50 per style · 2–5 styles to start

Wholesale Motorcycle Apparel: Buying a Range, Not a Container of One Size

Most wholesale problems are not price problems. They are the wrong sizes in the wrong boxes, a repeat that does not match the first run, a carton mark that does not fit your system, and an XXL rail still full in March.

Send the range and quantitiesHow the size curve is built
Ssmallest share
Mcore size
Lcore size
XLmarket dependent
2XL+market dependent

The shape above is an illustration, not your curve. Yours is built from your market, your discipline and your own sell-through — which is the whole point of this page.

Who reads this page

Who reads this page: distributors, dealers, brands and fleet buyers

Four kinds of buyer with the same problem — stock that sells through, not stock that sits.

Distributor checking a range of riding gear across a warehouse aisle

Distributors

Carry a range across a territory and need consistent repeats plus a size curve that matches their market.

Wants · repeatability
Dealer adding their own label to riding gear on the shop floor

Dealers with their own label

Put their shop name on gear and want to start small without starting badly.

Wants · a small first range
Brand team reviewing samples that must stay consistent across seasons

Riding-gear brands

Have their own designs and need a factory that will hold a block and a spec across seasons.

Wants · a block that stays put
Fleet buyer re-ordering the middle sizes of a riding kit

Fleet and centre buyers

Buy in sizes rather than styles, and re-buy the middle of the run constantly.

Wants · the middle sizes, always
Not this page
  • One-off team kits, which sit in team customization
  • The garments themselves, which have their own pages
Where it starts

Wholesale minimums: 50 pieces per style, 2–5 styles

The minimum is per style, not per order — and that is what makes a first range possible

50PCS / STYLEEnough to cut a proper marker and run a line
2–5SKUS TO STARTEnough to have a range rather than a product

Why the minimum is not per order

Because a factory's cost is in setup, not in units. The pattern, the marker, the line changeover and the first-piece checks all happen once per style regardless of quantity. Spreading a small order across seven styles means seven setups — which is what makes small multi-style orders expensive everywhere, not just here.

How to check itAsk any supplier whether the minimum is per order or per style. The answer tells you where their cost actually sits.
One style running on the sewing line, the unit a minimum is counted in
One style · one setup
The size curve

The size curve: the decision that fills or empties your rail

Sizes are a forecast. Scroll: a curve is built out of four inputs — and none of them is "standard".

12%S
26%M
30%L
20%XL
12%2XL+
Your market — not a standard curve
A shop rail at the end of a season, showing which sizes actually sold through
The end of a season is where a curve is graded

A size curve is the proportion of each size in a run — how many S, M, L, XL and up per hundred pieces. It is the single decision that decides whether a season sells through, and it is different per market, per discipline and per garment. A curve copied from another market is the most common reason a wholesale order ends with a rail of the wrong sizes.

How to check itAsk what curve a supplier is proposing and why. "Standard curve" is not an answer — there is no standard body.

The four inputs that build one

  • Your dataYour own sell-through by size, if you have it. It beats every other input.
  • The disciplineA motocross rider buys a different size to a touring rider on the same body.
  • The marketSize distribution genuinely differs between regions, and it is not a rounding error.
  • The garmentA jacket worn over layers runs differently to a jersey worn against the skin.
Packing

Mixed cartons: how the range arrives

Cartons are packed to a plan you can receive — not to whatever came off the line first.

Solid cartons, one style and one size per carton, stacked on a pallet01

Solid cartons

One style · one colour · one size

For your fastest sizes, where the volume justifies a whole carton and your receiving team wants it simple.

A mixed-size carton packed to a size curve, opened to show the layers02

Mixed-size cartons

One style · a curve inside

One carton per curve. The default for most of a range, because it lets a shop receive a sellable spread in one box.

A mixed-style carton used for small SKUs and top-ups03

Mixed-style cartons

Small SKUs · top-ups

So a slow style does not need a whole carton of its own, and a top-up does not need a whole shipment.

Agreed, not improvisedWhich of the three you get is agreed before packing rather than decided on the floor. The packing list matches the cartons and the carton marks match the packing list — which is the whole point, because a receiving team works from the marks, not from an email.
Received
without opening

A receiving team works from the carton marks. Everything else you agreed lives in an email nobody at the dock is reading.

Carton marks

Carton marks: the boring detail that decides your receiving cost

Marks are printed to your system, not ours, and they are checked before the cartons are sealed.

StyleYour style code, not our internal onerequired
ColourNamed as your system names itrequired
Size or curveSolid size, or the curve reference for a mixed cartonrequired
QuantityPieces in this cartonrequired
Carton n of totalSo a short shipment is obvious at the dockrequired
Your reference or barcodeYour SKU code, and the barcode format your scanner readsif you use one
Origin and compositionWhatever your market requires on the outerby market
A marked carton photographed before sealing, with the packing list beside it
Photographed before sealing
How to check itSend a photo of a carton from your current supplier and ask to have it matched. A factory that cannot match a carton mark will not match your labels either.
Repeats

Repeats: what actually takes time the second time

A repeat is fast because the work that took time is already on file — provided it was filed.

Sublimated repeatFrom the archived colour profile and strip, layout already on file
15days
Bulk repeatStandard bulk lead time after the first order is approved; no new sampling
25–35days
New colourway of an existing styleNew colour profile or thread match; pattern and grade stay as they are
Profileno new pattern
New size added to an existing styleCut from the graded set; a size-run piece if it is at the end of the range
Gradefrom file
Archived blocks, strips and size sheets filed by customer name
Filed · or it is a redevelopment
What makes a repeat slowA first order that was not archived. No block on file, no signed size sheet, no colour strip — and the second order becomes a development with the same name on it.
50PCS / STYLEPrivate-label minimum, per style
2–5SKUSEnough for a first range
25–35DAYS BULKAfter the first order is approved
3INSPECTIONSStart-of-line, mid-line at 20%, final
The boundary

Scope: what we do and what we do not

A clear boundary is worth more than a long capability list — half of a distributor's problems come from assuming the factory is doing something nobody agreed to do.

We doWe do notWe are not
DevelopmentFrom your design or ours, with patterns and grading. Certify protective equipmentWe build the pockets; the armor is yours to choose. A trading companyWe do not buy from other factories and put our name on it.
Sampling and bulkSample stages, then the run, with three inspections. Hold stock for youWe produce to order; warehousing is yours. A design studio for hireWe develop with you, not instead of you.
Decoration and packingPrint, embroidery, transfer, and packing to your carton plan. Sell to your customersYour territory is yours; we do not go around you. A stock supplierThere is no catalogue of finished goods to ship tomorrow.
Documents that matchPacking list, invoice and market paperwork built to match the cartons. Handle your import clearanceDDP is available on request; the clearance itself is a separate matter. An agentWhat we quote is what we make, in the rooms on this site.
Our own cutting room, the rooms a quote is actually made in
Made here · not bought in
The handover point at the dock, where our side of the line ends
Where our side ends
Why we write it downBecause the expensive misunderstandings in wholesale are never about the garment. They are about who was supposed to book the freight, who was supposed to hold the stock, who was supposed to certify the armor, and who was supposed to tell the customs broker what the composition was. Every one of those has an owner in the list above, and the ones on your side are on your side from the first order, not from the first argument.
Inspections

Quality on a wholesale run, and what you receive as proof

Three inspections and a photo set, so an audit does not need a flight.

First finished piece of a size measured on the signed size sheet
01

Start-of-line

The first finished piece of each size is measured on the signed size sheet before that size is released to the line.

Pieces pulled across sizes at the mid-line check
02

Mid-line at 20 percent

Pieces pulled across sizes rather than from one bundle. A failed check stops the line until the cause is found.

Every piece checked before packing on the finishing table
03

Final

Every piece checked before packing — repaired or remade rather than shipped and discounted later.

What you receiveStart-of-line photos per size, the mid-line record, and the packed cartons with their marks, all before shipping. If you send your own inspector or a third-party agency, they work from the same size sheet and layout we do — which is what makes an inspection conclusive instead of a discussion.
Shipping

Shipping and the paperwork that goes with the goods

Express, air or sea, DDP on request — and documents built to match the cartons exactly.

Marked and wrapped pallets ready for collection
Marked · wrapped · counted
Packing list laid against the cartons it describes
List matches cartons
Freight prepared for air or sea depending on the date
By your date

Goods go by express, air or sea depending on your date, and DDP is available on request. The documents that travel with a shipment — packing list, invoice, and whatever your market requires for composition and origin — are prepared to match the cartons exactly.

  • A document that disagrees with a carton mark is the thing that holds a shipment at the border.
  • The packing list is built from the actual cartons, not from the order sheet it was supposed to become.
How to check itAsk for a sample packing list from a previous order with the customer details removed. Its structure tells you how the factory actually works.
A plan you can receive

Send the range and the quantities, and we will come back with a carton plan

Send the rangeWhatsApp Anna
Season two

Building a range across seasons

Season two is where a wholesale relationship is actually made or lost

Blocks & graded setsby name Colour profiles & stripsper fabric Badge filesper fabric Signed size sheetper style The carton planand your marks

With those on file, season two is an order rather than a project, and you can change one style without re-opening the rest.

What changes between seasons, and what should not

  • Colours change constantly and cost the least — a new profile, not a new pattern.
  • Fabrics change sometimes and need a new sample, because the same pattern behaves differently in a new cloth.
  • Blocks change rarely and should not change casually — a block change is a fit change your existing customers will notice.
Two seasons of the same range hanging side by side for comparison
Season two · beside season one
Six things

Wholesale quote: the six things to send

Send these six and Anna comes back within 24 hours on business days with the setup and the lead time.

  1. The range

    Which styles — or the category you want covered, and we propose.

  2. Quantities per style

    Even roughly; it decides whether it is one line run or several.

  3. Your size curve

    Or your market and discipline, and we propose one.

  4. Label and carton requirements

    Labels, hangtags, barcode format, carton marking system.

  5. Decoration

    What is printed, what is embroidered, and anything that must match across fabrics.

  6. Date and destination

    For scheduling, and for express, air or sea.
Send the sixSee the development route
Range plan, label samples and a carton spec laid out ready to send
Six things · one email
Range and quantities

Send the range and the quantities, and we will come back with a plan you can receive

Anna replies within 24 hours on business days with what it takes to set the programme up, the size curve we would propose and why, the carton plan, and the lead time to your date.

Anna · Sales Manager WhatsApp / phone: +86 177 0272 7677 Email: sales@runmotoapparel.com Mon–Sat 9:00–18:00 (GMT+8)