Sock WholesalersSocks reorder lead time explained, from repeat to delivery
A reorder is not the first order with a shorter brief. Four things carry over, and the calendar follows whichever of them you change.
With socks reorder lead time explained, the useful part is knowing which change costs days and which one costs you none at all.
On this page
What carries over
The specification sheet, the signed sample, the artwork file and the dye lot. Together they are why a repeat needs no new brief and no new artwork round.
A repeat runs on the same floor as the first order. What changes is the paperwork in front of it.
We set the dye lot aside for your order, so a second shipment can be matched to the first. Ask the desk to confirm the lot is still held before you commit the quantity.
That confirmation is worth one email. A lot that has run out means a new dye batch, and a new dye batch is the one change that shows in the finished sock.
What has to be re-confirmed
Quantity, size split and ship window. The specification does not move, but the carton does. A new split is a new packing list.
Ask in writing whether a new sample round applies. A repeat against a sample already on file usually needs none, and the desk will confirm that rather than leave you guessing.
Bulk runs 20–30 days after deposit and approved sample. A repeat with no new sample starts the clock at the deposit, and that difference is most of the saving.
Check your own reorder
Ask what is still on file for your order
Send the order number and the desk confirms in one reply which of the four files still sit against it, whether the dye lot is held, and the earliest ship date that follows from both. That reply is the answer to the only question that matters before you commit a quantity: how much of this is still a repeat.
What changed, and what it does to the calendar
A first order and a repeat side by side, then the six kinds of reorder, what still carries over, and what the calendar does.
First order and reorder, side by side
| Step | First order | Reorder |
|---|---|---|
| Specification sheet | Written from your brief, then signed off | Reused from the file held against your order number |
| Artwork | New, with a stitch count check before knitting | Reused as it is; only a change adds the check |
| Sample | One round, 3–5 days after brief and artwork | None while the signed sample on file is the one you approved |
| Dye lot | A lot set aside for the order | The held lot re-matched, confirmed before you commit the quantity |
| Bulk | 20–30 days after deposit and approved sample | 20–30 days after deposit, with no sample round ahead of it |
| What starts the clock | The deposit, once the sample is approved | The deposit, and nothing before it |
Two columns, one difference that matters: the sample round is the line a repeat drops, and everything else either carries over from the file or gets re-confirmed in one email.
Six kinds of reorder
| Change on a reorder | What carries over | What the calendar does |
|---|---|---|
| Quantity only | Specification, sample, artwork, lot | Runs on the bulk window, 20–30 days |
| New size split | Specification, sample, artwork | Adds a packing list before the run |
| New colour | Specification, sample shape | Adds a dye lot and an approval |
| New yarn | Specification shape, artwork | Adds a sample round, 3–5 days |
| Artwork change | Specification, yarn, colour | Adds a stitch count check before knitting |
| Nothing changed | All of it | The shortest route, once the lot is confirmed |
The windows above are ours and they start at the deposit. Ask the desk to confirm your own dates in writing, because a running schedule can move them.
Questions buyers ask
Is a reorder always faster?
No. A repeat with nothing changed is faster, because the sample round drops out. A colour change adds a dye lot and an approval, and that can take longer than the first order took. Check what changed first.
Where do I confirm the dye lot?
With the desk, against your order number. It depends on the yarn and the lot, so the answer is written on the order rather than published here. A written answer is the one worth keeping.
Can I reorder below the minimum?
Usually not below 1,000 pairs per style, which is the bulk minimum. A lower quantity goes to the desk as a question rather than as a promise, and the answer arrives with the costing. Nothing is agreed before paper.
What if my size split moves?
Send the new split with the reorder. Packing is rebuilt from it, and the pair count per carton is confirmed before the run starts. That order of events is what keeps picking errors out of a shipment.
The styles this guide applies to
Every style on this site is quoted on the terms this page sets out. Both cards open the style’s own page — photographs, specification sheet and terms, without an email first.
Who wrote this guide
This guide was written by Michelle Zhang, Export sales manager at Sock Wholesalers. She sits on the export desk that answers buyer briefs, quotes orders and books freight, which is where the questions in this guide come from.
Confirm the lot, then the date
Ask whether the dye lot is still held before anything else. That answer decides whether the repeat is really a repeat.
Send the order number and the quantity band. The desk replies within one working day.