Does SLSPOLO Work with Startup Brands?

Yes, on the same terms as every other buyer: 100 pieces per style per colour for most knitted builds, or 200 pieces for bonded and seam-sealed construction. Nothing about the process changes for a smaller brand. What matters is knowing how that minimum is counted, where trims sit outside it, and how to shape a first order around both.

What 100 pieces allows a first brand to do

Brands placing their first production run are part of our regular work. The counting rule is what shapes an opening drop:

• Counted per colour as well as per style — one style in one colour is one minimum; adding a second colour adds a second.
• The size split is yours — 100 pieces spread across any size range, graded to your own measurement set.
• Each distinct pattern is its own style — two garments in one fabric with different cuts count separately.
• Bonded builds start at 200 — adhesive film, temperature, pressure and dwell time are validated per fabric pairing.

The full numbers, including the worked example of one style in two colours, are on minimum order quantity.

Trims are calculated separately

Branding carries its own supplier minimums, which do not stack on top of the garment order: woven labels and hangtags start at 1,000 pieces per design, jacquard patches and silicone badges at 300. Ordering 100 garments does not mean ordering 1,000 — it means the labels come from a trim supplier whose own minimum is 1,000 pieces. Heat transfer printing is one of the decoration options available where a brand wants neck information without a woven-label purchase.

For a new brand this is a cash-planning question rather than an order-size question: labels can wait until the repeat, so the opening spend goes into fabric and garments.

A practical shape for a first order

Four decisions cover most of an opening run:

• Send whatever you have — a tech pack, a reference sample to match, or a sketch with target fabric; the ODM route develops the fit block and grading.
• One style, one colour — one minimum, one fabric booking, one size set, and everything learned transfers to the next style.
• Leave trims and retail packing for the repeat — labels, hangtags and branded polybags can be added once the garment sells.
• Plan the repeat early — fabric, pattern, grading and approved sample already exist, so the second run skips development.

You can start from an existing style instead of a blank sheet: send the reference you are closest to from polo shirt styles or hoodie styles, and we work from there.

How the first timeline runs

Sampling takes 3–7 days and is used to check fabric hand, stitch density, measurements and construction, with corrections applied and resubmitted. Bulk starts only against a sample approved in writing and takes 15–25 days, with inspection to AQL 2.5 inline and final. Both figures cover production and exclude shipping. Sampling is charged as its own item; on a first order of 300 pieces or more, that sampling fee is credited against the order value.

Three things can be settled while sampling runs, since none depends on the sample: your size set and grading, your Incoterm — EXW, FOB Shenzhen / Yantian or DDP — and your trim artwork.

Questions buyers ask next

Can 100 pieces be split across sizes?

Yes. The 100 pieces per style per colour are spread across whatever size set you name, and grading is developed to your own measurements. A size-heavy split changes nothing about the minimum, though it changes how many units of each size you hold afterwards.

Do trims raise the garment minimum?

No. Woven labels and hangtags carry a 1,000-piece supplier minimum, and jacquard and silicone badges 300 pieces, counted separately from garments rather than added on top of them.

What should a first order look like?

One style in one colour at the 100-piece minimum, on your own size spread, with the sample approved in writing before bulk is booked. Branded trims and retail packing can wait for the repeat. Send a tech pack or a reference sample; grading and construction can be developed from either.

Are minimums lower for a small brand?

The minimum is the same for every buyer: 100 pieces per style per colour, or 200 for bonded and seam-sealed builds. If your first quantity falls below that, send the specification and ask; what is possible depends on the fabric and construction involved.

Next step

Send the style you want to start with, in whatever form it takes today, to salesman8@yctshirt.cn or through the contact page.