Textile decoration directly at the factory

Blank goods from a wholesale catalogue work for a one-off print run. They stop working once a client wants a specific fabric weight, an exact colour, a woven label, a custom neck tape or retail-ready packaging. At that point you are no longer decorating a stock item, you need a garment made to a specification.

We produce that article directly with a manufacturer in China that our team knows personally, instead of sourcing it from a European wholesaler. We negotiate the price with the producer ourselves, and you have control over material, construction and finishing from the first sample.

From Hamburg, DS Trading runs merch projects as a German company, and co-founder Felix Sander works in China with a whole team that knows more than 100 producers personally. For merch, the most important ones are streetwear workshops with printing and embroidery in house and makers of polos and shirts who do everything from cutting to packing, digital printing included. Whether a factory really embroiders your design itself or passes it on to another workshop is something our team checks on site straight away.

You have one European contact who takes your merch from the first artwork to DDP delivery and makes it happen. For many agencies importing from China is a black box; with us you can see which step your order has reached. We get in touch on our own as soon as the sample with your embroidery is ready or the print is running late, and we say openly when something is not going to plan. Merch often has to be there for a trade fair or an event, so we calculate the delivery date realistically and do everything we can to keep it.

You know us personally, and that trust is the most important thing we have. If a print sits crooked or a thread colour is off, we talk to you immediately and come to see you. Our merch prices are usually below what sourcing yourself or other sourcing agencies would cost, because we handle the China part and the Germany part ourselves, choose the cheaper option on both sides and negotiate the best possible price with the producer. Your merch is delivered DDP, with the invoice issued in Germany.

Manufacturer selection in China matched to the article and quantity, including a business licence check. Sampling against your specification, tech pack or reference product, with your written approval before series production starts. Quality control by our own team in China, on site at the producer during production and again after completion, before shipment. DDP import into the EU (Switzerland: DAP), invoice with German VAT ID.

The minimum order is 300 pieces per article. The process starts either from a tech pack or from a reference product plus written notes on the deviations you need. We turn that into a comparable manufacturer enquiry and a landed cost quote, then move to a physical sample before any production run is placed.

Recurring merch programmes are set up the same way as a one-off order, with the difference that the approved specification and sample stay on file as the reference for every later reorder.

The breakdown below shows how a landed cost is built up for a 320 g/m² hoodie. Every figure is a calculated example, not a binding quote; the real quote is calculated for your exact article, quantity and route.

Calculated example, not a binding quote. The actual landed cost depends on quantity, fabric, decoration, freight route and the TARIC classification for the specific article.

Print and embroidery (Druck / Stick) are specified per artwork with the manufacturer: placement, dimensions, colours and the method. Neck labels are woven or printed, and hangtags, care labels and a retail polybag or set packaging are defined in the same specification.

Fibre composition and care symbols (Textilkennzeichnung) are the brand owner’s responsibility. DS Trading implements the specification you provide and flags gaps when a specification looks incomplete, but does not take over the labelling obligation for your brand.

The minimum order is 300 pieces per article. Within that quantity, colours and a size run are split around what you actually expect to sell: a single colour uses the full 300, two colours split it, and the sizes inside each colour follow expected demand rather than an even grid.

Reorders are possible from 300 pieces as well. The reference sample retained from the first order stays the benchmark, so a second run is checked against the first batch and not against a fresh interpretation by the factory.

This is not a source for off-the-shelf catalogue goods you could buy blank from a European wholesaler tomorrow. It is also limited to textiles: we do not source non-textile promotional products such as mugs, pens or electronics. If your requirement is a standard blank in standard sizes, a local wholesaler will usually be faster and cheaper for a single small run.