FOB, CMT, MOQ, AQL: a plain-English garment sourcing glossary

Every industry protects itself with vocabulary, and garment sourcing is worse than most. Here is the whole dictionary a first-time buyer actually needs — each term in plain English, with links to our deeper guides where one exists. Bookmark it; quote it back at suppliers.

Pricing & shipping

Term	Plain English
EXW (Ex Works)	The price at the factory gate — all transport, export paperwork, and risk from there is yours.
FOB (Free On Board)	Factory price plus getting the goods onto the ship at the port — the most common quote basis. For Nepal, typically FOB Kolkata.
CIF	FOB plus the factory arranges (and bills you for) freight and insurance to your port.
CMT (Cut, Make, Trim)	A price for labour only — you supply the fabric. If a quote looks impossibly low, it’s often secretly CMT.
Landed cost	The real number: garment price + freight + duty + fees, delivered. Compare suppliers on this, never on FOB alone.
LCL / FCL	Less than Container Load (you share a container) vs Full Container Load. LCL costs more per cubic metre.

Deeper: our Incoterms guide and what a hoodie actually costs.

Production & sampling

Term	Plain English
MOQ	Minimum Order Quantity — the smallest run a factory will produce, usually per style and colour. Ours starts at 1,000.
Tech pack	The document that defines your garment: measurements, fabric, construction, trims, placements. Better tech pack, better quote.
GSM	Grams per square metre — fabric weight. A 180 gsm tee is a standard tee; 240 gsm is heavyweight.
Lab dip	A small fabric sample dyed to match your colour, sent for approval before bulk dyeing. This is how your navy stays your navy.
Strike-off	A test print/embroidery on the actual fabric, approved before bulk decoration.
PP sample	Pre-production sample — the final garment you sign off before the factory cuts bulk. Nothing should change after it.
Dye lot	One batch of dyed fabric. Colour can shift slightly between lots — good factories manage this; reorders should reference the approved standard.

Deeper: what a tech pack needs, GSM explained, and sample to bulk, step by step.

Quality control

Term	Plain English
AQL	Acceptable Quality Limit — the statistical sampling standard for inspections. AQL 2.5 is the common high-street level; stricter buyers use 1.0–1.5.
Inline inspection	Checking garments during production, when problems are still cheap to fix.
Final (pre-shipment) inspection	Checking finished, packed goods against an AQL before they ship — the last gate before your money moves.
Third-party inspection	An independent firm inspects for you, typically a few hundred dollars a day — cheap insurance on a first order.

Deeper: our AQL and inspection guide.

Money & paperwork

Term	Plain English
TT	Telegraphic transfer — a bank wire. Standard structure: deposit upfront, balance against shipping documents.
LC (Letter of Credit)	Your bank promises payment when the factory presents correct documents — safer for both sides on larger orders.
B/L (Bill of Lading)	The document that controls the cargo. Whoever holds the original controls the goods — never released before payment terms are met.
CO (Certificate of Origin)	Proof of where the garment was made — the paper that unlocks preferential (0%) duty rates.
REX	The EU’s registered-exporter system: the factory self-certifies origin on its invoice for duty-free EU entry.
HS code	The global product classification number that decides your duty rate. Knit t-shirts are 6109; sweatshirts and hoodies 6110.
EORI	The registration number you need to import commercially into the UK or EU. Free, quick, one-time.

Deeper: paying a factory safely and how origin rules work.

Vocabulary is leverage. A buyer who asks for “FOB Kolkata, AQL 2.5 final inspection, lab dips before bulk” gets treated differently by every factory on earth — because those five words say you know how this works.

Something missing from this list? Ask us — and if you’re starting from zero, begin with the first-time importer’s guide.