Why Can Wetsuit Factory Quotations Differ by $10 or More?

Send one wetsuit photograph to five factories and you may receive five different prices.

Why?

Because a photograph shows what the product looks like.

It does not necessarily show what the product is made of.

From a simple image, a supplier may not know:

• Exact neoprene specification
• Fabric stretch
• Panel construction
• Zipper specification
• Seam construction
• Logo process
• Size standard
• Packaging
• QC requirements

Each factory may therefore make different assumptions.

The five prices you receive may actually represent five different products.

How Can Buyers Compare Quotations Properly?

Standardize as much as possible:

material, thickness, sizing, seam construction, zipper, branding, packaging, quantity and trade terms.

Then compare.

One of the biggest sourcing risks is not paying too much. It is believing that two different products are the same product because the photographs look similar.