How to Read a Factory Quote: A Line by Line Breakdown

The first quote I ever received had one number on it. Fourteen dollars and twenty cents per unit. I said yes.

Then the invoices started arriving, and that fourteen dollars quietly became closer to nineteen by the time the goods sat in my apartment. The problem was not that it was one number. The problem was I had no idea what that number included.

What a Factory Quote Actually Is

A factory quote is the cost to produce your garment, and learning how to read a factory quote means knowing what is packed into the price and what gets added on top.

Here is the part most guides get wrong. A quote from a China factory is usually a collected price, fabric, labor, and trims rolled into one per unit figure. That is not a red flag. It is normal, and for a first time founder it creates far less confusion than a ten line spreadsheet. The price per unit is the headline. The few lines around it are what actually decide your real cost.

Read the add-ons and the terms, not just the number.

The Unit Price Is Tied to Quantity

The headline number is your cost per piece at a specific quantity. Move the quantity, and that number moves.

A hoodie quoted at twelve dollars at 500 pieces might jump to sixteen at 200. The factory spreads setup across the run, so a smaller run means a higher price per piece.

So the unit price means nothing on its own. Always read it next to the quantity it assumes.

The Lines That Actually Matter

Once you accept that the unit price is a packed number, your job gets simple. There are only a handful of lines to read, and most of them sit below the price.

Molds and Tooling

If your garment uses custom hardware, a mold or screen, you pay a one time tooling fee. Custom zipper pulls, embossed buttons, a printed logo. These are charged once, so they sting on the first run and disappear on a reorder.

Hangtag and Branding Fees

Your branding lives on its own line. Woven labels, hangtags, custom polybags, printed boxes. Founders forget these constantly.

I once watched custom branding and packaging add ninety cents per unit to a simple tee. On a 1,000 piece run, that is nine hundred dollars hiding under the price most people skim past.

Sampling, and Whether It Comes Off the Bulk

Before production you pay for samples. The real question to ask is whether that sampling cost gets deducted from your bulk order.

Many factories credit your sample fee back against the bulk run once you commit. Some do not. This one line can swing a few hundred dollars, so ask directly: is the sample cost deducted on bulk?

The cleaner your tech pack, the fewer sample rounds you pay for, which is exactly where a strong fashion consultant or designer earns their fee. Sloppy specs mean more rounds, and every round is a charge.

The Shipping Term Decides Your Landed Cost

This is the line that turned my fourteen dollars into nineteen.

Next to the price you will see a term. The three you will meet most:

EXW (Ex Works): the price covers the goods at the factory door and nothing else. Everything after is yours, freight, customs, the lot.
FOB (Free On Board): the factory gets your goods to the port, then it becomes your problem.
DDP (Delivered Duty Paid): the factory handles everything to your door, including duties.

For a first run, DDP is usually the sanest choice. The factory eats the freight and customs complexity and quotes you one all in number. You pay a little more per unit, but you are not guessing at a freight invoice or learning customs brokerage at two in the morning.

A twelve dollar EXW quote and a twelve dollar DDP quote are not the same deal. One has your door price baked in. The other will surprise you later. Always check which term the quote is using before you compare prices.

MOQ: The Number Behind the Number

MOQ (minimum order quantity) is the smallest run the factory will accept, and it often hides at the bottom of the quote in small text.

Sometimes it only shows up when you ask for fewer units and the price suddenly balloons. If you are early and fighting MOQ math, that is a sourcing problem, not a pricing problem. The right factory match for a small brand looks nothing like the match for a brand ordering 5,000 units. Read the MOQ before you fall in love with the price.

Payment Terms and Lead Time

Two short lines, both worth your attention.

Most factories run a deposit and balance structure. Commonly 30 percent down to start, 70 percent before the goods ship. Read it, because it dictates your cash flow. Thirty percent of a 20,000 dollar order leaves your account before a single garment exists.

Lead time is how long from approved sample to finished goods. A realistic bulk run is 45 to 90 days depending on complexity. Anyone promising three weeks on a 1,000 piece order is either lying or about to ship you something rushed.

What Nobody Tells You About Factory Quotes

Here is the part that took me a few runs to learn.

The quote is a negotiation document, not a fixed price list. The founders who accept the first number are the ones leaving money on the table.

A few things almost nobody mentions:

The reorder price is the real price. Your first run carries the molds, the sampling, all the one time setup. The number that matters for your business is the second run, once tooling is paid and patterns exist. Always ask what a reorder of the same style would cost.

A packed price is not a lazy price. In China especially, a clean collected number with a short list of add-ons below it is often a sign the factory has done this a thousand times and knows what trips up new brands. Do not punish a factory for making the quote readable.

And when you have quotes from a few factories that all look slightly different, standardize them. Force every one into the same shape: unit price, molds, branding, sampling, shipping term, MOQ, payment, lead time. Compare like for like. The winner is rarely the lowest headline. It is the one whose all in cost and terms make sense for your stage.

What to Do Next

Before you read another quote, make sure the thing you are quoting is clear. Half the confusion in factory pricing comes from a vague tech pack that lets the factory interpret your garment however it wants.

Get your specs tight, then request quotes from at least three factories using the exact same document. Lay them out, check the add-ons and the shipping term, and let the comparison do the talking.

Start with your tech pack. Everything in the quote flows from it.