There is a saying ‘No problem with a bag’, bag cure all diseases. We can know how important a bag it is. In women’s life, there are different kinds of bags for different match and use. Bags are essential in fashion industry and daily life, many people want to try and start with bag business, they think it as difficult tough things. You may have your bag designs, want to start with your own brand, but don’t know how to start.
Custom bags are an excellent solution for individuals, businesses, and organizations looking to make a statement.
I am writing this article, it’s easy as only 7 steps to custom bags with your needs. We have help many designers and start up companies to launch their collections successfully. Follow my entire guide below to start.
Introduction
Custom bags offer a wonderful opportunity to showcase your creativity and uniqueness. By customizing every aspect of the bag, from design to materials, you can create a product that truly reflects your brand identity or personal taste. So, let’s dive into the process of creating custom bags.
1 Find your right bag supplier.
Before looking for the bag suppliers, first thing we need to know bag material, Have different sorts of bag materials: Leather, faux leather, canvas, denim, silk, oxford, nylon ect. Because they are made from different factory, you should know what kind of material you want to make.
Bag factory can divide into 2 kinds, the machine and process are totally different.
A Leather bag and faux leather bag factory. Leather tote bag, briefcase, pu bag from this kind of factory.
B Cloth bag factory. Backpacks, school bags, travel bags, grocery shopping bags from this kind of factory.
Where can you find the supplier?
1 Source from B2B platform.
Most of the people like to use. it’s very popular in the world like alibaba, made in china, global source. Let’s take alibaba for example, there are over thousands of bag suppliers, not matter big or small. You can see countless suppliers in each category, you can see the supplier level, years of experience, assurance, product list ect.
There are huge competition in thousands of supplier, they want to get clients from the platform, so some of them offer a very cheap price to gain the clients contact details, it may cause quality, delivery time and customer satisfaction and other service issue, sometimes really hard to choose from them.
2 Find supplier from trade shows
Every year have different kinds of trade shows in China and the world, you can attend the fair to get contact with the suppliers, it is more easy and effective to know each other well through face to face. Usually the supplier can attend fair, they are more professional and have production capacity. But fair have limited on time and place.
3 Source from search engine by target keywords.
Many suppliers set up their own online website, those results show from search engine, the supplier are with experience dealing with export, have better communication, easy to contact, some of them may not have a good ranking on search engine, because they don’t know how to rank well yet.
This way you find the suppliers not like from other platform, mostly making their own brand, have quality control systerm, without high competition, they can focus on the products.
Those are the 3 main ways to find the suppliers, before you make the final decision without a product or sample, you can judge them from profession, quality of communication, understanding and business type match.
After several emails or phone call communication, you can select some of them. You need to know really well that, the person contact with you is the key reason, not the company, because he/she will follow up all your requirements. Choose the right person can make things easier for you, you will get less trouble in future. Make sure you can contact with them any time.
2 Get a rough quote
I will suggest you not to send the information to all the supplier at the first touch, before you don’t know each other, you will get the price from US$ 1 – US$ 50, some even did not check and reply you a very low price. If you judge from price at the beginning may loose the chance to see good suppliers match you well. Price is important, but not the only thing need to consider.
After several times of communication, you can Send all your detail requirements to get a rough quote, include bag design, material, accessories, size measurement, color, logo, lining, rough quantity, as detail as you can. Like this way, it’s more easier for you and bag factory to quote you the more near price.
3 Get a sample
After quotation, If the price is under your budget, you can choose 2 or 3 of them to make the sample with your detail personalized tote bags requirement. Usually the first time doing business, they will charge for samples, sample charge from US$ 30-200, depending on the custom tote bags design. Those charge will be use on material, lining, non-woven fabric, hard wear, accessory and mold fees. Usually these charges can refund in productions once meet the MOQ.
Before committing to a large production order, request samples or prototypes from potential manufacturers. This allows you to assess the quality of their craftsmanship and materials firsthand.
4 Check the sample, confirm color, size and quantity to get the final price.
You can check the quality once have final product sample on hand, thus one sample can not tell the bulk production quality, but it can represent the quality level, you can know if the supplier meets your requirement through small details. If any comments on the sample, talk to the bags factory, you can ask their opinion, if have any way to make it better, this also shows the bags factory if they are professional.
Once you confirm the sample, you can tell the factory customized tote bags quantity, color scheme, lining, size, buckle details to get the final price. For promotional goods a little profit margin, other items will have a higher profit. At this time, you can get the final price, confirm delivery time and terms of payment.
5 Arrange advance payment, start production
Once confirm everything, then sign the contract, the bag manufacturer will ask 30%-50% advance payment to start, then the factory will start to buy the raw materials, order the accessories. Usually the production time around 30-40 days, including the whole order process.
Real leather bags will takes a bit longer time than other bags, because the real leather is irregular, workers need to do the laser cut piece by piece, some of them may be have holes in middle, so the usage is low, labor cost is higher, that’s why the real leather cost more time and money.
After cut the raw material into pieces, they will make them into final bags through different process. custom branded totes with your logo graphic, you can choose different way to add your logo, digital printing, screen printing, embroidery or emboss way. Then the rest steps like Edge paint, stitching, padding ect.
6 Quality Inspection
Bag Factory have quality control systems, have workers checking quality on processing, you can hire someone to check the goods while in production. If you don’t have such people can send to factory checking, you can ask the bag manufacturer to send you pictures or update every few days. Once the goods ready before packing, you can arrange the 3rd party or other people to check the goods. If you want to see the final bags quality by yourself, you can ask the bag supplier to send you some quantity from the bulk.
Usually will check the color, size, stitching line, thread, edge painting, hard wear, lining and tags, be careful on the hard wear, they will have a plastic bags cover to get out of Oxidation. If any issue ask the factory to fix before send the goods.
7 Arrange to send the bulk goods.
If everything are good to go, the factory will arrange to send the goods to you, you need to pay for the balance payment as agreed. You can send the goods to your logistic agent in China, or the factory arrange that for you, nowadays, we have many options to send the goods overseas, choose the one fit you the best.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- Can I create custom bags for personal use? Absolutely! Custom bags can be designed for personal use to match your style and preferences.
- How long does the custom bag production process take? The production process can vary depending on factors such as design complexity, quantity, and manufacturer lead times. It’s best to discuss timelines with your chosen manufacturer.
- Can I use custom bags as promotional items? Yes, custom bags are an excellent promotional item. They can help increase brand visibility and leave a lasting impression on customers and clients.
- What are some eco-friendly materials I can use for custom bags? Eco-friendly materials like organic cotton, recycled polyester, and hemp are great options for creating sustainable custom bags.
- Can I reorder custom bags in the future? If you’re satisfied with your custom bags, most manufacturers will allow you to reorder them in the future, ensuring consistency in branding and design.