Bag Sourcing Process: From RFQ to Production in Four Stages

The Four Stages and Their Documents

Sourcing a custom bag feels like one long wait and is actually four short ones, separated by three handovers. Each stage ends by producing a document, and each document is what the next stage works from. Thinking of the process this way is useful because it makes the delays assignable. When a project is three weeks behind, the cause is almost never the machinery. It is a document that was late, incomplete, or read differently by two people.

Three things in that table are worth pulling out. The first two stages are short and cheap and are the only ones where changes are free. The third is administrative and is where you protect yourself against the bad case. The fourth is long and expensive and is where changes cost weeks. All the flexibility in bag sourcing lives in the first two stages, and every day spent there saves three later.

The second thing is that three of the four documents are yours to approve. The quotation, the sample and the contract each require a decision from the creator, and each decision has a deadline attached to it that most creators do not set. Deciding when you will review a sample before it ships removes the largest single source of delay in the whole process, and it costs one line in an email.

The third thing is that the documents are cumulative. The contract is meaningless without the sample approval attached, because the approved physical reference is what defines the product the contract refers to. The inspection is meaningless without both, because it checks goods against a reference and a standard. A missing document at stage three or four does not slow the process, it breaks it.

There is a version of this process that skips stages, and it is worth naming because creators are often tempted by it. Skipping the sample and contracting directly from a rendering saves 6 to 10 working days and transfers the entire risk of the product to the campaign. Skipping the contract and relying on an email thread saves three days and removes your remedy in the bad case. Both are false economies. Our Bag Production Partner for Campaign Creators page places the four stages inside a full sourcing programme.

Stage 1: The RFQ and What Goes In It

The request for quotation is the cheapest stage and the one that determines everything after it. It is also the stage most creators rush, because it feels administrative. It is not administrative. It is the specification being written, and a specification written badly will be quoted badly, sampled twice and argued about at inspection.

1. Product type and dimensions in centimetres, with a tolerance and the capacity you intend to claim.
2. Quantity per style and per colourway, not a single total, because the minimum is 500 pcs per style and per colourway.
3. Shell, lining and base materials by denier and coating, or a description of the hand feel you want.
4. Hardware and closures by type, meaning zips, buckles, sliders and any moulded parts.
5. Features and pockets, listed individually so each can be priced and each can be removed.
6. Decoration, meaning method, position, size in centimetres and number of colours, with the artwork attached.
7. Colours as Pantone TCX references, with a note on which are essential and which are negotiable.
8. Target price or target budget, so the design can be engineered to a number.
9. Destination and delivery window, because they shape the packing and the documentation.
10. Compliance requirements for the market you are selling into.

Items eight and nine are the two most often omitted and the two that most change the answer. A brief with a target price gets a design engineered to hit it. A brief without one gets a technically correct bag at whatever it happens to cost, and the creator then has to remove features to reach their number, which is a slower and worse version of the same conversation. A brief with a destination gets a packing and documentation plan; one without gets a default export carton.

Item seven, the colour list, saves the most money of any single line. Marking two colours as essential and one as negotiable gives the production team room to substitute a near-stock shade and save a dye lot. Marking all three as essential removes that room, and it usually costs money the creator did not need to spend. The same applies to hardware: using one standardised slider across three tiers buys combined volume and looks deliberate rather than compromised.

One thing not to do at this stage is ask for a price at every possible quantity. An RFQ requesting prices at 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 pcs is asking for five quotations, of which one will be used. Ask for the quantity you will order and one other, typically the next tier up, and keep the exchange short. Our How to Write a Bag Spec Sheet for a Fast, Accurate Quote page sets the brief out in full.

Evaluating What Comes Back

What returns from an RFQ should be judged on completeness before price, because a price attached to an incomplete specification is an estimate rather than a quotation. Seven items belong in a complete response, and a response missing any of them needs one question before it can be compared.

• The unit price at a stated quantity, with the quantity named on the page.
• The MOQ it is based on, which is 500 pcs per style and per colourway.
• The materials and components by specification, in denier and grade, not by category.
• The sampling and bulk lead times, as ranges rather than single figures.
• The payment terms, meaning T/T 30/70.
• The trade terms, meaning FOB Xiamen.
• The inspection standard, meaning AQL 2.5 to ISO 2859-1.

A single number for a lead time is a warning sign. Sampling is 6 to 10 working days and bulk is 35 to 50 days because the variables genuinely move them, and a fixed figure means someone has selected the optimistic end. The same applies to a price without a quantity attached, or a material described as good quality polyester rather than 600D with a PU coating.

The evaluation should also include the questions that are awkward later and easy now. What happens if the sample needs a second round. What is the price at the next quantity up. Which of my features are the expensive ones. Can a re-order slot be held. Before an order exists these are free. After one exists they are negotiations, and the answers you get now tell you how the relationship will feel in week six.

Our Custom Bag Vendor Comparison: How to Compare 3 Quotes Fairly page takes the evaluation further, including the four normalisations that have to be applied before three quotes can be ranked. Our Custom Bag B2B Pricing: Why the Cheapest Quote Is Usually Wrong page covers what a suspiciously low number usually means.

Stage 2: The Sample and the Approval

Sampling is the stage where the product becomes real, and it is the only point in the process at which changing it is free. A standard build samples in 6 to 10 working days and a complex one in 12 to 15 working days. Those ranges cover the making of the sample and the internal checks, not the courier leg to you and not your review time. When you plan a campaign around a sample, budget all three separately, because together the courier and the review usually exceed the making.

What arrives should be made in the specified materials, with the specified decoration in the specified position. If it arrives in a substitute fabric because the specified one was unavailable, that should have been communicated before it was made, and the absence of that communication is the most useful negative signal a sample can give you. It means the material question was not asked at the RFQ stage, and it will be asked again at the bulk stage, when it costs weeks.

The third row of that table is where the second sample round usually comes from, and it is worth preventing. A logo applied across a seam, or printed on a panel that curves in use, will crack or distort. Deciding the decoration method before the sample is made, and sampling it on the actual fabric, costs nothing and prevents the most common revision. Our Custom Backpack Branding: Logos, Embroidery and Patches page compares the four methods on real panels.

The approval itself is the document this stage produces, and it has four parts. You are approving the construction, the materials, the appearance and the standard. The fourth is the one with consequences, because the approved sample becomes the reference the bulk is inspected against. That is why an approval should be given in writing, should name the specification revision it refers to, and should state the tolerance you are accepting. The usual convention on a main dimension for soft goods is around 1 cm.

A second sample round is normal and should be expected on anything but the simplest product. What costs time is a second round that changes five things, because each change has to be interpreted, made and re-checked. Consolidate your observations into one marked-up list, separate the essential changes from the preferences, and send it as a single communication. Our Custom Bag Sample Feedback: Notes That Get Read page covers the format, and Bag Sampling: 8 Questions to Ask Your Sourcing Partner covers the questions to ask before the sample is made.

Stage 3: The Contract and Its Clauses

The contract stage is the one creators skip most often, and it is the stage that determines what happens in the bad case. Its purpose is not to record the good case, which everyone will honour anyway. Its purpose is to record the three things that go wrong: a late delivery, a failed inspection and a specification dispute. Each of those needs one clause, and each clause is a single paragraph.

1. The specification, attached and referenced by revision number. Without it the contract refers to a conversation.
2. The quantity, per style and per colourway, with the 500 pcs minimum stated for each.
3. The price at the stated quantity, with one-off charges listed separately and their recurrence on a re-order stated.
4. The payment terms, T/T 30/70, with the deposit releasing material purchasing and the balance due before shipment.
5. The trade terms, FOB Xiamen, clarifying that freight, insurance, duty and delivery sit with the buyer from the port.
6. The lead times as ranges, with the sampling window and the 35 to 50 day bulk window stated and the slot named.
7. The inspection standard, AQL 2.5 to ISO 2859-1, with the sample size and the accept and reject numbers stated.
8. The remedy on failure, meaning rework or credit, stated before the deposit is sent.
9. The intellectual property position, covering your artwork, your logo and the pattern developed for you.
10. The defect liability, meaning what is covered, for how long after delivery, and up to what value.

The eighth clause is the one most often missing and the one most often needed. Before the deposit goes, agree in writing what happens if the lot fails inspection: who pays for the rework, whether a credit is available, and how long either takes. Without it, a failed inspection becomes a negotiation conducted while the goods are sitting on the production side and your campaign has a delivery date. With it, the same event is a process.

The ninth clause is the one creators protect their own position with. Your artwork and your logo should be acknowledged as yours and not used for other customers. The pattern developed for your product is a separate question, and it is worth being explicit about who owns it and whether it can be used for another brand. Asking at this stage is free; asking after a similar product appears elsewhere is not.

The sixth clause deserves one more note, because it is where expectations are set. A contract that states a 35 to 50 day bulk window and names the slot protects both sides, and it gives you a date to refer to. A contract that says approximately six weeks gives you nothing, and it is the difference between a schedule and a hope. Our Custom Bag Contract Basics: Payment Terms, IP and Liability Clauses page treats the whole clause set in detail.

Stage 4: Production and the Checks Inside It

Production is the long stage and the least visible, and it is not a single activity. It is a sequence of operations with checks between them. Knowing the sequence means knowing what is happening in week four, and knowing which two of the checks to ask about.

1. Material receipt and check against the approved reference, before anything reaches the floor.
2. Cutting, with layers spread to the marker and cut pieces bundled by size and colourway.
3. Printing and embroidery, on cut panels, before assembly.
4. First-piece assembly and check, where the first unit is assembled and measured before the run continues.
5. Sewing, with the stress operations receiving the closest attention.
6. Trimming and turning, with loose threads removed and the bags shaped.
7. Final inspection to AQL 2.5 to ISO 2859-1, with functional checks on a small number of units.
8. Packing, with the carton count recorded and the marks applied.

Two of those eight matter more than the others, and they are the two nobody watches. The first-piece check prevents a systematic error, because the first unit is the only one that can be corrected before 499 more are made the same way. Ask whether it happened and what it found. The material receipt check prevents the most common bulk complaint in sewn goods, which is that the fabric feels different from the sample. Together they are ten minutes of work and they prevent the two failures that generate the most returns.

Changes during production are possible in principle and rarely wise in practice. A change requested in week three of a 500-piece run means re-instructing stations, possibly re-cutting, and almost certainly moving the completion date. There is one class of change that is worth it, which is a change that prevents a defect reaching every unit. Everything else should wait for the re-order, and the specification should be frozen at the approval gate for exactly this reason.

Communication during this stage should be agreed before it, not requested during it. A short weekly note with a percentage complete, a photograph and any open question takes a programme coordinator a few minutes and removes most of the anxiety of six invisible weeks. Ask for it in the same message that confirms the deposit and the slot. The Bag Factory Communication: Working With a Partner in Another Timezone page covers how to structure the exchange across a time difference.

At the end, the stage produces its document: the inspection report. On a 500-piece lot the AQL 2.5 sample is 50 units, with 3 major defects accepted and 4 rejected. Ask for the report with photographs and the defect counts by category, not a pass or fail, because the photographs are what tell you what to tighten on the next order. Our Bag QC for Kickstarter: AQL 2.5 Explained page sets out what the inspector looks at.

Where the Process Loses Its Weeks

Every sourcing programme has its own version of the same list, and the list is short. Four handovers, and the weeks are lost in three of them. None of the four causes is a production problem.

The second row is the largest and the most avoidable, and it is entirely within the creator's control. A sample sitting in a hallway for nine days while its owner decides is nine days added to a campaign timeline for no reason. Set a review date when the sample ships, put it in the calendar, and treat it like the production appointment it is.

The fourth row feels like bad luck and usually is not. A specified fabric being unavailable is a supply-chain event that will happen to somebody. Discovering it at the quotation stage costs a conversation. Discovering it at the approval stage costs 7 to 21 days. If your design depends on a specific material, ask about its availability in the first email, and ask for two named alternates at the same time.

The third row is the cheapest to fix and the most irritating to lose. International transfers are not always same-day, and a two-day delay in a bank transfer becomes a two-day delay in the whole order, because the material purchasing does not start until the deposit lands. Arrange it several days before it is needed, and tell your coordinator when it has been sent rather than waiting to be asked.

Who Owns Each Handover

The counterpart of the process is the list of things only the creator can do. It is short, and holding to it is most of what determines whether the sourcing feels organised or chaotic. Ten items, one per decision point.

• At the RFQ, supply the complete brief with dimensions, quantities per colourway, materials, features, decoration, target price, destination and compliance needs.
• At the quote, read the specification attached and ask about anything missing before accepting.
• Before the sample, decide the decoration method and confirm the material availability.
• When the sample ships, set the review date and book it in the calendar.
• At the review, handle the bag the way a backer will and consolidate changes into one marked-up list.
• At the approval, approve in writing against a named revision, with the tolerance stated.
• At the contract, insist on the remedy clause and the intellectual property clause.
• At the deposit, arrange the transfer early and confirm the slot and the completion date.
• During bulk, hold the specification and respond the same day to any question from the floor.
• At the inspection, read the report rather than the verdict and keep the photographs.

Two habits run through all ten. The first is to decide against a document rather than a memory, which is what the revision number and the written approval are for. The second is to answer quickly, because most of the calendar is waiting on the creator rather than on the production. A creator who responds the same day will hit the dates. One who takes four days per exchange will not.

There is one discipline that makes everything else easier, which is keeping the approved sample. It is the reference the bulk was made against, and in any dispute about what was agreed it is the only artefact that cannot be argued with. Label it with the revision and the date and put it somewhere it will not be thrown away. Our Custom Bag Prototype: Mockup vs Physical vs Golden Sample page explains the three reference types.

Running the Process on Two Platforms

Creators who run a campaign on more than one platform, or who plan a crowdfunding launch followed by retail or wholesale, need the same process with two additions. The additions are not large, but skipping them creates a second, hidden sourcing project later.

1. Model the total quantity across both platforms before the RFQ. Two platforms with two separate 500-piece orders is a different proposition from one 1,000-piece order, and it is priced differently.
2. Freeze the specification once, for both. A change made for one platform will reach the other, because the pattern and the materials are shared.
3. Book the second production slot at the first deposit. If the second platform will need goods, a provisional slot costs nothing at this stage.
4. Standardise the hardware across both. One slider and one buckle across two versions buys combined volume.
5. Write the packing requirements for the second channel into the first contract. Retail and fulfilment channels have their own carton and labelling rules.

The third item is the one that most often gets missed, and it is the one that protects the second launch. Because the pattern, the sample and the materials are all already in place, a second slot can be provisionally held with a quantity band and a trigger date. If the second launch happens, the slot is there. If it does not, nothing was spent.

Our Custom Bags for Indiegogo & Multi-Platform Crowdfunding page covers the campaign side of running two platforms, and Bag Sampling for Indiegogo: Cross-Platform Plan covers the sampling plan that goes with it.

A 12-Week Process Calendar

The four stages fit inside a working calendar of about twelve weeks from a complete brief to goods ready on FOB terms, and the calendar is worth drawing before the campaign does, because it tells you the latest safe date to start.

Two things about that calendar are worth internalising. The first is that the first six weeks are where the decisions are made and the last six are where the waiting happens. The second is that the calendar assumes a responsive creator. Every four-day delay on a decision adds a week at the end, and three of them push a twelve-week process to fifteen.

The calendar also assumes one sample round. If your product is complex, if the decoration is difficult, or if the material is unusual, add a second round and three weeks. That is not a contingency, it is the normal case for anything but the simplest product, and building it into the plan from the start is what separates a campaign that delivers from one that issues an update about a delay.

Working backwards is the practical method. Take the delivery date you have promised backers, subtract the transit and fulfilment legs, subtract the 35 to 50 day bulk window, subtract the 6 to 10 working day sampling window, and subtract four weeks for the RFQ, the contract and your own decisions. What remains is the latest date to send the brief. Our Kickstarter Bag Project Timeline: Sampling to Delivery page builds the same calendar against a campaign schedule.

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