How garment costing actually works
Every FOB price is the same short chain of arithmetic. Suppliers differ in their inputs, not their math — so once you can read the chain, you can compare quotes like a merchandiser instead of comparing totals like a tourist.
Materials: rate × consumption × wastage
Every material line — fabric, elastic, thread, labels, polybags — is priced the same way: the rate per unit, times how much one garment consumes, times a wastage allowance. A 190gsm boxer brief consuming 0.09kg of jersey at $5.95/kg with 3% fabric wastage costs $0.55 in body fabric — before anything is sewn.
Consumption is where quotes honestly differ: a better marker, a tighter lay plan, or a smarter size ratio moves fabric cost more than any negotiation. When two quotes for the same garment differ sharply on materials, ask for the consumption figure — not a discount.
The making charge (CM) and why quantity moves it
CM — cut and make — pays for the sewing line: machine minutes, operators, line overheads. It is quoted per piece but incurred per line-day, which is why quantity moves it so much: a 500-piece run pays the same line setup as a 10,000-piece run. Expect roughly a 40–50% CM premium at very small quantities and a discount at 10,000+ — any supplier quoting flat CM across quantities is averaging something they aren’t showing you.
Testing, commercial costs, and the buffers
After materials and making come the honest small lines: lab testing (a few cents per piece at real order sizes), commercial costs (documentation, banking, inland transport), and a safety allowance for the things a season always does. Then the agent’s or factory’s handling brings the figure to FOB: the packed garment, delivered to the port of origin. Freight onward is your forwarder’s world.
How to compare two quotes properly
Never compare totals — compare structures. Ask every supplier for the same four numbers: materials, CM, extras, and the quantity assumption. A cheaper total with fatter materials and thinner CM usually means an optimistic consumption figure that becomes a renegotiation after lab dips. A dearer total with honest consumption is often the cheaper garment by shipment day.
And ask what happens at your real quantity — quotes anchored at 10,000 pieces when you plan to order 3,000 are advertising, not costing.
The fastest way to internalize the chain is to run it yourself — our calculator uses the same engine our merchandisers quote from.
Open the cost calculatorMaintained by the Cotton Rose merchandising team — this guide is kept current, not published and forgotten.