If you run a clothing business, you probably understand that buying inventory in bulk quantities is the easiest way to get a good deal on manufacturing, keeping the cost per unit low, and giving you a much more attractive potential profit margin.
In this article, we will explore why you should purchase wholesale clothing for your business, and where you might want to look first.
What Is Wholesale Clothing?
Wholesale clothing is as the name suggests – clothing produced wholesale. When bought in a large enough quantity, you’ll often find a manufacturer is willing to lower the price per unit to a much more attractive level. With a much lower unit price you’ll be earning a much healthier profit when your items sell at retail.
Wholesalers have a lot of products to sell, and they often rely on low prices to sell their stock as quickly as possible – it’s generally better for them to sell their entire stock for a discount than it would be to keep the unit price higher and sell piece by piece. The more stock a retailer can take from the manufacturer, the cheaper it generally is.
Benefits of Buying Wholesale Clothing from Mexico
Starting your own clothing business can be both exciting and nerve-wracking. If you decide to go the wholesale route, the next decision that you must make is whether to order from a domestic or overseas supplier.
These are some of the reasons why we recommend buying from Mexico clothing suppliers:
- Lower Cost
One of the primary considerations for choosing between a domestic wholesaler and a Mexican wholesaler is the cost. You can expect to secure an attractive discount just by buying from Mexican clothing wholesalers, as their production costs are simply much lower than an American company.
This is largely due to Mexico having lower wages and overheads, but there are also other factors like the ready supply of raw materials, more people in the workforce with manufacturing skill and so on.
Taxes are negligible as apparel goods imported from Mexico are mostly eligible for preferential duty treatment under the United-States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). And since Mexico is geographically near to the United States, shipping costs are a great deal cheaper than if they had to come from China.
- Fast Shipping Timelines
Some people do prefer domestic clothing manufacturers due to the ease of accessibility and faster shipping timelines. And while these benefits do exist, you can still enjoy a similar result through working with a Mexican supplier – depending on your location.
Mexico shares a land border with the US, and if you’re in a southern state, the delivery route via truck could be a comparable distance to what it would be if you were working with a domestic supplier in a different state. By purchasing from clothing suppliers in Mexico, you will get the best of both worlds: fast shipping and cheap prices.
And it is not just the shipping timelines that matter: a longer logistical chain could potentially be disrupted easily. With so many different aspects of our business to focus on, we wouldn’t want to be distracted by the issues of cargo ship delays, political disagreements, or the fluctuating cost of oil.
- Greater Product Variety
Another consideration that many fashion businesses may have is product selection. The fashion industry’s primary drive is to offer customers unique choices to match their styles. Clothing trends also come and go quickly, and fashion businesses need to be able to capitalize on these market shifts before they lose their appeal.
Many domestic suppliers are limited by space and production capability, and have a much smaller product catalog than the larger factories overseas. If you want to carry a niche product or want to give your customers more choices of styles, colors, and sizes, buying from overseas wholesalers is probably your best bet.
Whatever clothes you’re looking to buy, you would probably be able to source high-quality products from various Mexican wholesalers. Many Mexican clothing suppliers even have experience providing contract manufacturing services for big brands such as Nike, Levi’s, and Under Armour, so we can be assured of their manufacturing expertise and the quality of their goods.
How to find Mexican Clothing Wholesalers
Finding the right clothing wholesaler in Mexico may take some time and effort, but once you have built a long-term relationship with a trusted supplier, you’ve built a process that can supply your business for years.
First you should look at getting a list of legitimate, reputable wholesalers. The easiest way is to head to an online marketplace that has a product and manufacturer index with a good amount of suppliers for your consideration. Of course, you could also consider other methods like search engines or word-of-mouth referrals to shortlist potential suppliers and even trade shows to look at products’ samples.
The next step would be to request a quote and see if they are a good fit for your business. You would want to be informed of a few key things such as the Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ), price per unit, the expected shipping timelines as well as the payment terms.
Finally, you may also like to check on the wholesalers’ reputation not just on their quality, but their credentials, timeliness and reputation among other customers. Explore these factors and spend some time building relationships with multiple suppliers to diversify any business risks involved.
The Bottom Line
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American family spends $1,700 every year on clothes, and there are no signs that the American fast fashion market is slowing down. As an owner of a fashion business, buying your wholesale clothes from Mexico is worth exploring due to the low costs and large selection.
At Zipfox, you can immediately browse and connect with Mexican clothing suppliers that have been vetted for reliability. Click below to browse the clothing selection and get a quote directly.
