Wholesale is a price ladder, not a single price
There is no such thing as "the wholesale price" of a t-shirt. There is a price at a quantity, at a specification, on a delivery term. Change any one of those and the number changes — sometimes by 40%.
That is why the first question to any supplier is not "how much" but "at what quantity, on what basis, for what specification". A quote that does not answer all three is not a quote, it is a number.
- Basis: FOB, CIF, DDP or ex-warehouse. Each means a different party pays freight and duty.
- Quantity: the break used. A 600-piece price quoted for a 100-piece order is a mistake or a bait price.
- Specification: weight in gsm, knit, neck construction, colour count. "Cotton tee" is not a specification.
Our ladder, published rather than negotiated
Our 230gsm heavyweight crew runs $3.90 at 100–299 pieces, $3.70 at 300–599 and $3.55 at 600+. Our 180gsm tubular crew runs $3.30 / $3.10 / $3.00. These are ex-warehouse prices for stock in the US — the garment is already there, so there is no freight line and no duty line for you to add.
The China-stock styles are quoted FOB and say so on every page. FOB means the price stops at the port: freight, insurance, duty and brokerage are on your side. Comparing a FOB number with an ex-warehouse number is the single most common accounting error in this trade.
Why the minimum is 100 and not 1,000
A factory minimum is set by the fabric run: if a mill dyes 300kg of yarn to your colour, you buy 300kg whether you need it or not. That is why true production minimums sit in the hundreds or thousands.
A stock minimum is set by handling: pick, pack, label, paperwork. Below about 50 pieces the handling cost per shirt exceeds the shirt’s margin, which is why most stock suppliers stop at a case or a hundred.
We publish 100 pieces per style and colour because that is where our handling cost stops being the dominant number. Sizes can be mixed inside one colour, so a size curve still meets it. Different colours are separate runs — a 100-piece order in two colours is two minimums.
The five lines that appear after the quote
A quote usually stops at the goods. The invoice does not. These are the lines that turn a $3.55 shirt into a $4.60 shirt, and they are the ones absent from most comparisons.
- Freight — ocean LCL, air or express. Varies 3–5× between methods on the same goods.
- Duty — charged on the customs value at the destination tariff rate, not on your retail price.
- Brokerage and entry fees — a customs broker charges per entry, not per piece. On 100 pieces it can add $0.30–1.00 per shirt; on 5,000 it disappears.
- Inland delivery — port to your door, plus liftgate or appointment fees if you have no dock.
- Payment fees — card fees, or the cost of a letter of credit if a supplier requires one.
Duty is the biggest swing in your landed cost
Take a plain cotton t-shirt with a FOB price of $2.60 and freight of $0.55 per piece. On a 16.5% duty rate the landed cost is $3.58. At 41.5% it is $4.23. At 54% it is $4.55.
That is a 27% swing in landed cost from duty alone — larger than any discount you will negotiate on the goods. And the rate depends on origin, classification and which additional duties apply in the month you import, which is why we do not print a duty rate anywhere on this site.
- 16.5% duty → landed $3.58 per piece
- 41.5% duty → landed $4.23 per piece
- 54% duty → landed $4.55 per piece
Comparing four quotes like for like
Put every quote on this grid before you decide anything. The supplier with the lowest headline number is frequently the most expensive once the grid is filled in.
- Basis (FOB / CIF / DDP / ex-warehouse) — and who pays what after that.
- Quantity break used, and whether the price holds at the quantity you actually want.
- Weight in gsm and knit — not "cotton".
- Colours: how many, and whether a custom colour has its own minimum.
- Size run: does it reach 3XL, and what is the extended-size surcharge.
- Freight method and lead time, port to door.
- Duty: who pays, at what declared value.
- Payment terms and what happens on a defect.
- Sample cost and whether it is credited.
Four quotes, one grid
Here is the exercise that changes most buyers’ minds. Four quotations for the same 230gsm cotton crew, 300 pieces, delivered to a warehouse in Ohio. Each number is plausible; only one is the real cost.
Supplier A is a Chinese factory quoting FOB $2.85 — it looks by far the cheapest. Add the 41.5% duty scenario, ocean freight and the broker fee and it lands at $5.00 a shirt. Supplier B quotes CIF $3.60: the freight is inside the price, but so is the customs value, so duty is charged on the higher number and it lands at $5.44. Supplier C is a US distributor at $4.20 ex-warehouse, which needs an account you may not be able to open. Supplier D is US stock at $3.70 with $0.42 of domestic freight, landing at $4.12.
The cheapest headline is the most expensive shirt. The most expensive headline is not the best either. This is not a trick — it is what happens when four people quote on four different bases and nobody converts them to one.
- A — China factory, FOB $2.85: + 41.5% duty, + $0.62 freight, + $0.35 brokerage = **$5.00 landed**.
- B — China trading company, CIF $3.60: duty charged on CIF, + brokerage = **$5.44 landed**.
- C — US distributor, ex-warehouse $4.20: + $0.45 inbound = **$4.65** (if you can open the account).
- D — US stock, ex-warehouse $3.70: + $0.42 domestic freight = **$4.12**.
How to verify a supplier in one week
Most of the risk in a first order is not the price, it is whether the entity you paid exists and can be held to a contract. Five checks, roughly one week, and each one answers a different question.
- Business licence and legal name — proves an entity exists, not that it is good. Cross-check the name against the bank account you are asked to pay.
- A video call on the production floor — proves they have a floor. Ask them to walk to a machine and show the fabric roll tag, unscripted.
- A paid sample with your logo — proves the decoration, not the bulk. Wash it twice.
- A third-party inspection before final payment — proves the bulk run matches the sample. Costs money, saves more.
- Two reference buyers in your market — not testimonials on their site, names you can actually email.
Two import mistakes that cost more than duty
The first is misclassification. A t-shirt is not a "textile article" in general; it has a specific heading, and the duty rate and any additional duties follow from it. A broker who classifies by description rather than by the actual construction can put you in a category you did not budget for.
The second is undervaluing the invoice to reduce duty. It works until the shipment is examined, at which point the penalty is a multiple of the duty saved and the importer of record carries it. On a first order the saving is a few hundred dollars and the risk is the whole shipment.
Both are avoidable by asking one question before you ship: what is the HS code, and what is the declared value per unit. A supplier who answers vaguely on either is not being helpful, they are transferring the risk to you.
Timeline: enquiry to delivery
Stock and production orders fail on different weeks, which is why the dates in a quote should be broken down rather than given as one number.
- Stock order — quote same or next day; goods picked and dispatched in 2–5 business days; domestic delivery 2–6 days; total under two weeks.
- Production order — sample 7–10 days; approval and deposit 3–5 days; bulk production 25–35 days; sea freight 30–40 days; customs and inland 5–10 days; total 10–13 weeks.
- The number buyers underestimate is not production, it is the gap between "approved" and "deposit received", which can add a week on its own.
What payment terms tell you about a supplier
Thirty per cent deposit and seventy on shipment is normal for production. Full payment in advance on a first order is a warning sign unless the amount is small.
A supplier who will not accept a third-party inspection before final payment is telling you something too. Inspection costs money and the buyer pays for it, but a supplier who refuses the request is usually refusing for a reason.
What we will not do
These are the four requests we decline, and the reason each one is a bad trade for the buyer.
- Quote a MOQ we cannot hold. If the real number is 300, the answer is 300, not 100 with a surprise later.
- Hide freight in the unit price. Every price on this site is stated with its basis so you can add freight yourself.
- Claim certifications we do not hold. Trust is worth more than a logo box on a landing page.
- Promise a delivery date before production is scheduled. Dates are set by capacity, not by optimism.
When we are the wrong supplier
If you need 5,000 pieces of a custom-dyed shirt at the lowest possible FOB price, a factory direct relationship will beat us — and we will say so rather than lose your time.
If you want no inventory and no risk, print-on-demand is the right model and we are not part of it: we sell the blank, not the service of not buying one.
If your order is 20 pieces, no stock supplier is economic, including us. The honest answer is a local printer who supplies the blanks.
We are the right supplier in the gap: more than a case, less than a container, no resale certificate, and a deadline measured in weeks.
The short version
Ask for the basis, the quantity break and the specification. Add freight, duty and brokerage before comparing. Put every quote on the same grid. Then choose — and expect the cheapest headline to lose once the grid is complete.
Our own numbers are published on every style page with the basis stated, because a buyer who has to guess the basis cannot make a decision, and a buyer who cannot decide does not order.