Size runs, prepacks and open sizing
Most apparel brands sell in one of two ways. With prepacks, a style ships in a fixed ratio of sizes (for example 1 small, 2 mediums, 2 larges, 1 extra large). With open sizing, the buyer chooses quantities per size, usually with a minimum per style.
Prepacks simplify production and stop stores from ordering only the middle sizes. Open sizing suits reorders, when the store knows its customer. In LINK, sizes and colors are variants with their own stock, and a prepack can be set up as a kit so the buyer adds the whole run in one step. Per-product minimums and case multiples cover the rest.
Seasons and delivery windows
Apparel wholesale runs ahead of the calendar. Brands typically show a season months before it hits stores, and buyers commit to orders for specific delivery windows. A clear line sheet states those windows for each style.
In LINK you can schedule products to be published on a date and set a catalog to expire, which helps when you open a season for preorders and close it when production is locked. Products can be sold beyond stock, so buyers can order styles that are not yet produced. You keep in-stock basics available in a separate catalog for immediate reorders.
What a good clothing line sheet includes
Whether on paper or online, buyers look for the same information. If any of it is missing, they write to ask, and the order slows down.
- Style name and number, with a clear photo of each colorway
- Available sizes and how they are sold (prepack ratio or open sizing)
- Fabric content and care
- Wholesale price and suggested retail
- Delivery window or "in stock, ships now"
- Minimums per style and per order
Choosing a prepack ratio
A prepack ratio should follow what actually sells, not a neat pattern. Look at your own sales by size, if you sell direct, and ask a few trusted stores what their customers buy. For many women’s contemporary lines the middle sizes carry the run, so ratios weighted toward small and medium are common; plus-size, kids’ and men’s lines have their own curves.
Keep the number of prepack options small. One standard pack per style (and perhaps a smaller pack for new or very small accounts) is easier for buyers to understand and for your warehouse to pick. Review the ratio after each season using the reorder data: if stores keep reordering larges separately, the pack is short on larges.
Pricing for different accounts
Most clothing brands sell to a mix of independent boutiques, a few larger accounts and sometimes a distributor in another region. Per-customer price lists let each of them open the same catalog and see their own pricing. When a fabric cost forces a price change, you update it once.
Shows, showrooms and reps
Apparel buyers still meet brands at trade shows and showrooms. MAGIC in Las Vegas is one of the best known US apparel markets, and there are regional apparel markets in cities such as Atlanta and Dallas, alongside smaller curated shows. Schedules change, so confirm dates with the organizers.
Many apparel brands work with independent reps or showrooms. In LINK, reps get their own login and permissions and can place orders for buyers from a phone or tablet, during a showroom appointment or a store visit. You see who sold what and which accounts belong to whom.
How apparel brands use LINK day to day
Import the season from a spreadsheet, add colorways and sizes, set prepacks, minimums and price lists, and share the link. Buyers order without an account or app. Orders arrive complete in your dashboard with sizes, colors and totals, and reports show what sold by account. Payment and shipping are arranged directly with the buyer, and there is no commission on any order.