The wholesale terms Singapore buyers expect

A Singapore buyer expects to roughly double your wholesale price to reach retail, be invoiced on terms rather than paying up front, and order small the first time. None of that is negotiable in your favour as an unknown brand. What is negotiable is delivery, exclusivity and reorder minimums — and those are where the value actually sits.

• Wholesale sits at roughly 40–55% of retail. Price so you survive at the low end.
• Payment terms of 30–60 days after delivery are normal. Assume the longer end from a new stockist.
• First orders are small on purpose. That is a buyer managing risk, not doubting you.
• Get sell-through data by size in writing. It is worth more than the first order's margin.
• Retail price consistency across your channels is a condition of being stocked, not a courtesy.

The markup, and why it is not negotiable

A boutique buying outright takes roughly half the retail price, and that is what funds the shop. Rent, staff, the stock that did not sell, the seasonal markdown — all of it comes out of the gap between what they paid you and what the customer pays them.

So the arithmetic runs backwards from the shelf. If a garment retails at S$120 and the buyer works on a 55% margin, they pay you about S$54. Your landed cost, your freight and your import GST all have to fit under that, and comfortably enough that you would still take the order on a bad exchange rate.

If it does not fit, the fix is upstream. Either the retail price is wrong for the market, or your cost base is wrong for wholesale, or wholesale is not your channel yet. Discounting your wholesale price to force the fit produces an order you lose money on. See pricing your product for Singapore.

Retail	Buyer margin	You receive
S$80	45%	~S$44
S$80	55%	~S$36
S$150	45%	~S$83
S$150	55%	~S$68

Those margin bands are what brands in this segment typically meet, not published rates. They vary by category and by how much the buyer wants you.

Outright buy versus consignment

These are different businesses, and which one you are offered tells you how much risk the buyer is taking on you.

	Outright buy	Consignment
Who owns the stock	The boutique	You
When you get paid	On terms after delivery	After it sells
Who carries unsold stock	Them	You
Typical share to you	~45–60% of retail	Often a little more
What it signals	They believe in sell-through	They are sharing risk on an unknown

Consignment is the common opening for an imported brand nobody has sold before, and taking it is usually right. The number to negotiate there is not the split — it is who pays return freight on unsold pieces, because that cost can quietly erase the season's margin.

Payment terms, and what to do about them

Expect to invoice on delivery and be paid 30 to 60 days later. For a first order from a new stockist, plan around 60 and treat anything faster as a pleasant surprise.

That gap is a real cash-flow cost for a small brand: you have paid your factory, your freight and your import GST long before the money arrives. Price with that in mind rather than discovering it.

Two things worth asking for, both normal to request and sometimes granted:

A deposit on a first outright order — 30% up front is not an unusual ask from a supplier with no trading history, and a buyer who refuses outright is telling you something useful about how much they want the line.

Shorter terms in exchange for something. Buyers will sometimes trade faster payment for a slightly better price or a delivery date that suits them. Terms are more negotiable than margin.

Minimums, sizes and the reorder

Your minimum order quantity is your problem, not theirs. A first order will be small — a handful of units per style, sometimes a single size run. If your factory minimum makes that uneconomic, that is a constraint to solve before you pitch, not one to push onto the buyer.

The size curve matters more than the unit count. A boutique that sells out of two sizes and sits on the rest has not had a good season, and neither have you. Ask what their customer's size distribution looks like — a good buyer knows, and being asked marks you as someone who has done this before.

The reorder is the whole game. A first order is a test; a reorder is a business. Make it easy: hold some stock ready, quote a real lead time, and never make a boutique chase you for an answer on availability.

Get the sell-through data

Ask, in writing, for sell-through by style and size, at an agreed interval. This is the single most valuable term in a first agreement and the one brands most often forget.

It tells you which styles work in a market you do not live in, which sizes to weight the next production run toward, and whether your price was right — none of which you can learn from a sales total. It also makes the next buyer conversation dramatically stronger, because you arrive with evidence instead of hope.

Most boutiques will share it if asked at the start. Almost none will volunteer it later.

Price consistency is a condition, not a courtesy

If a boutique finds your own store or a marketplace undercutting their shelf, they will drop you — and they will be right to. They spent their margin building the customer who then bought it cheaper elsewhere.

Keep recommended retail consistent across every channel you sell through. Run promotions on timing that does not humiliate your stockists, and tell them in advance when you do. This is the term that most quietly decides whether you are stocked again.

FAQ

Should I quote in SGD or IDR? SGD. Quoting in rupiah pushes the currency risk onto the buyer and reads as unfamiliar with the market.

Who pays the freight? Usually you, to an agreed delivery point. Settle the Incoterm in writing so "delivered" means the same thing to both of you. See packing a shipment so it clears customs first time.

What happens if stock arrives late? Depends entirely on what you agreed. A cancellation window on late delivery is standard in wholesale, and being asked for one is not hostility — it is what lets the buyer commit floor space to you.

Can I sell to two boutiques in the same neighbourhood? You can, and it is a fast way to annoy both. Either space them out or be upfront about it before either commits.

Do these terms apply to beauty as well? The commercial shape is the same, but a cosmetic also has to be legally supplied — notified, with a Responsible Person in place — before any of this is relevant. See the Responsible Person rule.

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Sources: margin bands, payment terms and consignment practice described here are observed market practice, not published rates — confirm against the specific buyer. GST treatment per IRAS. Updated August 2026. Operational guidance, not legal advice.