Most people asking about custom uniforms are not really asking about price. They're asking whether they're about to lose money.
It's a reasonable worry. Handing over half the cost of a 200-piece order to a supplier you found on Facebook, for goods that don't exist yet, on the strength of a chat conversation — that's a real risk, and pretending otherwise is insulting. The Philippine custom apparel industry runs on advance payment, and that arrangement genuinely does favor the manufacturer.
So this page explains what the money is for, when it moves, and what you should be able to expect at each step. Not just from us. From anyone.
Why suppliers ask for money upfront
Custom apparel has no resale value. That's the whole reason.
A shop selling ready-made shirts can take a cancelled order and put it back on the shelf. We can't. Once your logo is embroidered onto 200 polos in your specific color, at your specific sizes, that stock is worth nothing to anyone except you. There is no secondary market for another company's uniforms.
So when an order is confirmed, the manufacturer commits three things that can't be recovered: fabric bought to your specification, a slot in the production calendar that another client can no longer use, and digitizing or layout work done for your artwork alone.
That's what the downpayment covers. It isn't a deposit against your trustworthiness — it's the manufacturer's share of a risk that only exists because the product is yours.
Understanding that changes what you're looking for. The question isn't "why do they want money first." It's "what do I get in return for paying first, and what happens if something goes wrong."
What happens before any money moves
This part matters more than the payment structure, and buyers routinely skip past it.
No money should change hands before you've seen your design. At BNC Customs you get a free digital mockup within 24 hours of your inquiry — your logo, your colors, on the actual garment style you're ordering. No charge, no commitment, and no obligation to proceed.
Use it properly. A mockup is the cheapest moment in the entire process to change your mind. Moving a logo two inches costs nothing at mockup stage. It costs a re-run after production.
Before you pay anything, you should have in writing:
- The exact garment — fabric, GSM, cut, color
- The decoration method and how many logo positions
- The full size breakdown, piece by piece
- The total price, and whether VAT is included
- The delivery date, and what the clock starts from
- What happens if the goods are defective
If a supplier won't put those six things in a message you can screenshot, that's your answer. You don't need to argue about it — just don't pay.
Yes, you can order one piece first
This is the question we get more than any other, so here's the plain answer: you can order a single sample before committing to a full run. One piece. Or three, or five, in different fabrics if you're deciding between them.
Most manufacturers won't do this, and the reason isn't mysterious. A one-piece order takes almost the same setup as a hundred-piece order — same artwork prep, same machine setup, same handling — spread across one unit instead of a hundred. It's uneconomic per piece, so the industry standard answer is a minimum order and a polite no.
That leaves a buyer in an impossible spot. You're being asked to commit ₱50,000 to a supplier whose stitching you have never touched, on the strength of photographs that could be anyone's. Every careful buyer feels that gap, and most respond by ordering from whoever their previous officer used, which is not the same thing as ordering well.
So we'd rather absorb the awkward economics and let you check. Order one. Wash it. Wear it a full day. Pull at the embroidery, look at the inside seams, hold the color against your brand guide in daylight. If it's not right, you've learned that for the price of one shirt instead of the price of a uniform programme.
Two things worth knowing when you ask:
A sample costs the same as one unit at list price. No sample surcharge, no setup fee — a single sublimated round neck is ₱450, an embroidered honeycomb polo ₱550, a jacket with an embroidered logo ₱1,000. You're paying the shelf price for one garment you keep. Digitizing and artwork setup are included, so there's nothing added on top for a first-time order.
That's also why the sample is a fair test. You're not getting a special demonstration piece made under unusual care — you're getting one unit off the same floor, same fabric, same machine, same operator who'd run your two hundred. What you hold is what you'd get.
Sample timing usually runs 3 to 5 days, depending on what's already on the floor. Samples are slotted in alongside standard production orders rather than ahead of them, so this window can move a little either way — an honest slower window for a sample protects the production schedule for everyone else's order too.
One request, and it genuinely helps: tell us roughly what you're planning. Thirty polos for a small team and eight hundred for a company rollout are different conversations — different fabric recommendations, different pricing, different production planning. You don't need a final number. A rough one lets us quote you properly instead of quoting you generically.
The 50/50 structure
BNC Customs works on 50% downpayment to start production, with the balance due before release. Minimum order is 30 pieces for a production run — a single-piece sample, covered above, is the exception.
The clock on your delivery date starts at artwork approval — not at inquiry, and not at payment. This distinction causes more disputes than any other single thing in this industry. If you take four days to approve a mockup, your delivery date moves four days. A supplier who quotes you seven days from inquiry is either not counting your approval time or not telling you they aren't.
Under standard production, 100 pieces takes about 7 days from approval, and 1,000 pieces takes 10 to 14. Priority production compresses that to 3 days and 7 days respectively for around 20% more. Rush runs of 24 to 48 hours are possible depending on what's already on the floor.
The balance falls due before release rather than after delivery, and it's fair to ask why. From the manufacturer's side, an unpaid balance on finished custom goods is the worst position in the trade — the work is done, the cost is sunk, and the inventory is worthless to anyone else. From your side, the protection you actually want isn't payment on delivery. It's inspecting the goods before you release the balance.
Ask for that explicitly. Photos of the finished run, or an in-person check before the final payment clears. Any manufacturer confident in their output will agree, because they'd rather you catch a problem in their facility than in your office. A supplier who resists inspection before payment is telling you something.
The downpayment is non-refundable
Worth stating plainly, because a buyer who has been burned before will look for this sentence specifically.
Once production starts, the 50% is committed. It has already become fabric cut to your sizes and hours on the floor from people who were paid for that week. There is nothing left to return.
That cuts both ways, which is the part worth understanding. A non-refundable downpayment is also what guarantees your order can't be quietly deprioritized when a larger client walks in. Your slot is bought and paid for. A supplier who takes fully refundable deposits is a supplier whose calendar can be reshuffled at no cost to them — and it won't be reshuffled in your favor.
So before you pay, make sure the specification is settled and the mockup is approved. That's the moment to change anything, and it's free. After that, the money is in the goods.
On 30, 60, and 90-day terms
We don't offer them. Not yet — and it's better to say so on this page than to waste a procurement officer's week finding out.
Net terms require a manufacturer to carry payroll and materials for an entire order, sometimes for two or three months, out of its own working capital. That takes a revolving fund we're still building. Taking a 90-day contract without one is how small manufacturers fail: they win the order, finance it out of cash flow, and go under waiting to be paid. We'd rather decline an order we can't finance than accept it and fail to deliver.
So the terms are the same for everyone. Corporate, government, institutional, first-time, returning — 50% to start, balance before release.
This will change as the business grows, and when it does this page will be updated. If your procurement process can't release funds without net terms, say so early and we'll be straight with you about whether it can work.
VAT, delivery, and what "total" means
Every price BNC Customs publishes is VAT-inclusive. The number quoted is the number paid — there is no tax added at the end.
This is worth checking with every supplier you canvass, because it is the single most common reason two quotes that look ₱50 apart aren't. A quote that excludes VAT is 12% higher than it appears, which on 300 pieces is real money discovered late.
Delivery is quoted separately and depends on where the order is going and how heavy it is. Ask for it as a line item, not a promise to sort out later.
We issue an Official Receipt. For a lot of readers that single sentence is the reason they're on this page. Corporate accounting, government procurement, school boards, cooperatives — most institutional buyers cannot release funds against anything less, and a supplier who can't issue one is not a supplier your finance department can use, regardless of price. If you need the OR made out to a specific entity name or TIN, send those details with your order rather than after delivery.
There's one more figure worth naming, because it's usually invisible. Turning a logo into an embroidery file — digitizing — is skilled work, and in this industry it's commonly billed at ₱500 to ₱1,000 per design, more for complex artwork. We include it. Same for converting a low-resolution logo into print-ready vector artwork.
That's deliberate. Setup fees are the friction that stops people testing a new supplier, and we'd rather you judge us on the stitching than on an invoice you paid before seeing anything. It also means a quote from us is the quote — there's no setup line appearing at the end.
When you compare quotes, compare the landed total: unit price, VAT status, delivery, and any setup or artwork fees. Two suppliers quoting the same per-piece figure can be thousands apart once those four are settled. There's a full breakdown of what drives each price band in our complete custom uniform pricing guide.
How you can pay
BNC Customs accepts cash, bank transfer, and GCash. Card and installment payments through PayMongo are being set up and will be available once live.
Whatever method you use, two rules apply to every supplier in this industry:
Pay to a business account, not a personal one. If a company asks you to send money to an individual's GCash or personal bank account, stop and ask why. There are occasionally innocent explanations. There are also non-innocent ones, and you have no recourse either way.
Keep every receipt and every message. Under the Philippine E-Commerce Act, chat conversations and electronic records are admissible evidence. Screenshot your approved mockup, your agreed size breakdown, your quoted delivery date, and every payment confirmation. Not because you expect a dispute — because the cost of keeping them is zero and the cost of not having them is the entire order.
What to ask before you pay anyone
Five questions. They take one message, and the answers tell you more about a supplier than any portfolio.
- Is this price VAT-inclusive, and is delivery included? Establishes the real total. If either answer is vague, the quote isn't a quote.
- When does the production clock start? Should be artwork approval. If the answer is inquiry date, the timeline is optimistic in a way that will land on you.
- Can I inspect the goods before I release the balance? A yes costs a confident manufacturer nothing. Hesitation is information.
- Who fixes defects, and who pays for the fix? Ask before production, not after. The answer after a problem is always less generous than the answer before one.
- Do you produce in-house, or is this subcontracted? This determines whether anyone can actually answer questions two, three, and four. A broker passing your order to a third shop can only relay what they're told — which is why in-house and subcontracted production carry different risks, even at identical prices.
Terms that should make you slow down
Not every unusual term is a scam. But each of these deserves a straight answer before money moves.
Full payment upfront on a first order. Standard practice is a partial downpayment. 100% before production, from a supplier you haven't worked with, on your first order, removes every bit of leverage you have.
A downpayment with no written specification. If what you're paying for isn't written down, there's nothing to hold anyone to. This is the most common cause of disputes that neither side can win.
Payment to a personal account from a business quoting business prices.
A price far below the band for the specification. A branded corporate polo in honeycomb with embroidery sits between ₱550 and ₱750 per piece. A quote at ₱380 for that exact specification means something has been substituted — lighter fabric, a printed logo instead of stitched, or a shortfall that surfaces at delivery. Ask what changed. Sometimes there's a good answer.
No mockup before payment. There's no reason for this. Mockups cost the manufacturer almost nothing, and any shop refusing to produce one before payment is asking you to buy something neither of you has seen.
The part that's actually on us
Everything above is written from the manufacturer's side of the table, which is a strange place to write a buyer's guide from. So it's worth being direct about the reason.
We've been on the wrong end of this. Goods delivered, invoices unpaid, and a long quiet stretch afterwards learning what documentation we should have insisted on before production started. The lesson wasn't that clients can't be trusted. It was that clear terms protect the honest party on both sides, and that vagueness only ever protects whoever benefits from confusion.
So the terms on this page are firm, and they're the same for everyone. Fifty percent to start, balance before release, everything in writing, nothing produced without an approved mockup. Not because we assume the worst of anyone — because the orders that go badly are almost always the ones where somebody skipped the boring part at the beginning.
The boring part is the part that protects you.
Frequently asked questions
Do you have a minimum order requirement? For a production run, thirty pieces. But samples sit outside that — you can order a single piece to check the quality before committing to a run, which is the part most suppliers say no to. Sizes run S through 5XL at one price, with no plus-size surcharge on any garment; that's worth checking against other suppliers, since many charge a per-size step above XL.
Can I order one piece as a sample first? Yes. One piece, or a few in different fabrics if you're comparing. It's the most useful thing a careful buyer can do — wash it, wear it a full day, pull at the embroidery, check the color in daylight. If something's wrong you've learned it for the price of one shirt instead of a whole uniform programme. When you ask, mention roughly what volume you're planning, so we can quote and recommend fabric properly rather than generically.
How much downpayment do custom uniform suppliers in the Philippines require? Fifty percent is the industry standard for custom apparel, and it's what BNC Customs requires to start production, with the balance due before release. Custom goods have no resale value, so the manufacturer commits fabric, a production slot, and artwork setup that can't be recovered if an order is abandoned. Be cautious with any supplier demanding 100% upfront on a first order — that removes all of your leverage.
Is the downpayment refundable? No. Once production starts, the 50% has already become fabric cut to your sizes and paid labor hours, so there's nothing left to return. That protects you as well: a paid slot in the production calendar can't be quietly reshuffled when a larger client arrives. Settle the specification and approve the mockup before you pay — changes are free at that stage and impossible afterwards.
When do I pay the balance? Before the goods are released. Ask to inspect the finished order — in person or by photo — before the balance clears. Any manufacturer confident in their work will agree, because catching a problem in the facility is far cheaper for both sides than catching it after delivery.
Do you issue an Official Receipt? Yes. BNC Customs issues an Official Receipt on every order, which is what corporate accounting, government procurement, schools, and cooperatives need before they can release payment. Send the entity name and TIN it should be made out to along with your order rather than after delivery.
Do you offer 30, 60, or 90-day payment terms for corporate or government orders? Not at present. Net terms require a manufacturer to carry materials and payroll for an entire order out of its own working capital, and that revolving fund is still being built. Terms are 50% down and the balance before release for every client — corporate, government, first-time, or returning. This will change as the business grows, and this page will be updated when it does.
Are your prices VAT-inclusive? Yes. Every price BNC Customs publishes includes VAT, so the quoted figure is the figure paid. Delivery is quoted separately and depends on destination and order weight. Always confirm VAT status when comparing suppliers — a quote excluding VAT is 12% higher than it looks.
What payment methods do you accept? Cash, bank transfer, and GCash. Card and installment payments through PayMongo are being set up and will be available once live. Pay to a business account, never to an individual's personal account — that applies to every supplier, not just us.
Do I have to pay before seeing a design? No. You get a free digital mockup within 24 hours of your inquiry, showing your logo and colors on the actual garment style. Digitizing and vector artwork setup are included rather than billed upfront, so there's nothing to pay before you've seen what you're buying. Approve the mockup before any money moves — changing a design at that stage is free, and changing it after production is not.
Continue your research
Understand the pricing:
- What custom uniforms actually cost in the Philippines — the full price list, and what moves each band.
Before you commit:
- How to choose a uniform supplier in the Philippines — the wider evaluation, beyond payment terms.
- In-house versus subcontracted production — why this determines who can answer your questions.
Get the order right:
- How to brief a uniform supplier — what to put in writing before you pay.
- The quality control checklist — what to inspect before releasing the balance.
- The true cost of late uniform delivery — why the production clock's start date matters.
Clear terms are not a sign that a supplier distrusts you. They're a sign that someone has been through the alternative.