Sock WholesalersPage last updated: November 2, 2026
Made to order socks are knitted after your order, which is the whole point
Nothing on this site is picked off a shelf. Every style is knitted once an order exists, so there is no stock list to browse and no pair to ship tomorrow; what a made to order buyer gets instead is a production window with a date it opens and a date it closes. This page sets out what has to be true before that window can be booked, how the per-style minimum turns one launch into several runs, and how to count backwards from the day the goods have to be on a shelf.
The table below is the sheet our quotations are built on. Published lines are printed elsewhere on this site and read the same here; quoted lines move with the style, the count and the date you need, and are settled on the proforma invoice rather than on a web page.
No stock list, no shelf, and a window that opens on two signatures
Each card names one thing that has to be settled before a window can be booked, and the page on this site where the claim is already printed.
There is no stock list, because nothing is knitted in advance
The floor knits to order on machines in Zhuji, so there is no shelf of finished pairs behind this site and no quantity sitting ready for a phone call. A style is knitted after your deposit and your approved sample, which makes the first decision on a made to order programme not which style but which window.
Where it applies: First ranges, seasonal call-offs, styles that exist only as artwork.
You decide: The style, the pairs per style, and the date the goods have to land.
Evidence: the position stated on this site — see custom socks against stock socks.
The window opens on two events, not on the order date
Bulk runs 20–30 days after the deposit is received and the sample is approved, and sampling itself takes 3–5 days after the brief and the artwork are confirmed. The clock therefore starts on the later of two approvals rather than on the day the purchase order is signed, and every week spent on artwork is a week added to the ship date.
Where it applies: Launch dates with a fixed campaign or retail window behind them.
You decide: When the deposit goes out, and when the sample comes back signed.
Evidence: the lead times published for this site — see the wholesale terms page.
The count is per style, so the window is per style too
The minimum is 1,000 pairs per style rather than per order, and a style means one design in one colourway. A launch of three colourways is three runs, each with its own deposit, its own approval and its own window, which is why a wide first range lands in instalments instead of on a single date.
Where it applies: Multi-colourway launches, size extensions, second markets.
You decide: How many colourways the first range genuinely needs.
Evidence: the per-style minimum printed with the style — see this style's own page.
What is published here, and what your own window decides
A made to order buyer reads a floor two ways: what is printed and checkable, and what the floor will put in writing against a date. This table separates the two instead of blurring them into one paragraph.
Terms for a made to order run. Published lines are printed on this site; quoted lines are settled on your proforma invoice against the approved sample and the date you need the goods.
- Order size
- 1,000 pairs per style
- Sample
- 3–5 days
- Production window
- 20–30 days
- Sea transit
- 25–40 days
| Term | What we publish | How your own order sets it | Where it is published |
|---|---|---|---|
| PublishedOrder size | 1,000 pairs per style for bulk orders. | Counted per style and per colourway, so a three-colourway launch is three runs rather than one. | Quote page, terms page and every style page. |
| QuotedStock availability | There is no stock list on this site; nothing is knitted before an order exists. | What a first order can be is decided by the window, not by what is sitting on a shelf. | Custom against stock page and the quote page. |
| QuotedProduction window | Bulk runs 20–30 days after deposit received and sample approved. | The start date is your deposit date and your signed sample; the window counts from the later of the two. | Terms page and quote page. |
| PublishedSample window | Typically 3–5 days after the brief and artwork are confirmed; charged per style and credited against the first bulk order. | One sample per style, knitted to your artwork and to your own size chart, with the courier on you. | Sample policy page and quote page. |
| PublishedShipping legs | About 25–40 days by sea, 5–10 days by air and 3–7 days by express. | The leg you book is the last stretch to add before a landing date can be named at all. | Terms page and shipping volume page. |
| QuotedRun planning | The minimum is per style, not on the order total. | How many runs your range becomes, and therefore how many windows you are booking. | Quote page and the per-style minimum on every style page. |
| QuotedArtwork rounds | Two rounds of artwork changes are ordinary. | A third round usually means the brief moved, and the window moves with it. | Design process page. |
| QuotedCosting | No price list is printed on this site. | The binding price sits on the proforma invoice against the style, the count and the colour count. | Terms page and quote page. |
Two rows on this sheet cost a season when they are assumed rather than confirmed: the deposit date and the colourway count. Both are real, both are set by you, and neither can be recovered once the window has been booked against them.
Counting backwards from the day the goods have to be on a shelf
A made to order date is arithmetic rather than a promise: the sample, the run and the freight each take their own stretch of calendar, and the only fixed point is the day the goods are needed.
Freight is the leg most plans leave out
Sea freight adds about 25–40 days on top of a run that has just taken 20–30 days, and air and express buy speed at a price. The date to plan backwards from is the day the goods have to be in a warehouse, so the freight leg is chosen before the run is booked rather than discovered after it.
Where it applies: Fixed retail windows, marketplace restock dates, trade show handovers.
You decide: Which leg you are paying for, and how much calendar it buys.
Evidence: shipping volume on this site — see the shipping and volume page.
A repeat is a second window, not a second order
A repeat is counted from its own deposit and its own approval, so a reorder placed after the first run sells out lands in the next window rather than in the current one. Booking the repeat while the first run is still on the machines is what keeps a fast seller on the shelf.
Where it applies: Continuity ranges, sell-through chasing, second seasons.
You decide: Whether the repeat is a straight run or carries a colourway change.
Evidence: reorder timing published here — see the reorder lead time page.
The window is knit against a locked colour lot
Colour is bought to a dye lot locked per order and matched to a physical reference rather than to a screen. A window that slips can cost you the lot it was booked against, which is why the reference is confirmed before the window opens instead of when the yarn is ordered.
Where it applies: Colour-critical ranges, brand-standard shades, matched sets.
You decide: The swatch, yarn card or approved sample the lot is matched against.
Evidence: how colour is bought on this site — see the yarn options page.
Two styles that only exist once they are ordered
Both are on this floor and neither is held in stock. Each card opens the style's own page, where the construction and the per-style minimum are printed.
What a made to order buyer should not assume
Publishing the limit is cheaper for both sides than finding it out after the deposit has gone out.
- No stock list. Nothing is knitted before an order exists, so there is no quantity to buy off a shelf or to top up from.
- No price list. Costing follows the style, the count and the colour count onto the proforma invoice.
- No OEKO-TEX or GRS file under our name. If your market requires one, name it in the brief and the reply says what can and cannot be supplied.
- No window held without a deposit. The clock starts on the deposit and the approved sample, so time cannot be reserved by asking for it.
- No ship date before the sample is signed. The run is knitted against the approved sample, and a date given before that approval is a guess.
- No medical-device claim. The compression line here is a sock knitted to a 20–30 mmHg band, not a registered medical device.
Can I buy from stock, when does the clock start, and why does a colourway cost a week
Can I buy a small quantity from stock first?
No, and the reason is on this site rather than in a policy drawer: the floor knits to order, so there is no stock list to sell from. What a first order can be is set by the per-style minimum of 1,000 pairs and by the window that minimum opens, which is also why the first style is chosen for its construction rather than for its price.
When does the clock actually start?
On the later of two events: the deposit landing and the sample being approved. Sampling takes 3–5 days after the brief and the artwork are confirmed, so a brief that stalls in artwork stalls the whole window with it, and a window quoted before the artwork exists is an estimate rather than a booking.
Why does a colourway cost me a week?
Because the minimum is counted per style and a colourway is a style. Three colourways are three runs at 1,000 pairs each, and each run carries its own deposit, its own approval and its own 20–30 day window, so a wide range arrives in instalments even when the brief was confirmed on one day.
Send the style, the count and the date the goods have to land
Name the style or attach the artwork, give the pairs per style, the colourway count and the date the goods have to be in a warehouse. The reply comes back within one working day with the window that date allows, the freight leg that matches it, the per-style minimum in writing and the sample timing standing behind it.
Michelle Zhang, Export sales manager, answers enquiries within one working day — sales@sockwholesalers.com, +86-13761030160 (WhatsApp same number).