How we work
Merchandise is bought against a date. A member-guest weekend arrives, a season opens, a new location opens — and goods that arrive the following week are worth very little, however good they are.
So this page sets out the mechanics: how a delivery date is built, what happens at each stage of an order, how payment works, and what we do when something is wrong. If any of it is unclear, that is worth telling us before you order rather than after.
Six steps, in this order.
- 01
You tell us four things
The item, the quantity, the destination and the date you need the goods in hand. If the item is not decided yet, the occasion and the budget per person are enough to start.
- 02
We send a quote
Unit price at the quantity you asked for, the decoration method and position, the delivery date, the payment terms and the delivery terms. All on one document. If something is excluded from the price, it says so on the same page as the price.
- 03
Sample and artwork approval
You approve a physical sample with your artwork on it before the full run is produced. Samples are available on request; how a sample is charged depends on the item and the decoration setup, and we tell you that before we make it.
- 04
Deposit, then production
Every order runs on 50% deposit, the first one and the tenth. Production starts when the deposit clears and the sample is approved — not before, because a run started against an unapproved sample is a reprint waiting to happen.
- 05
Inspection before dispatch
The decorated goods are checked against the approved sample. You get photographs of the actual production run, not of the catalogue item, while the goods are still in our hands and a problem can still be fixed cheaply.
- 06
Balance, dispatch, tracking
The balance is due before dispatch. You get the tracking reference, the shipping documents and the commercial invoice. If we are handling customs clearance, you get the entry details too.
A delivery date is five numbers, not one.
A supplier who gives you a single figure — “three weeks” — has usually quoted production only, and has left out the part that goes wrong. Every date we write is made of these five components, and we will show you the split for your order if you ask for it.
- 1Production
- Manufacturing the base item, or picking it from stock if it is a stocked line.
- 2Decoration
- Setting up the artwork, running the decoration and drying or curing it.
- 3Inspection
- Checking the decorated goods against the approved sample before anything ships.
- 4Transit
- Sea or air, from Shenzhen or Guangzhou to your destination. This is the largest component and the one that varies most.
- 5Buffer
- Held back for customs and for the final delivery leg. A date with no buffer in it is a factory dispatch date presented as a delivery date.
Worked example
An engraved club gift leaving Shenzhen by sea on a long-haul route. An example only — the numbers for your item and your destination are on your quote.
| Component | Calendar days |
|---|---|
| Production | 6 – 8 |
| Decoration | 2 – 4 |
| Inspection | 2 |
| Sea transit | 18 – 24 |
| Buffer | 4 |
| Total, order to delivery | 32 – 42 |
About late delivery
The date is a commitment and we put it in writing. We are not publishing a standing penalty clause, because we have not settled one we would honour in every case, and a remedy printed on a website that nobody has costed is worth nothing to you. If a late-delivery remedy matters for your order — and for a trade show it usually should — ask for it before you place the order and we will write it onto the quote.
Samples are available on request.
There are two different things people mean by a sample, and they cost very different amounts.
A plain sample is the item without your logo on it. It answers questions about material, weight, finish and size, which is most of what a buyer actually needs to judge.
A decorated sample carries your artwork. It is the only way to judge stitch density, print colour or engrave depth — and producing one means running a full decoration setup for a single unit, which is why it is not free by default anywhere in this trade.
Ask us for either. We will tell you what it costs and how long it takes before we make it, and where a sample charge applies we normally credit it against the order that follows.
For an order that is going to a show or to a joining group, take the decorated sample. It is the step that catches the mistake while the mistake is still small.
Terms, and why they are set this way.
- Card or invoice
- Card is usually faster on a first order, because it avoids setting us up as a new foreign supplier in your accounts system before you have decided you want to work with us. Invoice and bank transfer is the standard route for larger orders.
- Every order, first or tenth
- 50% deposit to start production, and the balance before the goods are dispatched. The terms do not change as the relationship develops, so there is nothing to renegotiate later and nothing that arrives as a surprise on your second order.
- We do not offer credit terms
- No net 30 and no open account at this stage. We would rather say that on the website than have you discover it at invoice stage. If your finance process requires terms, raise it before you order and we will talk about it properly instead of leaving it to the end.
- Currency and duties
- We quote in your currency where we can. Whether the price includes duty and clearance, or whether you import the goods yourself, is stated on the quote before you order — never discovered afterwards.
Half in advance is the ordinary arrangement in this trade, and we apply it the same way on every order rather than changing the basis once an account is established. Decorated goods have no resale value to anyone but you — a run of two thousand shirts carrying your logo cannot be sold to a second buyer — which is why production against a deposit is the norm here and not a comment on any particular customer.
Who clears the goods is decided before you order.
The delivery term is on the quote
Every quote states the delivery term in full — where our responsibility ends, where yours begins, and whether duty and clearance are inside the price or outside it.
You get the tariff code
We give you the tariff classification and the country of origin for each item so that your customs broker can check the duty before you commit, rather than after the goods have sailed.
Documents travel with the goods
Commercial invoice, packing list, tracking reference and, where they exist for the item, the test reports and certificates. Requested at the last minute, these become a delay; supplied with the shipment, they are just paperwork.
What happens when goods arrive faulty.
Most of this is prevented earlier — by the approved sample and by the inspection before dispatch — but some of it will still happen, and a supplier who has not thought about that in advance handles it badly.
- 01
Tell us within seven days of delivery
Send photographs of the fault, of the outer carton and of the shipping label. Seven days is not a trap; it is the window in which a freight or handling claim is still possible.
- 02
We check it against the approved sample
The approved sample and the inspection photographs are the reference. That is the whole reason both exist.
- 03
We replace or credit the affected units
Whichever you prefer. Replacement runs to the same specification; a credit is applied to the affected units. If we ask for goods to be returned we pay the return freight — usually we will not ask, because shipping decorated goods back across a border costs more than the goods are worth.
- 04
What is not a fault
A change of mind after the sample is approved, and a colour that differs from what appeared on a screen when no Pantone reference was given. We will still help, but those are changes, not faults, and they are priced as changes.
Start with the date you need the goods.
Work backwards from that and everything else — freight mode, decoration method, when the artwork has to be final — follows from it. Tell us the date first and we will tell you what is still possible.