A bulk order, from enquiry to carton
Volume changes the sequence. Before anything is bought you are negotiating minimums and pack-out; after it arrives you are inspecting a case rather than a sample; and when it ships you are choosing between sea and air rather than between two courier lines. This page follows a GTbuy order through those differences, because the single-item version of this story would mislead you at every step.
← Back to overviewCase quantities, in order
Confirm minimums, buy, inspect across units, consolidate into cartons, then ship on a line priced for weight. The steps are the same as a single order; what changes is what you check at each one.
- Confirm minimumsminimum order quantity and pack-out, agreed before paying
- Buyunit price times quantity, plus the domestic leg
- Inspect across unitscolour drift and defect rate matter more than any single flaw
- Ship by cartonconsolidate, then choose a line priced for chargeable weight
Timings and thresholds below are GTbuy's published figures. Your order page governs your order.
Raising a bulk order
Five moves take a wholesale row from enquiry to a paid GTbuy order.
Minimum order quantity and pack-out are recorded on each row — confirm both before quoting.
One unit through the same route tells you more than any photograph of a case.
Size breakdown and colourway split are fixed here and expensive to change later.
Unit price times quantity, plus the domestic leg; freight comes at submission.
Nine stages, with wholesale notes
Nine steps in total, and three of them involve a decision when you are buying at case scale.
- 1
EnquiryMinimums, pack-out and unit pricing confirmed with the factory
- 2
Order placedQuantity and size breakdown fixed and paid
- 3
Factory dispatchedDomestic tracking appears
- 4
Warehouse arrivalCartons scanned in and logged
- 5
InspectionUnits checked for colour drift, count and defects
- 6
In storageHeld free — often deliberately, to complete a carton
- 7
Parcel submittedCartons, line and extras chosen; freight paid
- 8
DispatchedCarrier takes the case; tracking goes live
- 9
DeliveredReceived, usually signed for as commercial goods
Condensed from GTbuy's official flow. Your account and GTbuy's notices take precedence.
What arriving stock goes through
Factory dispatch to warehouse scan takes around two days, and inspection of the carton follows within one. Goods then wait free of charge, and at case quantities that wait is usually deliberate — one sealed carton costs far less to move than four part-boxes.
Logged against your account before the carton is opened.
Colour consistency and piece count matter more than individual flaws.
Waiting for the rest of an order is usually the cheaper choice.
Full cartons cost less to move than the same weight spread across part-boxes.
Moving cartons
Three decisions, and the middle one is where the money is.
- 1. Decide carton versus part-box
Full cartons move cheaper per kilo than the same goods spread thin.
- 2. Decide air versus sea
Heavy, non-urgent stock belongs on the slow line — the saving is large.
- 3. Declare commercially
Commercial quantities attract scrutiny; declare what you can defend.
- 4. Track the carton
Tracking follows the carrier scan, roughly a day after submission.
Submission starts packing, the carrier then collects, and tracking appears on your parcel page. At case scale the freight figure is driven by measured weight plus the line, so a small movement either way is normal and is reconciled against your balance.