Count backwards, not forwards. For a European or North American spring launch shipped by sea, the order normally has to be confirmed in winter: roughly 4–6 weeks of ocean transit plus 15–30 days of production plus the sampling round before it. Miss that window and you are choosing between air freight and a late season.
The four blocks that fill your calendar
- Quotation — a day or two once you send styles, quantities, colors and destination.
- Sampling — the variable one. Adapting a catalogue style is quick; a new design or a new colorway takes longer, and shipping the sample to you is part of it.
- Bulk production — 15–30 days after you approve the sample.
- Freight — the long pole for sea, the short one for air. Add customs clearance and inland delivery at your end.
A worked example
Say you want straw totes on the shelf at the start of May. Work back: two weeks of buffer and inland delivery, four to six weeks on the water, three weeks of production, and two to three weeks for sampling and approvals. That lands the first inquiry in December or early January — not in March, when most of the late inquiries actually arrive.
If you are shortlisting for that first inquiry, the beach and resort bags page is the fastest way in: it puts the woven straw styles and the openwork crochet shapes on one page and separates the two beach customers you are buying for.
This is arithmetic, not a promise: transit times vary by lane and season, and Chinese New Year moves the production calendar every year. Confirm both with your supplier and your forwarder before you commit to a launch date.
Chinese New Year is the one date that moves everything
Factories in China close for roughly two weeks around Chinese New Year, and the weeks either side are congested — capacity before, ramp-up after. If your production window touches that period, treat it as three or four lost weeks rather than two, and confirm the specific dates with your supplier each year rather than assuming last year's.
What to do if you are already late
- Split the shipment. Air the first tranche to open the season, sea the rest.
- Cut the colorway split. Fewer colors in the same quantity is usually faster than the same quantity across many.
- Start from a catalogue style. An existing body with your colorway skips the development round that a new design needs.
- Move the launch, not the quality. A late-but-right delivery beats a rushed sample nobody approved properly.
Build the buying calendar once, reuse it
The season calendar does not change much year to year: the on-shelf date, the freight lane and the production window are the same three numbers. Write them down once, and each season becomes a date-shifting exercise rather than a fresh scramble. Freight arithmetic per style is easier than it sounds because these bags are light — see sea vs air freight for lightweight bags.
Ready-to-quote styles are in the straw collection and the crochet and knitted collection — for example the large woven straw summer tote.
FAQ
How far ahead should I place a summer order?+
For sea freight to Europe or North America, plan on placing bulk three to four months before your on-shelf date, and start the sampling conversation before that.
Can you produce faster than 15–30 days?+
The published window is the standard one and it starts after sample approval. If you have a hard date, say so in the inquiry — timing is quoted per order, not promised in advance on a blog.
What if I miss the sea freight window?+
Air the opening quantity and sea the rest. For bags weighing a few hundred grams the air premium is smaller than most buyers expect.