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Factory panel
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Garments & apparel · Buying house model explained
Garment Buying Houses in India: How They Work
A garment buying house in India acts as a buying office for overseas brands. It runs merchandisers, technical staff and quality controllers who handle orders with a group of factories.
This page explains what buying houses do, how they are paid and when they suit your business, and how our buyer-side model compares.
What a garment buying house does
Merchandising
Order follow-up from costing to shipment: time and action calendar, approvals, lab dips, trims and size sets.Technical and sampling
Pattern and fit comments, sample room coordination and pre-production meetings with the factory.Quality assurance
In-line and final inspections, often against the buyer's own AQL and measurement tolerances.Vendor management
A panel of approved factories that the buying house knows well and places orders with.How buying houses are paid
Most buying houses charge the buyer a commission on FOB value. Some also receive a commission from factories, or buy and resell at a margin. Ask which model applies, because it affects which factory you are steered towards and how open the costing is.
Buying house or independent sourcing agent?
Buying house strengths
Large merchandising teams, established factory panels and experience with high-volume, repeat programmes.Buying house trade-offs
Orders tend to stay inside the panel, factory details may not be fully disclosed, and smaller buyers can get less attention.Our model
We work only for the buyer, disclose every factory, compare factories outside any fixed panel and agree our fee with you. We are not a buying house that trades garments.Questions to ask any buying house
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Subcontracting
Which processes are subcontracted, and how are those units audited?
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Reporting
Can you see inspection reports, audit reports and test results directly?
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Claims
How are quality claims, delays and chargebacks shared between the buying house and the factory?
Garment sourcing by destination market
Duty, labelling and compliance differ by market. Our country guides list the main rules with official sources.
Garment buyer questions
Is a buying house the same as a sourcing agent?
Not exactly. Both work between buyer and factory, but buying houses usually run larger merchandising teams and fixed factory panels, while independent agents compare factories case by case.
Do buying houses in India manufacture garments?
Normally no. They place orders with factories. Some are linked to an exporter group, so ask about ownership.
Is Sourcing India a buying house?
We provide buying-office functions such as merchandising follow-up, sampling and QC, but we work only for the buyer and do not trade garments or own factories.
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