r/ClothingStartups

Hello! I’ve been running my brand for 3 years now, and I want to share my experience on the manufacturing side with you.

I’m Italian, so I initially started working with Italian manufacturers, which turned out to be a huge mistake. Most of the “Italian” manufacturers I contacted were actually Chinese-owned companies with insanely inflated prices. I was quoted up to $140 per unit for a pair of jeans.

So I quickly moved to Chinese manufacturers, all found through Alibaba.
Over the years, I’ve worked with dozens and dozens of manufacturers, from large suppliers with thousands of 5-star reviews to small unknown workshops, producing thousands of units. I’ve made everything from simple hoodies to silver jewelry and extremely complex denim pieces.

At some point, I developed anxiety every time I started a bulk production. Honestly, about 75% of the time something goes wrong. Now whenever I place an order, I don’t wonder if there will be a problem, I just wait to find out what the problem will be.
I’ve probably lost tens of thousands of dollars because of production issues. And despite that, I never seriously looked for alternatives.

Then I moved to China and that completely changed my perspective.
Thanks to some Chinese friends I discovered that most of the “factories” on Alibaba are actually sourcing agencies adding a 3x–4x markup on real factory prices. And I’m not exaggerating.

A hoodie quoted at $25 per unit on Alibaba can cost $6 per unit when you speak directly with the actual factory.
A good Chinese factory is going to charge around ~$40 (300 RMB) for a standard sample and it’s going to complete it in no more than a week.

The difference was so absurd that I even asked some of the “factories” I had been working with on Alibaba to explain the pricing gap. I’ll attach a screenshot of their response.

https://preview.redd.it/qxkfhwtxj6tg1.jpg?width=1320&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3b3361dd334af23e06460d2d4c55b839e04e0c8d

Now that I live in China and have access to the real Chinese B2B platforms, I’m seriously considering starting an agency to help brands avoid these traps and connect directly with real manufacturers.

Ben je altijd op zoek naar 1:1 kleding en accessoires? In mijn groep Fashion Deals NL op facebook kun je aangeven wat je zoekt, en ik zoek de items direct uit voor je, via mijn suppliers.

Je krijgt de prijzen, kwaliteit foto’s en levertijden te zien, en kunt direct beslissen of ik voor je mag meebestellen. Nieuwe items worden regelmatig gedeeld!

👉 Bekijk de groep en doe mee:

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1EFfD66jVK/?mibextid=wwXIfr

https://preview.redd.it/sa2jdikaq5tg1.jpg?width=736&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=76f67dbef6337cffbe2e1efda517685b00832e09

serious inquiries only please, yes we are a factory, yes they will be custom made to match your brand's aesthetic, yes it's for free, no there's no catch, we're trying to go international, these gifted collabs are an important step !

I think I found a winning clothing brand idea… but I’m stuck (need honest advice).

I’ve been working on a clothing brand concept that I genuinely believe could do very well. It targets a specific niche that’s big and still growing, and I already have the designs, branding direction, and overall vision ready.

The problem is execution.

I don’t want to waste money or make beginner mistakes, and I’m not sure what the smartest first step is.

The biggest issue: I’m based in Palestine, so I can’t easily ship or receive samples. That makes things like testing quality, packaging, and suppliers really difficult — and packaging is actually a big part of my brand's concept, not just an extra.

Print-on-demand seems like the easy option, but most services I’ve seen don’t offer the quality or custom packaging I’m aiming for.

If you were in my position, how would you approach this?

I’m open to any ideas — especially from people who’ve built clothing brands or dealt with similar limitations.

- Check Back Daily for BIG Discounts!

I’m using dtg and I’m trying to print around the line where the neck hole is, the area for printing goes a couple cm below the neck hole, I checked multiple suppliers and most of them have the same template roughly with some slightly bigger, what can I do?