Wholesale dress factory overruns are
dresses which were produced by a factory,
and are now being offered by sale.
The dresses could have been overruns because
of an error in an order processed by the factory.
For example, Calvin Klein might have ordered
a dress factory in China to produce
800 dresses, but the factory made a mistake
and noted that 8,000 dresses should be
produced. Now the factory is sitting on
an extra 7,200 dresses!
While that type of an error is hopefully
not common, mistakes do happen,
which is why there is so much factory
overrun merchandise available in the
wholesale marketplace.
Another scenario is where a
factory figures out the marginal cost
of producing more dresses is minimal.
Let's say a factory receives an
order from R&M Richards to produce
1,450 dresses in a specific style. The
cost of the extra material might be
so low that it will pay to run the machines
and produce an extra 50 dresses.
If R&M Richards does not want the
extra 50 dresses then the factory
will try to sell them into the
closeout marketplace.
One more common scenario
that I have seen is where a
factory becomes accustomed to
receiving similar orders on a regular
basis. Since the factory wants to
maximize the use of its machinery
and employees, it will often produce
dresses in anticipation of
of future orders.
But what could
end up happening is that those
future orders don't come.
The recently manufactured
clothes need to be sold to recoup
the costs that went into making them.
Now there is something very important
that you need to be aware of before
buying this type of wholesale merchandise.
You need to know that if the merchandise
was produced for the brand, or
carries a brand name, or was made
based on any intellectual property
belong to a brand, then you need to
get permission from the brand before
buying it.
The reason is because the factory was
contracted to produce those dresses for the
brand. Therefore, the dresses are the intellectual
property of the brand.
You should always consult with an attorney
when there are legal questions involved.
If you are offered factory overrun dresses
you need to make sure that you are either
purchasing them directly from the designer,
or that you have a release paper from the
designer giving you permission to
purchase the clothing.
A brand might be interested in selling their
dresses if they invested money in the production,
or incurred other expenses. But if the
brand never authorized the production of the
clothing then I doubt that they would allow anyone to
purchase them, and would actually demand that
the merchandise be disposed of.
And it does not just have to be
clothing made for a brand, it can also
be clothing made for a specific retailer.
Now I don't mean to discourage you
from pursuing this wholesale product
category.
You can still buy overrun factory wholesale dresses
if you are buying them from the brand, the factory owns its
own private label, or if the dresses are generic clothes
that no one besides the factory has any intellectual property
ownership.
For instance, a dress manufacturer in Turkey
might have its own label called
Deluxe Fashions. Since the brand belongs
to the manufacturer you would be
able to purchase those dresses even though
they are branded.
Or you might connect with a dress factory
in China through Alibaba. They might
produce generic dresses which can then
either be private labeled, or sold
with a generic label.
Private labeled refers to the process
of purchasing clothing, or any item
that is not branded, and then adding your
own label on to it.
Many Amazon sellers use this strategy
to add value to the merchandise that they
are selling.
Amazon sellers will purchase merchandise
through wholesale sources listed on Alibaba
and elsewhere, and then add their own labels
on to their products.
If you are going to buy products through
Alibaba you might consider
first taking a look at the vendors
on AliExpress since they don't have
minimums.
You can also purchase cancelled orders.
While this is a slightly different product
category, it's similar in that it
consists of merchandise that was produced
and not paid for,
and now a buyer is being sought for it.
An order could have been placed by a
major retailer, and the retailer could
have changed their mind, or even rejected the order.
What can happen is that the merchandise
is produced too late for a specific
season and now the retailer does not
want it.
Or the pattern or style is slightly off.
While most people might not notice the difference,
professional buyers, especially department store
buyers, are very particular in making sure
that the dresses meet their specifications.
Now the factory needs to recoup its cost and
will seek to sell the fashion merchandise to another
retailer, importer, exporter, or wholesaler.
If the factory received a deposit for the
fashion that they produced, then the cost
that they need to recover might be a lot
lower. This means that you should be able
to purchase the merchandise at a
really low price.
So how do you locate these factories?
You can call or email associations that represent manufacturers,
buy a directory of clothing manufacturers, or
search online for clothes manufacturers.
I would recommend either visiting the
factory in person or working with
a reputable agent that can visit,
and even make a deal for the merchandise,
on your behalf.
If these two options are not available
you can always ask for references
and read the feedback from other
wholesale buyers who have dealt with
the manufacturer.
The commercial attaches at
embassies and consulates
can also help you connect with
clothing producers in their
respective countries. It is the job of
these commercial attaches to
facilitate business opportunities for
companies for the countries that they
represent.
When I first started my closeout
business I contacted the Pakistani
consulate and asked them for information
on where I could purchase wholesale socks.
They were kind enough to connect me with
one of the major sock manufacturers in Pakistan,
who conveniently had a warehouse in the United
States, located in
New Jersey.
Although my focus is currently not on socks,
I was able to purchase excess production
and cancelled orders at a rate that
was substantially below the
regular wholesale price that other
businesses were paying for socks.
You might even decide to take
a completely different approach,
and have clothes made for you!