A private-label shirt has two jobs. The print has to look right, and the garment has to read as your product when someone turns the collar over. Most screen printers can handle the first job. Fewer can handle the second in the same run.
If you sell apparel under your own brand, through an online store, a retail line or a corporate merch program, the partner you pick has to do more than print. This checklist covers the questions to ask before you send the first order.
The checklist
1. Ask who removes the tags and adds the labels
A private-label piece needs the blank maker's tag taken out and your label put in. Ask if the partner does both in-house, or sends the garments to a second shop. Every extra stop adds days and one more place for a box to get lost.
At The Swan Brothers we remove tags and add custom neck labels in the same building where we print, so the shirt goes from blank to finished product without leaving.
2. Check which decoration methods run in-house
A private-label line rarely stays one method for long. The tee is screen printed, the hat is embroidered, and the small run of a full-color design needs digital printing. Ask which methods the partner runs on its own floor.
We run screen printing, embroidery and digital printing in-house. That keeps a mixed order on one schedule and under one set of quality checks.
3. Ask for weekly capacity in numbers
"We can handle volume" is not an answer. Ask how many units a week the shop decorates across all methods. A launch and a restock can land in the same month.
Our combined weekly capacity is 40,000+ units.
4. Get the turnaround rule in writing
Ask when the clock starts and what a rush costs in time. Standard turnaround at The Swan Brothers is under two weeks from payment. Rush service is available in as few as 5 business days for a quoted rush fee.
5. Ask how proofs and inspection work
Your customer judges your brand by the worst shirt in the box. Ask if every order gets a proof before production and an inspection before it ships. Ask who signs off on the proof, and what happens when a print is off.
Every order we run gets a proof for approval before it goes on press, and a quality inspection before it leaves our facility in Pittsfield, MA.
6. Find out what happens on a reorder
A private-label program lives on reorders. Ask if the partner keeps your approved artwork and label files on record, so a restock does not start from zero.
We keep both on file. Bulk orders usually start at 12 pieces. Reorders have no minimum, so a restock of a few sizes is a normal order.
7. Ask how finished goods reach your customer
Some programs want the goods back at their own warehouse. Others want each order shipped straight to the end customer. Ask which the partner can do, and whether every shipment gets tracking.
We do both. Finished goods ship back to your facility, or go out through our 3PL fulfillment operation directly to your customers, with full tracking.
How to compare the answers
Put the seven answers side by side. A partner who does tags, labels and decoration in one building, puts turnaround in writing, keeps your files and ships with tracking will cause you the fewest surprises. Price per piece matters, but it is the easiest number to compare and the least likely to sink a launch.
What to do next
Pick your best-selling garment, then send us your logo and your neck label art. We'll proof the print and the label together, so you see the finished product before the first run.
Read how our contract decoration and private-label service works, or book a call with The Swan Brothers.