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.

What do EXW, FOB, CIF, CMT and landed cost mean?

EXW is the price at the factory gate. FOB adds getting the goods onto the ship at the port; for Nepal, typically FOB Kolkata. CIF adds freight and insurance to your port. CMT is a labour-only price where you supply the fabric. Landed cost is the real, delivered number, and LCL and FCL are shared and full container loads.

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.

What do MOQ, tech pack, GSM, lab dip and PP sample mean?

MOQ is the smallest run a factory will produce, usually per style and colour; ours is 200 per style and colour, with 1,000 pieces in total per order. A tech pack defines your garment, GSM is fabric weight, a lab dip matches your colour before bulk dyeing, a strike-off tests the decoration, and the PP sample is the final garment you sign off before bulk.

Term	Plain English
MOQ	Minimum Order Quantity — the smallest run a factory will produce, usually per style and colour. Ours is 200 per style and colour, with 1,000 in total per order.
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.

What do AQL, inline, final and third-party inspection mean?

AQL (Acceptable Quality Limit) is the statistical sampling standard for inspections; AQL 2.5 is the common high-street level. Inline inspection checks garments during production, final inspection checks finished, packed goods before they ship, and third-party inspection means an independent firm inspects for you, typically for a few hundred dollars a day.

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.

What do TT, LC, B/L, CO, REX, HS code and EORI mean?

TT is a bank wire, with a deposit upfront and balance against shipping documents as the standard structure. An LC is your bank’s promise to pay against correct documents, the B/L controls the cargo, a certificate of origin unlocks preferential duty, REX is the EU’s registered-exporter system, the HS code decides your duty rate, and EORI is your import registration.

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.