You have a print design your customers will love — a botanical for the spring collection, a crisp geometric for a hotel program, a playful nursery print for a retailer’s private label. You email five China textile manufacturers asking for a quote. Then the silence starts. Two never reply. Two return a list of eight questions you cannot answer. One sends a price that changes three times in a single week.
This is the most common failure point in custom printed bedding sourcing, and it has nothing to do with your design. It is the RFQ — the request for quotation — that is broken. A factory cannot quote what it cannot see. Every missing specification is a guess, and every guess becomes either an inflated “safe” price or a sample that looks nothing like the picture in your head.
The good news is that a factory-ready RFQ is a skill you can learn in one sitting. This guide walks through exactly what to write, and in what order, so that a manufacturer like Nantong अखंडता कपडा can answer with one accurate price instead of ten questions. Write it once, reuse it for every design after.
Why Vague RFQs Stall in the First Reply
A printed bedding set is not one product; it is a stack of decisions. Base fabric, yarn count, fabric width, बुनाई, print method, number of colors, color standards, परिष्करण, आकारहरू, packaging — each line moves the cost, sometimes by double digits. When a buyer writes “please quote printed bedding set, कपास, floral design,” the merchandiser on the factory side must fill in every blank herself. She will either price defensively, adding margin to cover the unknowns — which makes the factory look expensive — or quote the cheapest possible interpretation, which guarantees a disappointing sample.
Factories triage inquiries ruthlessly. A complete RFQ signals a serious buyer with real volume behind it, and it goes to the front of the queue. An incomplete one gets parked until someone has spare time, which in a busy season means never. The buyers who receive the fastest, sharpest quotes are not necessarily the ones with the biggest orders. They are the ones whose emails a merchandiser can forward to the costing desk without adding a single question.
द 12 Details Your RFQ Must Get Right
Below is the checklist professional buyers use. You do not need to know everything on day one — but for each line, either give an answer or write “please recommend.” Never leave a line blank.
1. Base Fabric and Fiber Content
State the fiber and construction precisely: 100% cotton percale, कपास वर्षा, cotton-linen blend, bamboo viscose, TENCEL lyocell, or flannel. Add yarn count and thread count where you know them, for example 40s x 40s at 200 थ्रेड गणना. If you are unsure, describe the hand feel you want — “smooth and cool like a hotel sheet” — and let the factory propose options. पूर्णता कपडा manufactures across the full range, from all-cotton and linen to bamboo fiber, टेनि, and flannel, so a single RFQ can cover several fabric directions at once.
2. Fabric Width and GSM
Width decides how a pattern repeats across a sheet and how efficiently the factory can cut your sizes. Common greige widths run from about 144 cm up to 320 सेमी. GSM — grams per square meter — pins down the weight: a light summer percale versus a substantial sateen. If you own a reference sample, say so. “Match the weight and hand of the enclosed swatch” beats any number you could guess.
3. Print Method: Digital, Rotary Screen, or Flat Screen
Name your preferred method, or ask the factory to recommend one based on your volume and design — the comparison later in this guide shows the logic. Digital printing suits complex, many-colored designs in smaller runs. Rotary screen printing is the workhorse for large volumes. Flat screen printing handles special effects and textured fabrics. Declaring a method up front stops the factory from costing the wrong process.
4. Number of Colors in the Design
Count every distinct ink color, including the background if it is printed rather than piece-dyed. ए “simple floral” can easily carry nine colors. On rotary and flatbed machines, more colors mean more screens — and more cost. List the colors, and flag which are critical brand colors and which are flexible.
5. Design File and Repeat Size
Attach the artwork as a vector file (AI, EPS, or PDF) or a high-resolution TIFF or PSD at full print scale, and state the repeat size in centimeters — for example, a 64 cm by 64 cm repeat. Phone screenshots and low-resolution JPEGs cannot be converted into screens; they only generate another round of questions. If the design is not final, say which stage it is at so the factory can quote honestly against “artwork to be confirmed.”
6. Color Standards
Reference Pantone TCX textile codes for every key color, or send a physical color standard. Screen colors drift between a laptop display, a strike-off, and bulk production; a numbered standard is the only common language. State your tolerance as well — a commercial match under D65 lighting is the industry baseline.
7. Sizes, Set Composition, and Dimensions
List every piece in the set with finished dimensions: समतल पाना, fitted sheet with pocket depth, duvet cover with closure type, pillowcases with envelope or zipper closure. “Queen set” means different measurements in the US, the UK, and the EU, so always give centimeters or inches. Add the size ratio when you need one, for example a 3:2:1 split across queen, राजा, and twin.
8. Finishing Requirements
Finishing is invisible in a photograph and decisive in hand feel and wash performance. State what you need: mercerization for luster and dye uptake, पूर्व संकुचन, softener type, and any functional finish. If the bedding must survive commercial laundry, declare it here — it changes the entire construction, and discovering it after the quote means starting over.
9. Packaging and Private Label
Describe the retail presentation: PVC bag, non-woven bag, or gift box; insert card; barcode and care labels; your private label sewn into the product. Packaging is frequently five to ten percent of a set’s landed cost, and no factory can quote it from imagination. Photographs of a reference pack are worth a thousand words.
10. Quantities and Tiers
Give the order quantity per design per colorway, plus the tiers you want priced — for example 1,000, 3,000, र 5,000 सेटहरू. Printing carries real economies of scale: screens, color kitchens, and machine setup are fixed costs spread across meters. Tiered quantities let you see exactly where the price breaks.
11. लक्ष्य मूल्य
This is the line most buyers skip, and skipping it is expensive. A target price tells the factory which shelf you are aiming at, so it can engineer the construction to fit instead of quoting its default specification and missing your market entirely. At our factory, “लक्षित मूल्यको सम्मान गर्नुहोस्” is a standing policy: show us the quotes you have collected elsewhere, name one all-in price, र हामी जवाफ दिन्छौं मेक वा नो-मेक - कुनै ह्यागलिंग थिएटर छैन, no games after the deal is closed.
12. Delivery Terms, नेतृत्व समय, and Destination
State EXW, FOB, or your preferred Incoterm, the destination port, and the date the goods must ship — not the date they must arrive. “Ship by March 15 for an April retail launch” lets the factory work backward through strike-off, bulk production, and vessel schedules. Vague timing earns vague commitment.
Copy-Paste RFQ Email Template
Here is the template. Fill in the brackets, attach your artwork, and send it. A buyer who sends this gets quoted in days, not weeks.
- Subject: RFQ — Custom Printed Bedding Sets, [Design Name], [Qty] सेटहरू, FOB [Port]
- 1. Company and market: [Your company], selling into [country and retail channel]
- 2. Base fabric: [जस्तै, 100% कपास वर्षा, 40s, 200TC] वा “please recommend for a soft, smooth hand”
- 3. चौडाइ / GSM: [जस्तै, 280 सेमी / 130 GSM] वा “match enclosed swatch”
- 4. Print method: [डिजिटल / rotary screen / flat screen / please recommend]
- 5. रंगहरू: [number] colors — Pantone TCX codes attached
- 6. Artwork: [file name] attached, repeat [__] cm by [__] सेमी
- 7. Set composition and sizes: [list each piece with cm or inches]
- 8. फिनिसिङ: [जस्तै, mercerized, pre-shrunk, softener]
- 9. प्याकेजिङ: [जस्तै, PVC bag, insert card, sewn-in private label]
- 10. Quantities: [1,000 / 3,000 / 5,000 sets per colorway]
- 11. लक्ष्य मूल्य: [your one all-in price, FOB port] — one price, make-or-no-make answer
- 12. Ship date and terms: [ship by date], [EXW / FOB port]
- 13. Other: [परीक्षण, inspection, or certification requirements]
Send the same template to every factory on your shortlist. Identical inputs are the only way to compare quotes honestly — otherwise you are comparing one factory’s premium construction against another’s budget interpretation, and the cheaper number wins for the wrong reason.
Strike-Offs: How Sampling Really Works
A strike-off is a small printed swatch of your actual design on your actual base fabric — the moment your artwork stops being a screen image and becomes a textile. The standard sequence runs: color standard confirmation, then strike-off printing, then your approval, then bulk production. Plan roughly one to two weeks per strike-off round including courier time, and budget for two to three rounds on a new design. The first round calibrates color, the second refines it, and the third is usually the sign-off.
Settle who pays before work starts. Many factories charge a strike-off fee that is credited against the bulk order; others absorb it as development cost for serious volumes. Get it in writing: the fee per strike-off, how many rounds are included, and what triggers a re-charge. When you approve a strike-off, approve it against a numbered standard and keep a sealed reference swatch. That swatch — not your memory of it — is what bulk production will be judged against.
The step buyers underestimate is the handoff between approval and bulk: the factory must convert your approved strike-off into production screens or digital files, book machine time, and prepare the greige fabric. मा our factory — founded in 2007, with about 30,000 square meters of production space and monthly capacity of roughly 40,000 ओछ्यान सेट र 25,000 duvet sets — that handoff is routine, but it still needs its slot in the schedule, which is exactly why the ship date in your RFQ matters.
Digital vs Rotary Screen vs Flat Screen: How to Choose
The three print technologies are not better or worse than each other; they are built for different jobs. Choosing wrong is one of the most expensive mistakes in printed bedding. A photographic design forced onto rotary screens loses its detail, while a two-color geometric run on digital printing pays for precision it never uses.
Digital Printing
No screens, no color limit, photographic detail. Setup cost is minimal, which makes digital the natural choice for small runs, sampling, and designs with gradients or more colors than a screen machine can carry. The trade-off is speed and ink cost: at very large volumes, the per-meter cost climbs above rotary printing.
Rotary Screen Printing
Engraved nickel screens on rotating cylinders — the workhorse of bulk textile printing. छिटो, सुसंगत, and the cheapest per meter at volume. The constraint is the machine’s fixed number of color stations, typically under a dozen, so designs must fit within that color count. Each design also needs its own set of engraved screens, a real setup cost that only pays off with volume.
Flat Screen Printing
Screens pressed flat against the fabric, one color at a time. Slower than rotary, but superb for heavy or textured fabrics and for special effects such as flock or metallics. A strong choice for short-to-mid runs where hand feel and effect matter more than raw speed.
The Decision Logic
- Small run, many colors, or photographic detail: choose digital printing.
- Thousands of sets, a limited color count, and cost pressure: choose rotary screen printing.
- Special effects, heavy or textured fabrics, mid-size runs: choose flat screen printing.
- Not sure: send the artwork with your quantity tiers and ask the factory to quote two methods side by side. A competent manufacturer will show you exactly where the crossover sits.
Whichever method you choose, lock the color standard and the approved strike-off to that method. A rotary bulk run will never match a digital strike-off exactly, because the inks and the physics differ.
बारम्बार सोधिने प्रश्नहरू
How long does it take to receive a strike-off?
Plan roughly one to two weeks per round, including courier time in both directions. The artwork itself is usually the bottleneck: a print-ready vector file with a defined repeat moves in days, while a “can you clean up this JPEG” request adds a week before printing even starts.
Do I have to pay for strike-offs?
Common practice is a per-strike-off development fee that is credited against the bulk order once production is confirmed. Terms vary by factory and by volume, so agree them in writing before the first round: fee per strike-off, how many rounds are included, and what triggers a re-charge.
What file format should my design be in?
Vector formats — AI, EPS, or PDF — or a high-resolution TIFF or PSD at full print scale, with the repeat size stated in centimeters. Attach Pantone TCX codes for key colors. Anything less forces the factory to redraw your artwork, which adds cost, time, and a layer of interpretation you do not want.
Can a factory quote without a target price?
It can, but the quote will be worse. Without a target, the factory must guess your market position and will usually quote its default construction — too rich for a value line, too thin for a premium one. INTEGRITY TEXTILE runs a “लक्षित मूल्यको सम्मान गर्नुहोस्” policy for exactly this reason: give one all-in price after reviewing other quotes, and the factory answers make or no-make, with no renegotiation games afterward.
What quantity makes custom printing worthwhile?
It depends on the method. Digital printing has almost no setup cost, so small runs are viable. Rotary screen printing must amortize engraved screens across meters, so it rewards volume. The practical move is to ask for tiered pricing — for example 1,000, 3,000, र 5,000 sets per colorway — and let the numbers tell you where each design belongs.
How do I make sure bulk production matches the approved strike-off?
Three things: a sealed reference swatch approved against numbered Pantone TCX standards, an agreed tolerance such as a commercial match under D65 lighting, and a pre-shipment inspection that checks bulk fabric against that swatch. A factory running a documented quality system — पूर्णता कपडा is certified to ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 45001, र OEKO-TEX मानक 100 — will already work this way; make sure your contract says so explicitly.
Send an RFQ That Gets Answered
If you have a design and a quantity in mind, send it the way this guide describes — or send what you have and tell us which details are still open. We will fill the gaps with recommendations instead of questions. हामीलाई सम्पर्क गर्नुहोस् with your artwork, your target price, and your ship date, and you will get one clear make-or-no-make answer. Alex@integritytex.com वा WhatsApp इमेल गर्नुहोस् +86 151 5289 1159.
