Clothing purchase order template

Everything both sides need to make, check, ship and pay for the order without a later email changing it. Our template groups it into eight sections: the buyer, the supplier and the factory where the goods are made; delivery and payment, with the Incoterm, dates, tolerance and what happens if the goods are late; the order lines, one per style and colour with the quantity for each size, the price and the amount; the product specification, naming the tech pack revision, the sealed sample, fabric, colour standards and trim card; quality, testing and compliance, with the inspection level and AQL and who pays for a re-inspection; labelling and packing; the documents that must come with the shipment; and the signatures. Attach the documents it names. A purchase order that only says "as per sample" leaves open which sample, so name each document with its revision or date.

The one you have agreed on the price, written with its version and a named place, such as FOB Chattogram, Incoterms 2020, or DDP with your full warehouse address. Incoterms 2020, published by the International Chamber of Commerce, is the current set of 11 rules, and each one says who pays for each leg of the journey, who clears customs, and where the risk passes from seller to buyer. FOB Chattogram means the supplier delivers the goods on board the ship at Chattogram, and you arrange and pay for the sea freight, insurance and import from there. DDP means the supplier delivers to your door with duty paid and, unless the contract excludes it, import VAT; ask who is the importer of record and whether VAT is in the price. For a first small order with no freight forwarder, DDP is usually the easier start; once you ship regularly, FOB is usually cheaper and clearer. Our FOB vs DDP guide compares the two in full.

The method, the stages, and what each payment is tied to. Garment orders are usually paid by bank transfer (T/T), split into a deposit and a balance, or by letter of credit, and established buyers sometimes on open account. There is no standard deposit percentage, so the figure is agreed, not assumed. What protects you is the trigger for each payment: a deposit after the factory is named, the sample is approved and a proforma invoice is signed; a balance after a final inspection has passed, or against a copy of the bill of lading backed by that inspection report. If you pay by letter of credit, write the inspection certificate into the documents the credit requires, because banks check documents, not garments. The template’s example leaves the payment terms as a placeholder on purpose; our guide to payment terms in garment manufacturing explains each method and where the risk sits.

The buyer issues the purchase order; the supplier issues the proforma invoice. The purchase order states what you want: styles, colours, sizes, quantities, the specification, the delivery and payment terms, and the quality and packing requirements. The proforma invoice is the supplier’s confirmation in its own document of the price, quantities, terms and delivery date, often used to request the deposit and, in many countries, by the buyer’s bank to open a letter of credit. The two must agree. Compare them line by line before paying anything, because a proforma that quotes a different quantity, Incoterm or date is the moment to correct it, not after production starts. Keep both with the same revision number, and raise the revision on the purchase order whenever a change is agreed, so the factory never works from one version while you comment on another.

Because the company you buy from is not always the place your clothes are made. A buying house or a trading company places the order with a factory, and a factory under pressure may pass part of an order to another unit. The factory you approved is the one whose audit report, quality record and capacity you checked; work moved elsewhere without your knowledge has none of that behind it. Naming the factory and saying that work may not move without your written approval gives you a written term to rely on if goods are made elsewhere. We are a buying house, so on our orders the factory is named before production, with its documents. Ask any supplier which factory will make your order, and get the answer in writing.