Being a supplier is a narrower claim than being a manufacturer: it is about what happens between a purchase order and a repeat, and it is measured in documents rather than in machines. This page is the supply side of the same floor.
Suppliers get chosen on three things that rarely appear on a supplier page: what the minimum counts, what document governs the price, and what a repeat order skips. Each has its own answer here, and each is published elsewhere on the site in the same words.
The single most useful question to ask any supplier is which of their numbers are published and which are quoted. A supplier who cannot answer that has a quotation you cannot compare.
1,000 pairs per style, 3–5 days sampling, 20–30 days bulk, transit by mode. Fixed means it does not move per order, and the page changes if it does.
Price, colour split, case pack, trade term, deposit split. These follow your specification, so they belong on the document that carries your specification.
A price list, a customer name, a discount ladder. Each is a plausible-looking feature of a supplier page and each is a way of avoiding a real number.
A supply relationship is the sequence, not the brochure. Each row names the stage, what we publish about it, and the page that already carries the detail.
| Stage | What we publish | What decides it on your order | Where it is documented |
|---|---|---|---|
| PublishedEnquiry | Every enquiry is answered within one working day, Monday to Friday, 09:00–18:00 China Standard Time. | Whether the brief names a style, a quantity and a market — a brief with all three gets a costing, one without gets a question. | Quote and the FAQ. |
| PublishedCosting | A reference range comes back against your specification, with the trade term it sits on and the MOQ restated. | Specification, colour count and quantity — the three things the range moves on. | Quote. |
| QuotedSample | Typically 3–5 days after brief and artwork; charged per style and credited against the first bulk order. | The construction, and how many styles the first round covers. | Sample policy. |
| QuotedProforma invoice | The binding price, term, quantity and lead time sit here, against a confirmed specification. | What you approved on the sample, and what your broker and DC add to the packing lines. | Document desk. |
| PublishedDeposit | Payment runs through the entity named on your quotation and proforma invoice. | The entity your finance team can pay, and the currency printed on the invoice. | Wholesale terms. |
| PublishedBulk | Typically 20–30 days after deposit received and sample approved. | The style count and the line loading in that month. | Wholesale terms. |
| PublishedShipment | Invoice and packing list travel with the goods; a certificate of origin is added where the destination asks. | The trade term and the destination’s customs requirement. | Document desk, template at v2026-10. |
| PublishedRepeat | A repeat runs from the locked specification and skips the sample round. | Whether anything in the knit changes; if it does, it is a new style, not a repeat. | Reorder lead time. |
Two stages in that list are the ones that go wrong in practice: the enquiry that arrives without a market, and the repeat that quietly changes a yarn. Both are document problems, not knitting problems.
Every one of these is checkable before a purchase order exists, and none of them is a claim about quality.
1,000 pairs per style, counted per style rather than per order. Written down, in the same words on the quote page, the product pages and the FAQ.
Evidence: Three pages, one sentence: quote, FAQ, every product page.
Invoice and packing list with the shipment, certificate of origin where required, and a packing list template you can read before the order exists. The template currently sits at v2026-10.
Evidence: Document desk and client documents.
Two of them, actually: QS Knitting Co.,Ltd contracts and exports; Zhuji Qingsheng Knitting Co.,Ltd runs the floor and holds the audits. Both are on the proforma invoice.
Evidence: Contact, under the entity split.
BSCI 26-0419962, valid until 14 Aug 2027, and SEDEX ZAA600215648, audited 12–13 Aug 2026. Both held by the factory entity, both on the site as files, both free to read before you email.
Evidence: Certificates.
Sampling counts from a confirmed brief and artwork, bulk from deposit and an approved sample, and the costing reply from a usable brief. Three different starting points, often confused into one.
Evidence: Wholesale terms and reorder lead time.
The audit numbers, the two entity names, the address on the packing list, and a live call where you choose what the camera points at — recorded, and yours to keep.
Evidence: The verify route on contact and how to vet a supplier.
Buyers often treat the quotation and the proforma invoice as the same document at two stages. They are not, and the difference decides what happens when a specification changes.
| Document | Issued by | What it does | Where it is explained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Costing reply | The export desk | An invitation to proceed, not a binding offer. It carries a reference range, the trade term and the MOQ restated against your style count. | Quote. |
| Sample record | The desk, against the approved sample | Locks the parameters that will be checked at the end of the run. The fee is credited against the first bulk order. | Sample policy. |
| Proforma invoice | The contracting entity | Binds the price, term, quantity and lead time against the confirmed specification. This is the document that governs the sale. | Document desk. |
| Invoice and packing list | The contracting entity | Travels with the shipment; the packing list is where the case pack, the carton marking and any label you send us are confirmed per style. | Packaging options. |
Each of these is standard on a supplier page and each is a way of avoiding a number. Written out, they are easy to spot on other sites too.
If you are comparing suppliers, these four are the ones that make the comparison possible on both sides.
| Page | What it covers | What it does for a shortlist |
|---|---|---|
| How to vet a socks supplier | A checklist, written to be run against us first. | Turns “which one feels right” into four questions with answers. |
| Wholesale terms | MOQ, freight, lead times, returns and claims. | Lets you compare terms instead of totals. |
| Documents portal | The document area for buyers already working with us. | Shows what a repeat order stops having to chase. |
| Reorder lead time | What a repeat skips and what it does not. | The best single predictor of how a supplier behaves in year two. |
A supplier can only answer usefully against a real product. Send a photograph of the sock you sell today, the quantity per style, and the destination market, and the reply comes back within one working day with the construction, the term and the minimum restated for your range.
Michelle Zhang, Export sales manager, answers enquiries within one working day — sales@sockwholesalers.com, +86-13761030160 (WhatsApp same number).
Sock Wholesalers