Under CMT you supply the fabric and trims — either shipping them in or nominating a mill for us to buy from on your behalf — and we quote only the labour and factory overhead required to turn them into finished garments. Sometimes written CM where trims are excluded from the arrangement.
The headline saving is real but frequently misread. A CMT rate looks dramatically cheaper than an FOB price because it excludes the single largest cost in the garment. Indicative CM rates in Bangladesh for a mid-tier compliant factory run roughly $0.85 to $1.60 for a basic jersey tee, $1.50 to $2.80 for a polo, $2.50 to $4.50 for a fleece hoodie and $6.00 to $12.00 for padded outerwear. Add your own fabric cost back in before comparing that with anyone's FOB quote, or you are comparing two different things.
What CMT actually buys you
Control, and traceability of a specific material. If your brand is built on an organic cotton you have certified yourself, a mill you have audited, or a fabric developed exclusively for you, CMT is the only arrangement that guarantees exactly that material reaches the cutting table. It also removes our margin from the largest line item, which on long-running high-volume styles is worth real money.
What it costs you in exchange
- Material risk moves to you. A fabric that arrives short, off-shade or late is your exposure, and the line still has to be paid for.
- You carry the working capital. Fabric is bought and paid for well before garments ship.
- Timing becomes your job. Production cannot start until every component is in-house, and a missing trim stops a whole line.
- Quality disputes get harder. If a garment fails, separating a fabric fault from a making fault is a conversation neither side enjoys.
That last point is the one buyers underestimate. Under full package there is exactly one party responsible for the finished garment. Under CMT there are two, and the boundary between them is where arguments happen. We are happy to work either way and we will tell you honestly which we think fits your operation.
A middle option most buyers do not know about
Nominated fabric is the compromise. You choose and approve the mill, we buy from it on your account and carry the purchasing and timing risk. You get the material you want without the working capital and logistics burden. For brands with one critical fabric and no desire to manage a full sourcing operation, it is usually the right answer.
Common questions
What do I have to supply under CMT, exactly?
Everything that becomes part of the garment: fabric, lining, interlining, thread if you specify a brand, labels, trims, hangtags, polybags and cartons if you want them to your spec. You also supply the tech pack, graded patterns if you have them, and the approved sample. We supply the factory floor — cutting, sewing, finishing, pressing, inspection and packing. Anything you do not supply, we source at cost plus a handling margin, and it is written into the order before cutting so there is no argument about who bought what.
Why is the CMT rate so much lower than an FOB quote?
Because it excludes fabric, which is 38 to 52 percent of a garment's cost. A CMT rate of $1.20 on a tee is not competing with an FOB price of $3.60; it is competing with that price minus the fabric and trims you now have to buy yourself. Add your material cost, your freight to get it to Narayanganj, the working capital tied up in it and the risk of a short shipment or a shade problem, and the two numbers usually land closer than they first appear. CMT is cheaper when you already have the mill relationships and the purchasing capacity. It is not cheaper because the factory is doing less.
What happens if the fabric I supply is faulty?
It is your material, so the shortfall is yours — but we will catch it before it is cut. Every roll is inspected on arrival against your spec: shade against the approved lab dip, width, GSM, and a visual check for weaving or knitting faults. Rejected rolls are photographed, quarantined and reported to you the same day so you can claim against the mill while the goods are still in the container. What we will not do is cut faulty fabric because the ship date is close and hope nobody notices. That is how a CMT order becomes a customer return six weeks later.
Questions that apply to every arrangement
What is the difference between FOB, CMT and full package?
They differ on who buys the materials, which changes everything else. Under CMT you supply the fabric and trims and pay only for cutting, making and trimming — the lowest headline rate, because it excludes the largest cost in the garment. Under full package, quoted FOB, we buy everything and hand you finished goods loaded onto the vessel, so you get one comparable number and one accountable party. FOB is what most brands should quote, particularly first-time importers, because fabric is 38 to 52 percent of a garment's cost and sourcing it badly from another continent is the most expensive mistake available. If you compare a CMT rate against someone's FOB price without adding your fabric cost back in, you are not comparing the same thing.
Which service should I choose?
If you do not have mill relationships in Asia, start with full package — it puts material sourcing on the party who does it daily. If your brand depends on a specific fabric you have developed or certified yourself, CMT or nominated fabric gives you that control. If you want to move fast from an idea to a sellable range, private label starts from proven blocks and cuts sampling rounds. If the product itself is your differentiator and needs to be legally yours, that is OEM. And if you cannot commit 500 pieces yet, start at 150 through Collective Studio and move up when a style proves out. Tell us your situation and we will tell you which of these fits, including when the answer is that we are not the right supplier.
Can I mix services across one order?
Yes, and it is more common than you would think. A range often runs full package on most styles with one nominated fabric where the brand has a specific mill relationship, or private label on the core basics with OEM on the one signature piece that has to be original. What matters is that the arrangement is written down per style before costing, because the price basis, the risk allocation and the lead time all differ. Ambiguity about which model a style is running under is where disputes start.
Do you charge for samples?
Yes — roughly $200 to $600 per style across development, fit and pre-production rounds, with much of it non-refundable, though we credit it against bulk on committed orders. Charging properly for sampling is deliberate. A free sample is paid for somewhere, usually in a rushed development cycle or a unit price you will not notice until later. Paying for a real sampling process is how a fit problem gets found on one garment rather than on two thousand, at which point it stops being a sampling cost and becomes rework, air freight and markdowns.