In this guide 6 sections
Ready stock ties cash in fabric and finished pieces before anyone buys, but a parcel ships within days. Made to order frees that cash. The price is a wait, because every buyer sits through the cutting queue and the stitching queue. Most labels hold their core sizes and make the rest to order.
Where the cash sits in each model
Ready stock is paid for up front. You buy fabric, trims, labels and polybags, then pay for cutting, stitching and finishing, all before a single customer has placed an order for any of it.
Made to order reverses the sequence. The customer pays first. Cash sits only in the cloth rolls and trims you keep on hand, which is a far smaller pile than a rack of finished shirts waiting for buyers.
Neither model is free. Waiting is the cost of made to order, and a buyer who needs a dress for a wedding next month may not tolerate your stitching queue.
What each model lets the product page promise
Ready stock lets you write “ships in two days” and mean it, but only while the count in the system matches the count on the shelf. A wrong count breaks the promise at once.
The other model needs a different line. State the production window and the dispatch range together, so the buyer sees the whole wait before paying, and add spare days for fabric that arrives late.
Mixed carts are where the wording fails. A buyer who orders a ready tee and a made-to-order jacket must learn whether the parcel waits or splits, so pick one rule and print it at checkout.
- Production window in working days, shown beside the add to cart button
- Dispatch date range instead of one promised date
- Measurement fields the tailor needs, such as chest, waist and length
- Alteration and return terms for pieces cut to one buyer
- A note for mixed carts: ship together or split
Planning size runs for ready stock
A size run splits one cutting order. Sales rarely spread evenly. Middle sizes often clear first, while the smallest and the largest linger on the rail for a full season and tie up the cash that paid for them.
Before the next cutting order, read last season’s sales size by size on a sell-through sheet that gives every style its own row and every size its own column. Heavy cells show where the cash got stuck. Cut quantities can then follow that curve, rounded to whatever the fabric minimum, the cutting table and the factory’s smallest order allow.
Hold the core sizes. Make the end sizes to order. The shelf stays narrow, and a buyer in the largest size can still order, with a longer wait stated plainly beside the size picker.
How an order system handles production batches
Batches suit this model best. Orders collect until a cut-off day, then close into a numbered batch, because one marker for twenty jackets wastes less cloth than twenty separate cuts.
Each order line keeps its style, colourway, size and custom measurements, and the system adds them up into one fabric and trim requirement for the whole batch. The total is checked against roll stock. A short roll shows up early.
Status moves with the batch. Cutting, stitching, quality check and packing are separate steps, each able to message the buyer, and a piece that fails inspection delays only its own order.
- Batch number and cut-off date
- Order lines with size and custom measurements
- Fabric and trim need against roll stock
- Status per stage: cut, stitched, checked, packed
- A hold flag for orders waiting on late fabric
Mix both, style by style
Few labels run a single model. Basics that sell all year, such as a plain white shirt or a canvas tote, suit ready stock, while printed, fitted and festive pieces suit made to order.
Judge each style on three facts: how reliably it sells, how long its fabric takes to arrive and how badly the size spread worries you. Long lead time, shaky demand: move it first.
Try it on paper first. Take your ten best sellers from last season, tag each one as hold, make to order or drop, and write down the cash each choice would have freed. Compare it with sales lost to waiting.
Stock model decision sheet
A single page, one row per style. Columns cover style code, fabric lead time, sell-through by size, cutting days, deposit taken and a final call: ready stock, made to order or drop. A footer box holds the next cut-off day.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Can one style be sold both ways?
Yes. Hold the core sizes as ready stock and list the end sizes as made to order, each with its own dispatch line. The catalogue needs a stock rule per size, so a sold-out medium never hides a size that can still be made.
How long should the made-to-order window be?
Use the true time your cutting and stitching queue takes, plus a few spare days for fabric that arrives late and a finishing day for checks. Quote a range, not a date. Beat the window and buyers are pleased. Miss it and refund requests follow.
What if a roll runs short in the middle of a batch?
Hold the affected orders and tell those buyers at once, giving a new date, a chance to cancel and a straight reason for the delay. Log the roll against each order.
Should made-to-order pieces be returnable?
You set the policy, but consumer rules differ by country, so check those that apply where your buyers live and ship. Some labels allow alterations but refuse returns on pieces cut to one buyer’s measurements. Say so at checkout, ahead of the pay button.