Quick answer

A first custom order realistically takes about 4–6 weeks from your first message to delivery: roughly 1–2 days for the quote and digital mockup, 5–7 days for the pre-production sample, a few days for your approval, 15–20 days of bulk production, and then shipping — roughly 4–7 days by DHL/FedEx air, or several weeks by sea. The number buyers fixate on, “15–20 days production”, is only one stage, and its clock starts at sample approval — not at your first email. Most “late order” stories are really stage misunderstandings: the buyer counted from the enquiry, the factory counted from approval. This post walks every stage so you can plan backwards from your deadline with real numbers.

The full timeline at a glance

Stage	Typical time	Who controls it
Quote and digital mockup	1–2 days after complete details are sent	Factory — if your details are complete
Pre-production sample	5–7 days	Factory
Your sample approval	A few days — sometimes much longer	You
Bulk production	15–20 days from sample approval	Factory
Final inspection and packing	Included at the end of production	Factory
Air shipping (DHL/FedEx)	Roughly 4–7 days to most destinations	Courier/customs
Sea shipping	Several weeks	Carrier/customs

Repeat orders of the same design skip the mockup and sampling stages almost entirely — patterns, colours and logo files are already on file — which is why a reorder is usually the fastest order you will ever place. Our step-by-step ordering guide shows these stages as a process; this post is the calendar view of it.

Stage 1: Quote and mockup (1–2 days, if your message is complete)

This stage is short when your first message carries what a factory needs: the design or a photo reference, quantities per style and colour, a size breakdown, your logo file, your delivery country and your deadline. With those in hand, a quote with tiered pricing and a digital mockup is a 1–2 day job.

Without them, this stage quietly becomes a week of follow-up questions — the stage buyers most often misremember as “the factory was slow to quote”. Our quote checklist post lists the seven things to send so this stage stays at two days instead of ten.

Stage 2: Pre-production sample (5–7 days)

After mockup approval, the factory makes one physical garment: real fabric, real stitching, your logo applied by the real production method. At Alisterz this takes 5–7 days, and a free sample is available. It sounds slow for one garment until you list what is inside it: pattern work, cutting for a single piece, print or embroidery setup for one logo, sewing, finishing — the whole production process, run once. The sample is not a shortcut version of your order; it is your order, at quantity one. That is what makes it a reliable preview.

Stage 3: Your approval (the stage nobody counts)

Between the sample arriving and bulk production starting sits your approval — the only stage with no standard duration, because it belongs to you.

A club manager who tries the sample on a player the day it lands and replies that evening adds a day. A committee that needs a meeting, a sponsor who wants a logo moved, a size list still being collected from parents — each adds days or weeks, and none of them appear in any factory’s quoted lead time. Changes at this stage are legitimate and cheap; just know that a design change restarts sampling, and the 5–7 days run again. Plan the approval before the sample ships: know who signs off, and have the roster ready to confirm — our size chart post covers collecting roster sizes without errors.

Stage 4: Bulk production (15–20 days) — and when the clock starts

Bulk production at Alisterz is 15–20 days, and the clock starts when the sample is approved and the order is confirmed. Not at your first email, not at the quote, not at the mockup.

There are practical reasons, not bureaucratic ones. Fabric is bought against the approved spec — buying against an unapproved design risks the wrong fabric for the whole run. Cutting follows the confirmed size list — cutting early produces the wrong sizes permanently. Decoration setups are made from approved artwork. Every input to production is an approved thing, so production can only start when approval exists.

Inside the 15–20 days: fabric sourcing and checking, cutting to your size breakdown, printing or embroidery, stitching, trimming and pressing, then final inspection, counting against your list, and packing. A straightforward sublimated kit run sits toward the faster end; large orders, multiple colourways and embroidery-heavy garments toward the slower end. Your quote will place your order in that range — and where it sits is a cost and complexity question as much as a calendar one.

Stage 5: Shipping (4–7 days by air, weeks by sea)

Production time never includes shipping, and the freight choice changes your total more than any other single decision at this point. DHL/FedEx air lands in roughly 4–7 days to most destinations and is the default for season-driven team orders. Sea freight takes several weeks and suits large, planned orders — pallet quantities where the per-piece freight saving is worth the wait. The mistake to avoid is choosing sea to save money and then air-freighting part of the order in a panic when a date moves: if the kits must be worn on a fixed day, the freight method is chosen by arithmetic, not optimism.

Work backwards from your deadline

Say your first match is six weeks away. Counting back from the day the kits must be in hand:

• 1 week of buffer and delivery — air shipping plus a safety margin
• 3 weeks — bulk production (15–20 days)
• 1 week — sampling, with a few days for your approval
• A few days — quote, mockup and finalising the size list

That lands your first message at roughly six weeks out — comfortable, with the buffer intact. Start at four weeks and the same order has no slack: one slow approval or one artwork fix puts the deadline at risk, and no factory can sew faster to recover time lost before production started.

What actually causes delays (it is rarely the sewing)

• Incomplete first enquiries — a week of questions before a quote exists
• Artwork problems discovered late — a low-resolution logo that must be recreated before any mockup can be made
• Roster and size changes after cutting — sizes are locked once cutting starts; late changes restart work
• Slow sample approval — the factory cannot start, and the production slot moves
• Sea freight chosen against a fixed date — the cheapest freight is the most expensive when it arrives after the event

Every one of these is avoidable at the message-one stage, which is the real lesson of the timeline: the fastest orders are not rushed orders, they are complete ones.

Frequently asked questions

Why does production start at sample approval instead of when I first enquire? Because production consumes approved inputs: fabric bought to the approved spec, panels cut to the confirmed size list, decoration set up from approved artwork. Starting before approval would mean producing a guess. The 15–20 day clock measures the making, and the making begins when what to make is settled.

Can I skip the sample and save a week? You can ask, and on a reorder of an identical design there is nothing to skip — no new sample is needed. On a first order, skipping the sample is the most expensive shortcut in bulk buying: a fabric, colour or placement error is then discovered on the full run instead of on one piece. A free sample is available; use the week it takes.

How long does a repeat order take? Usually just production plus shipping: roughly 15–20 days of production and 4–7 days of air freight. Your design, patterns, colours and logo files stay on file, so the mockup and sampling stages drop away. Keep your approved sample from the first order — it remains the standard the reorder is checked against.

Does the 15–20 day production time include shipping? No. Production ends when the order is inspected, packed and dispatched. Shipping is separate: roughly 4–7 days by DHL/FedEx air to most destinations, or several weeks by sea. When you compare quotes from different factories, check whether each is quoting production only or production plus freight — the numbers are not comparable otherwise.

My deadline is in three weeks. Is a first order possible? Honestly: usually not with the full process. Sampling (5–7 days), your approval, production (15–20 days) and air freight (4–7 days) already exceed three weeks before any buffer. Tell us the date in your first message and we will tell you plainly whether it fits — a factory that promises any date to win the order is selling you a problem.

Can part of my order ship early by air and the rest by sea? Splitting an order — the urgently needed portion by air, the balance by sea — is a common structure on large orders. Ask for it at the quote stage, because it affects how the order is packed and counted. It is far easier to plan than to request after production is packed.

Start the clock properly

Send your design, quantities, size breakdown and — above all — your deadline through the Request a Quote page and we will reply with tiered pricing and a timeline that works backwards from your date, stage by stage. Still choosing styles? Start from the full shop and name the style in your first message.