Mens active wear, design/manufacture US or abroad?

If you consider sourcing on Alibaba, buying samples is an absolute must, but assuming the samples are good, unless you specify exactly the material, size, quality etc., you might finish up with a totally different product out of the factory in China.

Before you get that far, you need to be sure you are dealing with the real manufacturer, not with one of the thousands of traders masquerading on Alibaba as manufacturers. I have taught hundreds of people who to do that, but with about 14 pages of my sourcing book devoted to general sourcing and another 12 pages dealing with assessing suppliers, I obviously can't post all that here.

As I have posted elsewhere on WF today, the risk is that sooner or later your products will be copied. A section of my book deals specifically about made to order products.

I would be inclined to manufacture in the USA under your circumstances, and not rely on cheap labor in China. Labor costs in the clothing manufacturing industry in the USA are not as high as many people think. Some brands have brought their manufacturing back to the US.

If you like I will send you a link via PM to a site where you can find local manufacturers.

Walter Hay

I dont see your PM Walter, I only see a welcome to the forum PM...

I've been offline for a while. but I have now sent the link together with instructions from my book on how best to use it.

Walter Hay

Hello Sabes Ot,

You are worried that Chinese manufacturers might copy your product but you need to know they will not do it if nobody ask them to. Except if you are a very big and popular brand like Apple, Channel, Nike, etc.

It might still happen if your product start to be popular and some shameless retailers want their share of the cake. They will ask to a Chinese manufacturer "copy this item". Whether you manufacture from US or from China doesn't change anything.

The only thing you can do is to legally protect your design and brand name. One of the best way to do it is to register your brand.

Without it you will not be able to stop these shameless retailers. Even worst, they even can register and steal your brand/design if you didn't do it.

A good sourcing agent can help you with the other issue you have about feeling the material, sizing and quality when you try to find a Chinese manufacturer. Send to him your sample and he will find suppliers matching your criteria, then send you the samples. The price (his services included) might even be cheaper than on Alibaba.

Or just ask samples from the suppliers you found on Alibaba. But just like Importexport said "you need to be sure you are dealing with the real manufacturer, not with one of the thousands of traders masquerading on Alibaba as manufacturer".