Ask a manufacturer what it costs to produce custom activewear and most will give you a price per piece and stop there. That number is real, but it’s a fraction of what you’ll actually spend before a single unit is ready to sell. The gap between the quoted unit price and your true landed cost is where most first-time brands get caught out.
We manufacture private label activewear in Sialkot, Pakistan, and we quote brands every week who’ve been burned by a “$6 a unit” promise that turned into $14 a unit by the time goods reached their door. This is the full breakdown — every line item, with real numbers, including the costs your supplier has no incentive to mention.
The unit price is not the cost
When a factory quotes you a price, ask what it includes. The single biggest source of confusion in this industry is the difference between two pricing models, and most founders don’t know which one they’re being quoted.
CMT (Cut, Make, Trim) covers labour only. The factory cuts your fabric, sews the garment, and attaches trims like labels and elastic. You supply the fabric and trims yourself, or pay for them separately. CMT rates run roughly $1–3 per piece in Bangladesh, $2–6 in India and Pakistan, and $8–15 in the US or EU. It looks cheap because it is only part of the cost.
FOB (Free on Board), also called full-package, means the factory sources the fabric and trims, produces the garment, and delivers it to the port. The price is higher because it includes materials. Most established manufacturers now quote FOB because it removes the logistical nightmare of brands shipping fabric in from three different suppliers and hoping it arrives on time.
If a quote looks too good, it’s almost always CMT, and the fabric cost — usually the largest single component — is sitting outside the number you were shown.
Line item 1: Fabric
Fabric is typically 40–60% of the total garment cost, and it’s the line item with the widest range. A pair of leggings might use $3–7 of fabric depending on the composition, weight, and quantity you’re buying.
The variables that move the number:
- Composition. Nylon-spandex blends cost more than polyester-spandex. The difference per garment is small but compounds across a production run. Our Nylon vs Polyester guide covers which is worth paying for.
- Weight. Heavier fabric costs more because you’re literally buying more material. A 280 GSM legging uses more fabric value than a 200 GSM one. See our GSM fabric weight guide for what weight suits which garment.
- Quantity. Fabric mills have their own minimums. Order below them and you pay a premium or get charged for the full roll regardless of what you use.
The trap here is the sample-to-production fabric switch. Factories sometimes sample on premium stock and produce on something cheaper. Specify your exact fabric and get the composition and GSM confirmed in writing for both sample and bulk.
Line item 2: CMT (the labour)
This is the cutting, sewing, and finishing. For activewear it’s higher than for a basic t-shirt because performance garments have more operations: flatlock seams, gussets, elastic waistbands, bonded panels. Each operation adds labour time.
Expect roughly $2–6 per piece in Pakistan for standard activewear, more for technical construction. A plain tank is at the low end. A panelled compression legging with a bonded waistband sits at the top.
A good factory will break the CMT cost down by operation rather than handing you one number. If they won’t, that’s a signal worth noting — it usually means there’s padding in there somewhere.
Line item 3: Trims and branding
Small per unit, easy to forget, and they add up. Woven labels, care tags, hang tags, drawcords, and packaging are all separate costs.
- Woven label: $0.10–0.40 each
- Printed care tag: $0.05–0.15
- Hang tag: $0.10–0.50
- Poly bag and packaging: $0.20–1.00 depending on whether you want branded boxes or a plain mailer
Branding method matters too. A heat-transfer logo is cheap but wears faster. Embroidery and woven detailing cost more and last. For a gym brand whose customers will wash garments fifty times a year, the cheaper option can become a returns problem.
Line item 4: Sampling
Sampling is not part of your per-unit cost, but it’s real money you spend before production starts, and it’s the line most guides skip. Plan for two rounds per product, three if your construction is technical.
- Sample fee: $30–80 per piece
- Shipping each way (DHL/FedEx from Pakistan): $30–60
- Timeline: 10–21 days per round
Budget $500–800 per product across all rounds. Skimping here is a false economy. A fit problem found in sampling costs a sample fee. The same problem found after a 500-unit production run costs you the run.
Line item 5: Shipping and freight
How your goods travel changes the per-unit cost significantly.
Air freight is fast — three to five days from Pakistan to the UK, US, or Australia — but expensive, and it makes sense for samples, urgent restocks, or small high-value orders. Sea freight is far cheaper per unit but takes weeks and carries minimums that make it impractical for small first orders.
For a first production run of a few hundred units, most brands use air freight and absorb $1–3 per unit in shipping. As volume grows, sea freight drops that to cents per unit. This is one of the real economies of scale, and it’s a reason your second order will often have better margins than your first.
Line item 6: Duties and tax — the one nobody mentions
This is the cost that turns a healthy margin into a thin one, and almost no manufacturer will bring it up, because it’s charged to you at your border, not theirs. Where you import to matters enormously, and the 2026 picture is genuinely different depending on your market.
If you’re importing to the EU: Pakistan holds GSP+ status, which means most textiles and apparel enter the EU at zero duty. As of early 2026 this remains in place, with over 90% of Pakistani exports to the EU entering duty-free. There is an ongoing EU monitoring review, so it’s worth confirming current status, but right now the duty advantage is real and substantial.
If you’re importing to the UK: Pakistan sits in the Enhanced Preferences tier of the UK’s Developing Countries Trading Scheme (DCTS), which gives apparel preferential or zero-duty access. From January 2026, India and Indonesia lost their preferential apparel rates into the UK, which actually improves Pakistan’s relative position for UK buyers. If you’re sourcing for the UK market, this is a live cost advantage over Indian-made goods.
If you’re importing to the US: there is no preferential scheme for Pakistan, and US apparel tariffs in 2026 are both elevated and volatile. Reported effective rates on Pakistani goods have ranged from around 19% to 29% across early 2026, with temporary measures in flux. Whatever the headline number on the day you order, you must factor a substantial duty into your US landed cost, and you should verify the current HTS rate for your specific product before committing. Anyone telling US buyers that duty is negligible in 2026 is either misinformed or not being straight with you.
The honest summary: the same garment at the same factory price has a very different landed cost depending on whether it’s going to Berlin, Manchester, or Denver. Our Pakistan vs China manufacturing comparison goes deeper on how trade status changes the sourcing maths.
Putting it together: what a legging actually costs
A worked example for a mid-range compression legging, 300-unit order, shipped to the UK:
| Cost component | Per unit |
|---|---|
| Fabric (240 GSM nylon-spandex) | $5.00 |
| CMT (panelled, bonded waistband) | $4.50 |
| Trims and branding | $1.20 |
| Air freight (first order) | $2.00 |
| UK duty (DCTS preferential) | ~$0.00 |
| Landed cost per unit | ~$12.70 |
The same legging shipped to the US, with duty applied, lands closer to $15–16 per unit. The factory price didn’t change. The border did.
And this is before the one-off costs that don’t sit in the per-unit number: roughly $500–1,500 in sampling across the product, and $200–500 if you outsource your tech pack. Those are spread across your order, so a larger run dilutes them and a tiny run concentrates them. A 50-unit first order carries those fixed costs heavily; a 500-unit order barely feels them.
Why your first order costs more per unit than your tenth
Three things make early orders expensive, and all three improve with scale.
Fixed costs spread thin. Sampling and tech pack costs are the same whether you order 50 units or 5,000. On a small run they dominate; on a large run they vanish into the rounding.
Air freight over sea. Small orders fly. Larger orders ship, and sea freight is a fraction of the per-unit cost.
Fabric minimums. Below the mill’s minimum you pay a premium. Above it you get the standard rate.
This is worth understanding before you launch, because it explains why a brand quoting you their per-unit cost from their third reorder is not describing a number you’ll hit on your first order. For more on how order timing and production windows affect this, see our manufacturing lead times guide.
What this means for pricing your product
If your fully landed cost is $13 a unit, the standard wholesale markup of 2–2.5x puts your wholesale price around $26–32, and a typical retail multiple lands you at $50–65 to the end customer. If those numbers don’t leave room for marketing, returns, and profit, the problem isn’t your manufacturer. It’s that your target price and your product spec don’t match, and that’s a conversation to have before you sample, not after.
The brands that succeed are the ones who know their real landed cost before they set a retail price. The ones who struggle are the ones who priced off a unit quote and discovered the rest of the costs later.
The honest version
Custom activewear manufacturing is not cheap, and any supplier who makes it sound cheap is hiding a line item. A realistic all-in cost for a small first run, once you include fabric, labour, trims, sampling, freight, and duty, is meaningfully higher than the per-piece price you’ll be quoted up front. That’s not a reason not to do it. It’s a reason to budget honestly and choose a manufacturer who’ll show you the whole number rather than the flattering part of it.
If you want a real quote with every line item visible — fabric, CMT, trims, freight, and a straight answer on duty for your market — send us your specs or message us on WhatsApp. If you’re earlier in the process and still scoping your product, the tech pack builder will help you define what you’re actually costing before you ask anyone for a price.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to manufacture custom activewear? For a mid-range garment like compression leggings, the landed cost typically runs $12–16 per unit on a first order of a few hundred pieces, covering fabric, labour (CMT), trims, freight, and duty. The factory unit price is only part of this. Sampling ($500–800 per product) and tech pack costs ($200–500) are separate one-off expenses.
What is the difference between CMT and FOB pricing? CMT (Cut, Make, Trim) covers labour only — you supply the fabric and trims. FOB (full-package) includes the factory sourcing fabric and trims and delivering to port. A CMT quote looks cheaper because the fabric cost, usually the largest component, sits outside it. Always confirm which model you’re being quoted.
Why is my first production run more expensive per unit? Three reasons: fixed costs like sampling and tech packs spread across fewer units, small orders ship by expensive air freight rather than cheaper sea freight, and orders below the fabric mill’s minimum carry a premium. All three improve as order volume grows.
Do I pay import duty on activewear made in Pakistan? It depends on your market. Into the EU, Pakistan’s GSP+ status means most apparel enters duty-free. Into the UK, the DCTS Enhanced Preferences tier gives preferential or zero duty. Into the US, there is no preferential scheme and 2026 tariffs are elevated, so US buyers should verify the current HTS rate and budget for a substantial duty.
What percentage of activewear cost is fabric? Fabric typically accounts for 40–60% of the total garment cost, making it the single largest line item. Composition, weight (GSM), and order quantity all affect the figure.
