be planned against the existing programme instead of started from a blank sheet.
- Confirm the platform — agree the base construction, materials and hardware finish the new style will share with the approved range.
- Define the deltas only — list what changes: dimensions, closure, strap or lining. Anything not listed carries over unchanged.
- Sample the differences — first builds in 6–10 working days where the platform holds, 12–15 where new hardware is involved.
- Seal the extension — a pre-production sample is sealed and added to the retained set held against the programme.
- Schedule against the reserved slot — bulk of 35–50 days, inspected to AQL 2.5 and packed to the existing carton specification.
Replenishment works on the same principle at a smaller scale. A re-order against a sealed style needs no sampling round at all, so the calendar becomes the bulk run plus inspection and packing, and the binding constraint shifts from development to material availability. Where a component has been withdrawn between seasons, the programme team raises the substitution in writing before cutting begins rather than after the goods land, so the buyer decides rather than discovers.
The discipline that makes extension cheap is documentation. A written specification, a sealed sample and a retained tooling record turn the next conversation into a comparison rather than a development. Where a buyer's own design team changes between seasons, that documentation is what stops a new team from inadvertently re-specifying an approved style — a common and expensive way to lose a season.
Open a wholesale account
Share your range plan and the volumes you expect across the next two seasons. The programme team will return tier pricing, a production calendar and the terms that apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
What quantities qualify for wholesale terms?
Wholesale terms apply from 500 pieces per style and per colourway, calculated against total programme volume rather than a single purchase order. Volume is then priced in bands, with improved unit pricing and scheduling priority at higher quantities. The bands that apply to a given programme are set out in its quotation.
Can we mix styles within one wholesale order?
Yes. Styles and colourways can be combined within a single total quantity, subject to the 500-piece minimum per style and colourway. Mixing is a common way for a distributor to cover several categories without committing to a full run of each, and parallel colourways can usually be produced in one changeover.
How is a re-order different from a first order?
A re-order starts from retained assets: the pattern, the clicker dies, the hardware tooling, the approved lab dips and the sealed reference sample. That removes the sampling rounds from the programme, so the path to delivery is materially shorter and the goods match what is already on shelf.
How are production slots allocated across a season?
Slots are reserved against a shared calendar once the range plan and volumes are agreed. Reserving capacity in advance is what allows a re-order to be scheduled rather than queued behind new development. Capacity across seven lines supports monthly output of 200,000 pieces.
Are wholesale orders inspected to the same standard?
Yes. Every lot is inspected to AQL 2.5 under ISO 2859-1, single sampling, general level II, with defects classified critical, major or minor. Inspection precedes packing, so only a passed lot is cartoned. Third-party inspection by SGS, Bureau Veritas or Intertek is welcome at any stage.
What branding is included in wholesale pricing?
Marks, woven labels, printed linings, hardware finish and standard packaging are specified once and repeated across the range. Custom hardware tooling is quoted separately from unit price and identified by style. Printed cartons and foil-blocked boxes carry print minimums, so stock cartons with branded inserts may be the better option at lower volumes.
What payment terms apply to wholesale orders?
Standard terms are T/T with 30% deposit on confirmation to release materials and 70% before shipment once inspection has passed. Prices are quoted FOB Xiamen, with EXW, CIF and DDP available on request. Extended terms are a matter for agreement and are recorded in the programme quotation.
Can we run a pilot before committing to wholesale volumes?
Yes. Many wholesale relationships begin with a reduced-quantity pilot run to validate demand and the specification before the buyer commits to volume tiers. The pilot is built to the same standard and documented so it scales cleanly, and the unit price on the pilot sits above standard pricing.
How is consistency maintained between seasonal runs?
Through retained reference material. The sealed pre-production sample, the approved lab dips, the tooling records and the inspection report are held against the style, and each re-order is judged against them. Where a material is discontinued or a component changes, the difference is flagged in writing before the run starts.
What is the shortest realistic first-order timeline?
Sampling runs 6–10 working days for a standard construction and 12–15 for complex ones, with 4–6 working days per revision round. Bulk then runs 35–50 days after sample approval, followed by three to five working days for inspection and packing, plus transit. A complete tech pack is the single most effective way to shorten it.
Can one wholesale programme be split across two delivery dates?
Yes, and where a buyer supplies several territories it is often the better plan. Transit profiles differ by destination, so a single reserved block of capacity is usually governed by the slower lane. Splitting into two scheduled runs costs a little unit-price advantage and returns the calendar, with each run inspected and packed to the same specification.
How is tooling treated once a programme has run?
Custom hardware tooling is quoted separately from unit price, charged to the programme and held against that style between seasons. It stays dedicated to the buyer's style and is not applied to another programme. Because the cost is amortised across the run, a re-order carries no further tooling charge.
What happens if a material is withdrawn between seasons?
The substitution is raised in writing before cutting begins, with the closest available match and its effect on hand feel, colour or performance stated plainly. The buyer approves or redirects. Nothing is swapped silently, and the approved replacement is then sealed into the retained reference set for the style.
Do agreed prices hold across the season?
Prices are confirmed against the volume bands in the programme quotation and hold for the agreed period. Movement outside those bands, a change of material, or an added colourway with its own 500-piece minimum will move the number. Any revision is quoted in writing before the run is scheduled.