RFQ for Clothing Manufacturing: 12 Fields That Get a Price

An RFQ for clothing manufacturing gets a price when it answers twelve questions a factory would otherwise email back one at a time: style, fabric and GSM, colour count, size split, quantity per style per colour, decoration, trims, packing, ship-to and trade term, sample or bulk first, target date, and anything fixed. Fill the table below and the reply comes back as a quotation.

What are the twelve fields an RFQ needs before a factory can quote?

Copy this table into an email: the middle column is what to write, the right column tests whether the answer can be priced.

Field	What to write	Why it changes the price
1. Style or reference	Style name plus version number, front and back photos, and a reference sample if one exists.	A reference fixes seams and panel shape before costing. Without one, quotes describe different garments.
2. Fabric and GSM	Fibre content, construction and weight in GSM, e.g. “100% cotton loopback terry, 320 gsm”.	Fabric is the largest line in a knit garment; a 100 gsm step moves the band before sewing.
3. Colour count	Number of colourways, pieces in each, plus a Pantone TCX reference or an approved lab dip.	Each colour is a separate run with its own minimum: five colours at 100 pcs is five runs.
4. Size split and size range	Size range, number of sizes, pieces per size, and whether a graded split is acceptable.	Unusual ranges need grading; many sizes per colour adds cutting and packing labour.
5. Quantity per style per colour	Pieces for each style and colour, and whether it is a first run or a repeat order.	Quantity picks the band. “Around 300” cannot be priced; 300 pcs navy plus 300 pcs black can.
6. Decoration: positions and colours	Each print and embroidery position counted separately, with technique and colour count.	Each position adds setup plus per-piece handling. Blank fields return a quote for a plain garment.
7. Trims and labels	Woven and care labels, hangtag, drawcord, zip, buttons, thread colour: mill-stock or custom.	Custom trims carry mill minimums and dye-to-match lead time. A custom drawcord can outweigh the print.
8. Packing and carton marks	Polybag or none, folding, hangtag applied or loose, size stickers, pieces per carton, carton marks.	Packing is per-piece labour; carton marks decide how goods clear customs and reach a warehouse.
9. Ship-to city and Incoterm	Destination city and country, plus one term: EXW, FOB Shenzhen or Yantian, or DDP.	The term leaves the FOB unit price alone and changes what you pay in total.
10. Sample or bulk first	Whether a sample comes first, and what it is for: sign-off, a photoshoot or a fit session.	Sampling adds 3–7 working days; bulk then runs 15–25 days after sample approval and deposit.
11. Target date	The date the goods are needed in your hands, and whether it is a launch or a restock.	Factories schedule backwards from that date through production, inspection and freight.
12. Anything fixed (test standard, tolerance, market)	Test standard, measurement tolerance, a fabric that must not change, a label language.	Fixed points are the walls a quote fits inside. Found at sample approval, they re-open the pattern.

One row per style: a pullover and a zip-up, or 320 and 400 gsm of one shape, are two rows.

Product: what happens when style, fabric or colour count is missing?

These three fields decide which pattern, which fabric, and how many runs. Left out, the quote describes a different garment.

Style or reference. A version number matters as much as a name: a shortened body on v3 is a different pattern from v1 and is priced as one. A sample settles seams and panel shape before costing. Whether you bring the pattern or it is developed for you changes which rows you can fill; OEM versus ODM draws that line.

Fabric and GSM. “Cotton hoodie fabric” prices as an assumption, and assumptions land mid-band. Weight and fibre carry more of the price than anything else, so name the fabric and GSM or mark your figure as an estimate.

Colour count. Omit it and the reply quotes one colour, the cheapest case and the least likely. Give the colourways, pieces per colour, and a Pantone TCX or lab dip wherever the colour is fixed.

Quantity: what happens when the size split or the per-colour count is missing?

Size split and size range. An extended run, a long inseam or a tall fit needs grading, and grading that never appeared in the RFQ arrives as an unexplained line in the quotation. A graded split is also cheaper to cut than five sizes in near-equal numbers, so say when you can flex.

Quantity per style per colour. One total cannot be priced, because each colour lands on a different side of a tier. If the total is small, do not inflate it; the 100-piece order guide shows how a first run is scheduled.

Processing: what happens when decoration, trims or packing is left blank?

Decoration positions and colours. Each position carries a one-time setup plus per-piece handling, and the setup spreads across the order, so three small positions on a short run behave nothing like one on a long run.

Trims and labels. Custom trims carry mill minimums and dye-to-match lead time, and a branded zip can weigh more on the price than the print.

Packing and carton marks. Packing is per-piece labour, and “standard packing” does not imply retail-ready folding or applied hangtags. Carton marks matter to your customs broker rather than the sewing floor, which is why they get left out.

Delivery: what happens when ship-to, sample timing, date or fixed points are missing?

Ship-to city and Incoterm. The term does not touch the FOB unit price; it changes what you pay in total and who books what, and a destination without a term gets a question back.

Sample or bulk first. Sampling adds 3–7 working days before bulk can start. An RFQ that asks for bulk pricing without mentioning sampling gets a price that assumes the sample is approved and paid for.

Target date. Give the date the goods are needed in your hands, not the date you would like to order. The clothing production timeline shows what sits between deposit and delivery.

Anything fixed. Test standard, tolerance, label language, a market rule: state each and say who is expected to arrange any test. The costly moment to find one is sample approval.

How is MOQ counted when a style has several colours or a second version?

Minimum order is 100 pcs per style, per colour, and bonded or seam-sealed styles carry 200 pcs because of the taping and press work. Three things follow.

• Per colour, not per style. A style in three colours needs the minimum in each colour.
• Per style, not per size. The count is set by style and colour, which is why the size split belongs in the same table.
• Two versions are two styles. A pullover and a zip-up, or the same shape in 320 and 400 gsm, count separately.

If the numbers only work at half the minimum per colour, say so, and the reply can work through fewer colours instead of a quotation you cannot use. The realistic MOQ guide walks that arithmetic.

What if you cannot fill in one of the twelve fields?

Say that you do not know rather than guessing. A factory can work with a stated unknown; it cannot work with a wrong number that looks firm. Send a reference sample when the style detail is missing, name a comparable garment when the GSM is unknown, give a floor and a ceiling when the quantity is undecided, and write “restock, no fixed date” rather than leaving a date row empty. What a hoodie tech pack contains shows the fields a sample has to stand in for.

What do buyers ask most about RFQs for clothing manufacturing?

Should I attach photos if I do not have a tech pack?

Yes. Three photos per garment move a quote faster than a paragraph of description: front, back, and a close-up of the seam, hem or decoration. Put a tape measure beside the detail so the scale reads. Photos do not replace GSM, but they show which build you mean.

Can a factory quote without a tech pack?

Yes, with more assumptions recorded. Send a reference sample, the fabric name and GSM, the size range and your quantity per colour, and the quote is built on a stated basis rather than a documented spec. Those assumptions become the checkpoints on the sample approval checklist.

How long does it take to get a priced quote I can act on?

A quote is only as fast as the table is complete. Every blank field becomes a question back, and every question is a delay. When fabric, GSM, quantity per colour and decoration arrive together, the reply is costed in one pass.

How do I get a per-colour price when one style has several colours?

Quote it per colour, not per style. Minimum order is 100 pcs per style, per colour, so a style in three colours needs the minimum in each before it is priced at that tier. Ask for the pieces in each colour next to its price.

How does the sample charge appear in the quotation?

Sampling is charged, and the figure sits on its own line in the written quotation rather than being folded into the unit price. It is credited against the goods value of your first bulk order once a single style reaches 300 pieces. The written quotation governs the final figure.

If I get a field wrong, can I change it after the quote?

Yes, and it is easier before sampling starts. The twelve fields are a working document: correct the fabric, quantity, colour count or decoration and ask for a revised quotation with its own validity. After sample approval and deposit, a change to construction or fabric re-opens the quote and the 15–25 days production window.

What is the next step once the table is filled?

Send the completed table through the contact page and the reply comes back as a quotation rather than a question list. Keep the twelve rows in the body of the email; what to ask a manufacturer covers what follows.

SLSPOLO has made knitwear since 2009 from 18,000+ m² across Dongguan Humen and Hunan, with 180+ staff and 150,000–200,000 pcs per month of capacity, under an ISO 9001 quality system. Minimum order is 100 pcs per style, per colour, with 200 pcs on bonded styles. We quote EXW, FOB Shenzhen or Yantian, and DDP. Every order is 100% inspection, accepted to AQL 2.5 — how AQL 2.5 inspection works explains the level in practice.