A garment sourcing agent finds and manages factories on your behalf. Good agents do far more than make introductions: they negotiate, check quality, keep production on schedule and solve problems before they reach you. Because you can't easily see what happens in a factory thousands of miles away, the agent you choose matters as much as the factory itself.
Ten questions to ask
- 1. Who do I sign the contract with, and where are they based? A contract with a company in your own country gives you a clearer legal position if something goes wrong.
- 2. Are you an agent or a factory? Both can work. What matters is that they tell you plainly, so you know whose interests they represent.
- 3. How do you vet factories? Ask which audits they require, such as WRAP, BSCI or Sedex/SMETA, and whether they check that certificates are current. See what each audit covers.
- 4. Which countries and product categories do you cover? An agent strong in knitwear may not be the right choice for outerwear or footwear. See how we match products to countries.
- 5. How is your fee built into the price? Ask whether costing is open book, with materials, labor and margin shown by line, or a single number.
- 6. What quality control do you do, and when? Look for in-line inspection during production as well as a final check before shipment.
- 7. What happens if goods fail inspection? Agree in advance who pays for rework or delays.
- 8. Who will be my day-to-day contact, and in which time zone? Fast answers during your working day prevent small issues from becoming late deliveries.
- 9. Can you handle development, or only production? If you don't have tech packs yet, you need a partner who can build them. See what a tech pack includes.
- 10. Can I speak with a current client? A reference tells you more than any website.
Warning signs
- Quotes that arrive instantly, before anyone has asked about fabric, sizes or quantity.
- Reluctance to name the factory or share its audit status.
- Payment requested to personal accounts or to a company different from the one on the contract.
- No written sample approval process.
If you supply federal agencies, also ask where goods will be produced. Country of origin decides whether an item can be offered under the Trade Agreements Act. See our Berry Amendment vs TAA guide.
How Dragon Charm answers these questions
Dragon Charm Inc is a New York corporation, so your contract and payment stay with a US company. We are a sourcing agent and supplier, not a factory owner. We quote only factories with current audits, cost every line openly, inspect in-line and before shipment, and give you one point of contact on Eastern time. Read about us or tell us what you're sourcing.