A garment price is not a figure taken from a list. A factory builds it on a cost sheet: the fabric each piece consumes, the minutes it takes to cut and sew, the trims and labels, any wash, print or embroidery, testing and packing, then overhead and margin. The total is quoted at a delivery point, usually FOB, meaning loaded on board at the port of shipment. Knowing the lines shows which design choices cost money and why two factories quoting one tech pack reach different numbers.
The factories that quote through Garments Hub BD sit on its bench; the desk is a sourcing desk in Dhaka and makes nothing itself. Each enquiry in a bench category goes to two of them, and their quotes come back side by side on one sheet within 48 hours. The desk's commission is agreed per order and set out in writing before the proforma invoice, and nothing is owed on enquiries or samples that do not convert.
Fabric: consumption multiplied by price
On most knit basics, fabric costs more than any other line. Knit fabric is bought by the kilogram, so consumption is stated in kilograms per dozen; woven fabric is bought by the metre or yard, so consumption is per piece. The final figure comes from the marker, the layout of every pattern piece across the fabric width, plus an allowance for cutting waste and for loss in dyeing and finishing. The price per kilogram or metre then depends on the yarn, the construction, the shade and the finish.
A worked example of the rough estimate used before a marker exists. A T-shirt has a 70 cm body, 20 cm sleeves and a 52 cm flat chest. Adding 6 cm to the length and 4 cm to the width for seams and hems gives 96 cm by 56 cm, doubled for front and back: about 1.08 square metres a piece. At 160 GSM that is about 172 grams, or 2.06 kilograms a dozen, and about 2.27 kilograms with 10 percent for waste. The factory multiplies that by its fabric price per kilogram.
Cut and make: minutes and the line
The making charge, often called CM for cut and make, is built from time. Each style is given a standard minute value: the sewing minutes a trained operator needs for every operation on one piece. The factory multiplies the minutes by its cost per minute and allows for the efficiency the line will reach. A plain tee has few operations; a lined jacket with welt pockets has many times more.
Efficiency is where order size enters the making charge. A line needs days to reach its pace on a new style, so a small order, or one split into many styles, spends much of its run below that pace and costs more per piece to make. Factories with different equipment, wages and compliance costs also work from different costs per minute.
Trims, decoration, testing and packing
Trims cover thread, the main, care and size labels, hangtags, buttons, zips, elastic, interlining, polybags and cartons. Trims you nominate from a named supplier usually cost more than the factory's regular sources and can take longer to arrive. Decoration adds a process: screen printing is usually priced by the number of colours and the print size, embroidery by stitch count, and a garment wash or garment dye by the recipe. Some of this work goes to specialist units, which add their own margin.
Testing and inspection appear as a line when they are included: laboratory tests are charged per style and often per colour, and a third party inspector of your choice bills separately. Packing, from fold and polybag to assortment cartons, is the last making cost before the commercial lines.
Overhead, margin and the FOB line
On top of the making costs, the factory adds overhead, its commercial costs and its margin. Commercial costs cover bank charges, documents, transport to Chattogram and export clearance at the port. An FOB Chattogram price includes everything up to loading on the vessel; main freight, cargo insurance, import duty and delivery at the destination are left to the buyer. A CIF price adds sea freight and insurance to the destination port. Payment terms also show here: a letter of credit carries bank charges that a TT payment of 30 percent with the confirmed proforma invoice and 70 percent against shipping documents does not.
What size, colour count and quantity do to a price
Many price differences come from the order itself rather than from the factory. Each of the choices below is made in the tech pack or on the quote form, so it is worth knowing what each one does to the figure before the enquiry goes out. The common ones:
- Size range: larger sizes use more fabric; factories usually price an average across your size ratio, and some add a charge for the largest sizes.
- Oversized and long sleeve styles: wider bodies, dropped shoulders and longer sleeves raise consumption, and cuffs add operations.
- Colour count: each colour is its own dye lot, lab dip and shade check, so the same quantity in six colours costs more than in two.
- Quantity: patterns, markers, screens and lab dips are fixed costs spread over fewer pieces on a small order.
- Fabric minimums: below a mill's minimum per colour, fabric may carry a surcharge or have to come from stock qualities.
Why two quotes for one tech pack differ
Two quotes on the same tech pack often differ because the factories priced different things. One may have assumed combed yarn and the other carded, or a lighter finished weight. One may have measured consumption on a marker while the other estimated it. Their minute values and efficiency may differ, one may include testing, hangtags or assortment packing while the other leaves them out, and one may have priced at its own minimum rather than your quantity. A low figure that hides a lighter fabric is a frequent trap. Compare line by line before comparing totals.
Reading the one sheet comparison, and sample costs
The desk sets the two factory quotes side by side on one sheet, and both factories' MOQs come back on it. Read it the way this guide reads a cost sheet: the same fabric and weight, the same delivery point, each MOQ against your quantity, and the sample cost. Sample costs are quoted with the price and credited against the order on most runs. For a wider comparison, the sourcing report matches five vetted factories to one product and puts their real quotes on one sheet in five working days, for USD 99, credited against the first bulk order.
What to put in your specification so quotes compare
- FabricComposition, yarn count and spinning, construction and finished weight, so both factories price the same cloth.
- Sizes and ratioThe size range and the quantity in each size, since larger sizes consume more fabric.
- ColoursThe number of colours and the quantity in each, with any custom shades that need lab dips.
- TrimsEvery trim, and whether the factory sources it or you nominate the supplier.
- DecorationPrint method, colours and size, embroidery size, and any garment wash or garment dye.
- Testing and inspectionThe tests by market, the AQL, and whether a third party inspector of your choice will attend.
- PackingFold, polybag, hangtags, carton size and any assortment packs, as the shop or warehouse will receive them.
- Delivery pointFOB Chattogram or CIF to your named port, so both quotes stop at the same place.
Questions buyers ask
Why does the price per piece fall at higher quantities?
Because the fixed costs of patterns, markers, screens and lab dips are spread over more pieces, the sewing line spends more of the run at its full pace, and fabric is bought above the mill's minimum per colour. The fall flattens once the order is large enough for the line to run steadily.
Why do larger sizes sometimes cost more?
Larger sizes use more fabric, and on heavy fabrics the difference is noticeable. Most factories price one average across your size ratio, so a ratio weighted towards large sizes raises that average. Some add a separate charge for the largest sizes. Send the ratio with the enquiry so the quote reflects it.
Are sample costs charged on top of the order?
Sample costs are quoted with the price, and on most runs they are credited against the order once it is placed. Sampling runs in order: proto, fit, lab dip and pre-production sample. Extra rounds caused by changes to the design after a sample is made are where sample costs usually grow.
What does an FOB Chattogram price include?
Everything up to loading the goods on the vessel at Chattogram: fabric, making, trims, packing, transport to the port and export clearance. Main freight, cargo insurance, import duty and delivery at the destination are for the buyer. The guide to importing clothing from Bangladesh covers what happens after loading.
Can I ask a factory for an open cost sheet?
You can ask. Some factories will show fabric consumption, fabric price, trims and the making charge, especially on larger or repeat orders; others quote only a total. Asking both quoting factories to state finished fabric weight and consumption is usually enough to see where two prices part.
Planning an order?
Send the tech pack or a sketch with quantities. A compared quote in 48 hours on bench categories.