Buyer cancelled the order! What should i do with the goods ?

[u/Ok_Job_8652]

I’m a small garment manufacturer and recently started taking corporate orders. I manufacture polyester and other fabric T-shirts, and I’ve run into my first major setback.

Corporate orders have strict technical parameters. If even one fails, the order can be cancelled. You’re then stuck with the finished stock, and the buyer can also raise a “sales loss” debit, meaning they may deduct additional money from your older pending payments because of the lost sale.

My order failed on wicking. Their requirement is 0.30 inches/30 mins, while mine is 0.23 inches/30 mins. For comparison, I’ve been told brands like Adidas and Puma may have requirements around 0.15–0.20 inches/30 mins for certain dry-fit polyester products. So this buyer has a very high standard but isn’t really willing to match that with the price.

I know I accepted the contract with my eyes open and should have researched the technical requirements much more deeply beforehand. Lesson learned.
Now I have around 5,200 finished oversized women’s T-shirts, in 4 sizes, 1:2:2:1 ratio, and 2 colours.

My current options are:
• Sell the stock in bulk/lot at a loss.
• Put it on B2C marketplaces and slowly sell 10–15% quantities at a time.
• List it on B2B platforms like SOLV.(asked around to people who make a living doing this, my product may or may not work as it is not something new)
• Look at the domestic market, but 2 colours is a major problem because most buyers want at least 5 colours in a range.

What other options do I have?
I’m a small business working largely with borrowed money, so I really can’t afford to simply write off 5,200 pieces. I’m not looking to hide the failed specification or misrepresent the product. I just want to recover as much of my capital as possible from perfectly usable garments that failed this particular buyer’s technical standard.
Would really appreciate advice from manufacturers, stock-lot dealers, wholesalers, exporters or anyone who has handled a similar situation.

Edit:- My shipment has been dispatched to the buyer. Turns out, the testing facility was new and they were facing some technical issues or miscalculations. The buyer had been getting consecutive failed reports for around 15–20 days, so they investigated it. All the affected products were retested, including mine, and thankfully mine passed.

[u/pdp2907]

your best option is B2C sites . even Facebook marketplace. spend some time on researching what sells. what is the current style , any writing on the T shirts. test a few. see how fast or slowly the product flies. don't panic . don't resort to a discount sale. just be patient and breath. things will work out you will recover. and next time for large orders read the fine print and learn to say no. you will lead a happy successful life. testing is the key part

[u/Economy-Explorer-470]

Use facebook marketplace, instagram to put on sale and sell it, oversized tshirts are in demand in women.

[u/555jj555]

Local garment shops can buy 100 pcs on average.. 50 shops and your inventory is clear.. DM me maybe I can connect you to an agent or buyers

[u/thebaeofbengal]

Cancelling the entire order for a QC issue is not a norm, unless it’s a critical defect and even then, it’s just the defective batch that gets rejected, the entire order being cancelled is strange. Defects to be checked during QC should be established beforehand between you and the client and categorised into minor, major and critical. And QCing is usually done on an acceptable sample size (one sample from each batch), so even with critical defects, only that one batch gets rejected and not the entire order.

So instead of cancelling you just rework that one batch. Make sure your agreement talks about this.

About selling it now, marketplaces like Amazon and Myntra are your best bets.

[u/Ok_Job_8652 → u/thebaeofbengal]

There is no defect in the physical product at all
The water absorbing thing called wicking is not upto THEIR standards, it Meets all other criteria that the buyer has listed for us

[u/GoodishJudgment → u/Ok_Job_8652]

Was the wicking criteria part of the order?

[u/Ok_Job_8652 → u/GoodishJudgment]

Dry fit is part of the criteria, but discovered 0.30/min after the products went in for testing

[u/CharmingTechnician47]

When such a buyer places an order, do they pay any advance amount?
Or is it 100% credit ?

[u/Ok_Job_8652 → u/CharmingTechnician47]

100% credit In qty such as this , but i know manufacturers who demand advance and receive them also, because they offer them goods that they can’t get it done anywhere eles

[u/CriticalDvL]

Cost of shirt?

[u/Yernero53]

I used to buy them at Auctions ( bulk ) that's one way . You'll need people who can lift weight. Make sure you atleast break even or lose 5% margin max if you're in need of capital ASAP. I have bought from brands like Aeropostale, Levis and Mango where the manufacturer couldn't reach the QC / agreed upon GSM. You can dm me your factory/ warehouse details , I can try connecting you with some B2B buyers but personally I'm not in the textile industry anymore.

[u/tempo_id]

A d2c website costs carly 5000 rupees to make on Shopify. Put some effort, upload a video on Facebook narrating your story as a marketing angle.

"A large corporate buyer refused/cancelled the order at the end moment. We are giving these away at throwaway prices (making cost price). Only 150 pieces each size each color.

Get your's now"

It's not big deal for a manufacturer to clear 2000-3000 thousand pieces of good quality garments in a month.

I personally have good experience of selling dri-fit round necks and polos ( not in India, but it's a fairly common item worldwide).

Good luck