Your first cotton fabric order from India: a checklist
A first order with a new mill in a new country has more moving parts than a repeat buy. Here is the sequence, and what to lock at each step.
1. Sample first
Ask for a swatch pack of the constructions you are considering, then a trial length (100–300 m) of the one you pick. Enough to cut, sew, wash-test and put in front of your own customer before you commit volume.
2. Nail the specification
Send a construction (yarn counts, ends x picks, weave, width, weight) or a physical sample to match. For colour, send a Pantone or a physical standard — not a colour name. Agree the finish state: greige, RFD, dyed or printed.
3. Agree commercial terms
- Incoterms: FOB (you book freight) or CIF (the mill books it to your port). EXW if you consolidate in India.
- Payment: staged is normal for a first order. Ours is 10% on order, 15% at production start, 50% on passing QC, 25% on dispatch — so only 10% is at risk before anything is woven.
- Currency: usually quoted in USD.
4. Set inspection
Decide who checks the goods and against what. Options: the mill's own QC record (ask for a real one), a third-party inspection (SGS, Bureau Veritas, Intertek) before dispatch, or your own agent. Agree the AQL and the tests that matter for your market — colourfastness, shrinkage, tensile.
5. Plan the calendar
- Sampling: a few days for greige, 1–2 weeks with lab dips for dyed.
- Production: about 2 days for greige, about 2 weeks for processed.
- Sea transit: 3–6 weeks depending on the lane. This is usually the longest single leg — build it in.
6. Keep the paper
Origin declaration, test reports, packing list, the approved lab dip and the QC record. For a first order especially, that file is what makes the second order fast.
Send us the spec and the destination and we will lay out the timeline and terms in one reply.