Commercial guide
Two FOB prices for the same garment are rarely comparable. What to normalise before you compare, and which differences are real savings rather than removed scope.
In short
Before comparing apparel quotations, normalise five things: the trade term, the fabric specification, the decoration route, the packing instruction and the quantity the price assumes. A lower FOB figure frequently reflects a lighter fabric, a cheaper trim, a different pack or a higher quantity assumption rather than a more efficient factory. The most useful question to ask any supplier is what their price assumes, because an assumption you did not know about is where the difference usually lives.
7 min read
Reviewed by AHM International product development team
Last reviewed August 2026
A price is an answer to a question
Quotations diverge for two reasons: the factories are genuinely different, or they answered different questions. The second is far more common, and it is invisible on a spreadsheet that shows only a number per piece.
This matters because the divergence is usually not deception. A factory quoting against a vague brief has to choose an interpretation, and different factories choose differently. One assumes 180 gsm, another 200. One assumes a two-colour print, another embroidery. Both answered honestly; they answered different questions.
Normalising the question is therefore the whole task. Once every quotation answers the same specification, the remaining spread is real information.
The five things to normalise first
In rough order of how much distortion each one causes.
- Trade term
- FOB and CIF are not comparable. A CIF figure contains freight and insurance to your port; an FOB figure stops at the loading port. Confirm which, and which port.
- Fabric specification
- Composition, weight and construction. A 20 gsm difference is invisible in a quotation and obvious in the hand. Where a supplier quotes a range, they are quoting the cheap end.
- Decoration route
- Embroidery and print price on different models. A quotation that says 'logo included' without naming the route has not been priced against your artwork.
- Packing instruction
- Solid pack and ratio pack cost differently. So do folded and hanging, and so does individual polybagging. This is frequently where a quiet saving is hidden.
- Quantity assumption
- Per-piece price moves with quantity, and a quotation against an optimistic quantity is not the price you will pay at a realistic one.
Differences that are real, and differences that are not
| Observed difference | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| Lower price, same spec, same quantity | Real. Efficiency, labour cost or fabric buying power |
| Lower price, fabric quoted as a range | The cheap end of the range was priced |
| Lower price, decoration route unnamed | Route not priced against your artwork |
| Lower price, packing not specified | Simplest pack assumed — often not yours |
| Much lower price, everything matched | Ask what is excluded. Something usually is |
| Higher price, more assumptions stated | Frequently the more reliable number |
Landed cost, not FOB
FOB is the first component of what a garment costs you, not the total. Freight, duty, insurance and handling sit on top, and duty in particular varies by country of origin and product classification.
Two FOB prices from different countries are therefore not comparable at all until duty is applied. A supplier in one country can be several per cent cheaper FOB and more expensive landed, and the buyer only discovers this after the first shipment if the comparison was run on FOB alone.
Building the comparison at landed cost also makes the freight consequence of packing visible, which is where carton efficiency starts to matter.
The one question worth asking every supplier
“What does this price assume?” A supplier who answers precisely — naming the fabric weight, the decoration route, the pack and the quantity — is telling you their number is built rather than guessed. A supplier who cannot answer has given you a figure that will move once the specification is real.
Related questions
Not necessarily, and treating it that way is its own mistake. The cheapest quotation is often simply the one answering the smallest question. Normalise the specification and requote — sometimes the price holds, which tells you something useful.
Generally yes. Without a target, a supplier prices to their own assumptions and may cost themselves out over a decision you did not care about. With a target, the conversation becomes what to change to reach it — which is a more useful conversation than a number arriving too high with no explanation.
Enough that comparing prices at different quantities is meaningless. Fabric minimums, setup costs and line efficiency all move with volume. Ask every supplier to quote the same quantity, including the quantity you will realistically order rather than the one you hope for.
Ask each to requote at a single named weight. If a supplier resists naming one, that is itself the answer — a fabric quoted as a range has been priced at the cheap end, and the delivered garment will reflect it.
Send one specification and we will apply exactly this thinking to your style. Construction, materials and commercial FOB costing.