Your First Label Order: A Complete Checklist

1. Get your artwork right

Artwork is where most first orders stall. What a supplier needs is not the same as what looks fine on Instagram.

• Vector, not raster. AI, EPS, PDF or SVG. A JPG or PNG of your logo can usually be redrawn for you, but it adds a day and the result is an interpretation rather than your exact file.
• Outlined fonts. If your logo contains type, convert it to outlines before sending. Otherwise the supplier's machine substitutes a different font and nobody notices until the proof.
• Pantone references if you have them. "Navy blue" means about forty different things. Pantone 289 C means one.
• A version that works small. Look at your logo at 25 mm wide. If the tagline disappears, prepare a simplified version now rather than arguing with the proof later.

If you do not have a designer, that is fine. Send whatever you have — even a phone photo of a sketch — and ask for the free design proof. Most suppliers, including us, will redraw it at no charge.

2. Nail down the specifications

These five numbers determine your quote. Have them ready.

The single most useful thing you can send is a photograph of the garment with a ruler next to the spot where the label goes. It answers four of these five questions at once.

3. Collect your compliance information

Your care label is a legal document. Get this wrong and shipments get held at customs.

• Fibre composition, accurate to the percent, totalling 100. Get this from your fabric supplier in writing. Do not estimate.
• Country of manufacture. Where the garment is sewn, not where the fabric came from.
• Every market you will sell into. A label that satisfies US rules may be non-compliant in the EU, and vice versa. List them all now and get one label that works everywhere.
• Your business identity. The US requires an RN number or the full legal company name. Registering an RN is free and takes a few minutes online.
• Care instructions. Your fabric supplier should provide the recommended wash temperature and drying method.

4. Decide quantities properly

Two rules cover most situations.

Add 10–15% to whatever you calculated. Garments get rejected in QC, labels get sewn crooked, samples get given away. Running 40 labels short means paying a full setup again for a tiny reorder.

Check the next price break before you commit. Going from 250 to 500 pieces often costs $14 more and cuts your per-unit price by a third. Going from 1,000 to 5,000 saves much less proportionally and ties up cash. The sweet spot for most first orders is 500.

5. Questions to ask before you pay

A supplier who answers these clearly is one you can work with. Vagueness here predicts problems later.

• Is the setup fee included, or added on top of the quoted price?
• Will I see a physical or digital proof before production starts?
• What exactly happens if the finished labels do not match the approved proof?
• Is the shipping cost included in the quote, and which courier?
• Are you a factory or a trading company? (There is no wrong answer — but an evasive one is a warning sign.)
• What is the reorder process and price if I come back in three months?

6. Build a realistic timeline

Plan for 10–15 days door to door, and start the label order before your fabric is cut. Garment factories usually want labels in hand before assembly begins, so labels ordered late hold up the whole production run.