Inquiry

The checklist

Start with categories, not with quantities. Name each category precisely — socks or stockings, gloves or sleeves, heated glove, back brace, or knee brace — and name the variant mix within each category: lengths for legwear, finger coverage for gloves, body parts for sleeves, and variant presentations for heated pieces. A category-precise inquiry is the single biggest improvement a buyer can make to the reply they receive.

Then add the commercial outline: quantities in outline, target date, labelling route, and packaging expectations. Finally, add the documents question: ask which certificates are available upon request for the categories named, and ask for the current documents rather than relying on a listing badge or a logo.

• Name each category precisely, with its track and variant mix.
• Share your quantity and target date, and ask for the applicable MOQ and lead time for your order.
• Ask for the current range list for each category named.
• Ask for sizing presentation and size-chart availability for checking.
• Ask which certificates are available upon request.
• Ask about labelling and packaging options for your channel.

Track-specific notes

For legwear, name the socks-and-stockings split and the length mix, and ask for the two lists separately if you need both. For gloves, name the finger coverage mix and state whether you need compression gloves, therapy gloves, or the heated vibrating glove, since those are three separate lists. For sleeves, send a body-part list rather than a paragraph, so the reply can be checked part by part.

For heated pieces, name the product precisely — heated vibrating gloves, heated back brace, or heated vibrating knee brace — and state whether you need the piece alone or as part of the heated set. For diabetic and recovery categories, name the style mix and state whether you need the category list or the manufacturer or supplier route for that family.

After you send

Check the reply against three things: that the range list covers every category you named, that the terms are tied to the range you described, and that the documents question was answered with current documents or a clear statement of what is available on request. If any of the three is missing, ask for it in the same thread before proceeding.

Keep the thread for the whole order discussion. A single traceable thread, with the original checklist attached, is much easier to audit than several parallel messages that each cover part of the range.

A worked example of a complete inquiry

A complete inquiry for a mixed range might read as follows, in outline: the buyer names compression stockings in two lengths and compression gloves in two finger coverages, states that the range will be sold through a brand store, and asks for the current lists for those categories, the sizing presentations that cover them, and the documents available on request. The buyer then asks for the applicable terms for the order as described, and for the labelling and packaging options for the brand store channel.

Notice what the example does not do: it does not name a specification, it does not state an outcome for the wearer, and it does not quote any figure for order quantity or timing. Those items belong in the supplier's reply, tied to the range described, and a buyer who leaves them out of the inquiry will receive them in a checkable form, while a buyer who guesses them in the inquiry will have to correct the guess later. The example is a template for structure, not for figures: copy its shape, fill in your own categories, and let the reply supply the figures.

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