Wholesale Clothing from Bangladesh: Stock Lots, Export Surplus or Made to Order?

Search for wholesale clothing from Bangladesh and you get two different businesses on the same page. Some sellers have finished garments in stock: export surplus, cancelled orders, rejected shipments, sold by the carton or the kilo. Others are factories that make garments to your order, in your sizes and colours and with your labels. Both are called "wholesale". They solve different problems, and buyers who mix them up usually find out at the customs desk or on the shop floor.

We are the second kind: a cut-and-sew knitwear factory in Narayanganj that makes to order from 150 pieces per style and per colour. We do not sell stock. That is exactly why this guide sets out the first kind honestly. If ready stock is what you need, you should know what you are buying and what can go wrong. If it is not, you should know why made to order costs you time and gives you control.

Three things sold as "wholesale" from Bangladesh

Where stock lots come from

Stock lots are the leftovers of export production, and the trade press has described where they come from for years. A 2013 Apparel Resources article named the usual sources. One is extra pieces cut to cover rejections at final packing, which it put at around 5–7% per style. Another is shipments rejected before dispatch or at the destination port, often for an unapproved colour or a visible defect. The third is orders the importer cancelled because of excess stock or financial trouble. The article called the result "a parallel market in itself", with demand coming mainly from small wholesalers and price-led buyers. The percentages are more than a decade old, but the three sources have not changed.

Each source tells you something about the goods. Overrun pieces are usually first quality but come in whatever sizes were left. Rejected shipments were rejected for a reason, and you need to know which reason. Cancelled orders can be complete and perfect, or they can be a style the buyer walked away from because the sample never passed. A seller who cannot tell you which of the three you are looking at is telling you something too.

The label problem: another brand's trade mark

Most export surplus was made for a brand, and much of it still carries that brand's labels, prints or embroidery. This is where buyers get into real trouble, because "genuine" and "lawful to resell" are not the same thing.

In the EU, the customs enforcement regulation, Regulation (EU) No 608/2013, sets out how customs act on goods suspected of infringing an intellectual property right. It expressly does not apply to goods made by a person authorised by the right-holder "in excess of the quantities agreed", which is a factory overrun. But the same article says the regulation "shall not affect national or Union law on intellectual property". Under the EU trade mark regulation, the brand owner loses the right to object only once goods have been put on the market in the European Economic Area "by the proprietor or with his consent". Overruns the brand never released have not been through that step. In plain terms, customs procedure may not catch them, but trade-mark law still can.

In the United States, Customs and Border Protection says it "targets and seizes imports of counterfeit and pirated goods" and works with rights holders recorded with it. A carton of another company's branded garments with no paperwork showing that company's consent invites exactly that scrutiny. We are a factory, not a law firm, and this is not legal advice. The practical rule is simple enough, though. Buy de-labelled goods with any branded print or embroidery removed, or get the brand's written consent, or do not buy.

The paperwork problem: labels and safety rules

Removing another brand's label creates the next problem: the goods now need your compliance labelling. In the US, the FTC's guidance under the Textile Act says labels must show fibre content, country of origin, and the company name or RN of the manufacturer, importer or dealer. It also says that "an importer is legally responsible for the proper labeling of imported textile, wool and fur products". A dealer may replace a label as long as the new one carries the name or RN of whoever made the change.

In the EU, Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 requires textile products to be labelled or marked with their fibre composition whenever they are made available on the market. Where the manufacturer is not established in the EU, the importer must ensure the label is supplied and accurate. A distributor who attaches the label or sells under its own name is treated as the manufacturer. Buying stock lots, in other words, makes you the party responsible for labels you did not write, on garments whose fibre content you cannot always confirm. Our guide to clothing labelling requirements by country sets out what each market asks for, and the GPSR guide covers the EU's general product-safety duties.

Children's clothing is stricter again. In the US, domestic manufacturers and importers of children's products must issue a Children's Product Certificate based on test results from a CPSC-accepted third-party laboratory. A stock lot of kidswear with no test history cannot be certified after the fact without testing it. See our guide to children's clothing safety rules by market before you buy any.

The sourcing problem: where the goods were meant to go

Bangladesh's export factories can import raw materials duty-free under a bonded warehouse licence, on the basis that the goods they make are exported. Diverting bonded materials into the local market is a long-running enforcement issue. In January 2026, Apparel Resources reported that the National Board of Revenue was collecting five years of banking data from suspect exporters, had moved bond services onto its Customs Bond Management System, and planned routine stock inspections at bonded warehouses.

That matters to you for a simple reason. Goods with a clean history come with clean documents, and a seller who can show where a lot came from, and export it properly in its own name, is a different proposition from one who cannot. Ask before you pay, not after the goods are held.

When stock lots make sense

To be fair to the trade: stock lots are a legitimate market and they suit some buyers well. If you trade on a market stall, run an off-price shop or resell on a marketplace where the next delivery can be anything, buying what already exists at a discount is a sensible model. It is fast, and you see the goods before you commit. Inspect in person or through a third-party inspector, insist on a packing list with sizes and fibre content, and treat every lot as a one-off.

Stock lots work badly for anyone building a brand. You cannot reorder a lot. You cannot put your own size chart on a garment graded for someone else. And you cannot hand a retailer's compliance team a test report for goods you did not have made. The first sell-out is also the last.

When made to order is the better wholesale

Made to order is slower to start and quicker to grow. You approve a sample, the factory seals it as the reference, and every later run is measured against it. That means the twelfth reorder of a hoodie can match the first. Your labels go in during sewing rather than over someone else's. Fibre content and origin are known because the fabric was bought for your order. For organic lines, the certification can follow the goods: we make organic cotton garments under our GOTS certification (RSC 9687), and the scope certificate is available on request.

The minimum is 150 pieces per style and per colour, which lets a new label start small without buying someone else's leftovers. Our wholesale and bulk manufacturing page covers how pricing changes with volume, and how to order clothing in bulk walks through a first order step by step. We make knitwear only: t-shirts, polos, sweatshirts, hoodies, joggers and the like. Woven garments are handled through our partner buying house, CMB Sourcing Ltd.

Questions to ask any Bangladeshi wholesale seller

• Is this stock or made to order? A surprising number of sellers offer both without saying which a given quote is.
• For stock: where did this lot come from? Overrun, rejection or cancellation, and if it was rejected, why.
• Whose labels, prints or embroidery are on it? If any belong to a brand, ask for written consent or buy it de-labelled.
• What is the fibre content and size breakdown? On paper, carton by carton, before you pay.
• Who is the exporter of record? You want the seller's legal name on the export documents, matching your invoice.
• For made to order: is this your factory? Ask for the street address, check it against the public registers, and ask for a live video call from the floor. Our guide to choosing a clothing factory in Bangladesh lists what to check.
• What is the minimum, per style and per colour? A minimum per order and a minimum per colour are very different commitments.

If you have read this far and decided ready stock is right for you, good. Go in with the questions above. If what you actually want is your garment, made again whenever it sells out, that is the work we do every week on our floor in Narayanganj. Tell us what you are making and we will tell you honestly whether we are the right factory for it.