What is the difference between stock materials and custom materials?
Stock materials are already waiting at the material mills we work with. You choose from the colours and textures that are available, and production can start as soon as your sample is approved.
Your bag then stands out through its design, finish, logo or other details. A shape of your own or a different finish on the seams already makes a bag recognisable, even if another brand uses the same material.
For the logo, BC Branding can use almost any technique, such as embossing, embroidery or branded hardware. Which technique works depends on the material and the product. BC Branding also makes the packaging your bag needs, such as a dust bag.
Custom materials are made specifically for your product, for example in your own brand colour or with a texture of your own. Before production starts, you may first approve the colour with lab dips. These are fabric swatches dyed in the colour you want.
How much longer does an order with custom materials take?
An order with custom materials usually takes one to four weeks longer. That is because the material mill first has to make the material, and that time is included in the 7-13 weeks of production.
The sampling phase is the same for both. For a new product it usually takes 3-5 weeks, from your brief to an approved sample.
How do the two compare side by side?
| Criterion | Stock materials | Custom materials |
|---|---|---|
| Production time, usually | 6-9 weeks | 7-13 weeks |
| From brief to delivery for a new product, usually | 15-22 weeks by sea freight, 10-15 weeks by air freight | 16-26 weeks by sea freight, 11-19 weeks by air freight |
| Latest safe production start before Chinese New Year | about 9 weeks before factories slow down | about 13 weeks before factories slow down |
| Depends on a material mill | no, the material is already there | yes, and the mill can restart later after Chinese New Year |
| Minimum | 300 pieces per style per colour | often a higher minimum for the material, depending on the fabric |
| Standing out | through design, finish, logo and other details | also through the colour or texture of the material itself |
The latest safe production start is based on the longest production time.
Which material fits my situation?
If you have a repeat order that needs to be ready before Chinese New Year, choose stock materials. The sample has already been approved and the material is there, so production can start straight away.
If you are developing a new product and want it to stand out through the material itself, choose custom materials. Then plan production for after the shutdown, so the extra weeks for the material do not coincide with the rush in the factories.
If you want a new product in your online shop as early as possible after the shutdown, stock materials are the better fit. They do not have to wait for a material mill that can restart later after Chinese New Year.
If you order fewer than 300 pieces per style per colour, production with BC Branding does not fit your order. With custom materials, the material mill often has a higher minimum, and how high depends on the fabric. Because BC Branding buys larger volumes, BC Branding can sometimes lower that minimum for a client.
Which material still makes it before the Chinese New Year shutdown?
Your order needs to be finished before factories in China slow down. That usually starts three to four weeks before Chinese New Year, and production stops around the holidays. We call that period the shutdown here. How to work backwards from that moment is explained in our article on planning production for Chinese New Year.
If you calculate with the longest production time, production with stock materials starts about 9 weeks before factories slow down. With custom materials it is about 13 weeks. For a new product, the sampling phase comes before that.
So it is better to plan custom materials for after the shutdown. In the last weeks before it, many brands still want their orders finished, and the rush in the factories grows. If you are also waiting for a material mill, there is no room left if something goes wrong. If the final inspection finds a defect, it often cannot be fixed before the shutdown.
That is why the inspection has to happen before your order ships. At BC Branding, our own QC team (our quality inspectors) is in the factory for every order, and it usually keeps working right up to the shutdown. The QC team inspects according to AQL 2.5, and AQL stands for Acceptable Quality Limit. An inspector checks a random sample from your order, and the AQL sets how many defects it may contain. AQL 2.5 is a common standard for consumer products.
Finished before the shutdown does not yet mean your bags are in your online shop. Sea freight from China usually takes another 6-8 weeks.
What does this mean for Chinese New Year 2027?
| Moment | Chinese New Year 2027 |
|---|---|
| Latest safe production start with custom materials | mid-October 2026 |
| Latest safe production start with stock materials | mid-November 2026 |
| Factories slow down | mid-January 2027 |
| Chinese New Year | Saturday 6 February 2027 |
| Factories restart | end of February 2027 |
By the end of October 2026, the safe production start for custom materials has passed. A repeat order with stock materials usually still makes it before the shutdown if production starts in the first half of November 2026. Until early December it can in principle still work, and BC Branding checks that per order with the production team. For a new product there is usually not enough time with either material, because the sampling phase comes first.
What if I want custom materials and miss the shutdown?
Then plan production for right after the restart. BC Branding already schedules orders in December and January that go straight into production after the restart. Use the weeks before the shutdown for the sampling phase and, if needed, the lab dips. That way an approved sample is ready when the factories are running again.
After the restart, custom materials do need more planning, because the material mill can restart later than the factory making your bags. Factories also only return to full capacity weeks after the restart, because some workers do not return.