You picked a $198 retail, then watched the factory quote blow past the FOB you needed.
The hidden risk
Without a reverse-engineered FOB target, you negotiate against the factory's number, not your target. Most factories won't volunteer the components that make up a $198 dress — fabric share, trim share, labor share — until you ask, and by then momentum is on their side.
How to judge
Build the target FOB top-down: retail → margin → landed → duties+freight+FX → ex-factory. Then ask the factory how their quote fits that build-up.
What the supplier must provide
A breakdown of fabric, trim, labor, overhead — even if you only see the totals today, the floor is being able to ask.
How DONGFAN handles it
DONGFAN quotes each mid-market women's and maternity dress against a margin target you bring — we meet the number with a ten-line build-up, not a 'take it or leave it' quote.
Buyer checklist
- Build FOB top-down before asking quotes
- Lock retail, margin and channel first
- Deduct duties + freight + FX
- Compare factory quotes to your build
- Refuse single-line FOB-only quotes
- Document markup from FOB to retail