White-label merch programmes for sales teams and resellers

What you are actually selling

You are selling production capacity that your client never sees, wrapped in your own brand. That sounds simple until three clients want delivery in the same fortnight, each with its own colours, its own logo lock-up and its own compliance requirements. The order profile that results is narrow and predictable: 500 to 3,000 pieces per end-client brief, 3 to 8 briefs in a programme, 1,500 to 24,000 pieces a year. Below that band the coordination is not worth selling; above it, direct factory pricing takes over.

Two commitments sit underneath every quotation. First, your client sees your brand on the product, the packaging, the packing slip and the invoice, and never sees ours. Second, the commercial counterparty is you: an AMD master invoice comes to you, and you raise a pass-through invoice per end-client from lines that already exist. Goods either consolidate at your central Yerevan business-district office for inspection and repacking, or ship direct to the client's receiving point under blind labels when the client runs its own sites.

The clock is the third commitment, and it is the one that decides whether you can win the next one. Your own brief takes 2 to 4 weeks from submission to a production lock, the client signs off in 1 to 3 weeks, locking production with us takes 1 to 2 weeks, and the shipping window is 1 to 2 weeks before the event. Six to 10 weeks is the honest number for a single end-client brief. Running several in parallel is what makes the model profitable for you, and the master brief is usually signed by your account director or partner operations lead.

What the framework commits you to, point by point

1. White-label ordering with AMD pass-through

One AMD master invoice is raised to you, with supplier branding removed from all cartons, packing slips and shipping labels. Settlement is in AMD through AmeriBank, Ardshinbank, Converse Bank or Acba Bank, with ArCa and Idram handling smaller deposits. Each end-client gets its own pass-through invoice from you.

2. Separate guidelines, applied in parallel

Every end-client has a guideline binder covering the logo lock-up, Pantone references, typography, do-print and do-not-print lists, packing rules and that client's compliance demands, refreshed whenever the brand changes. A mock-up for each new SKU comes back within 2 to 3 working days of brief acceptance.

3. The EAEU corridor for regional work

When an end-client sits in Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus or Kyrgyzstan, the shipment moves through the EAEU customs corridor alongside the Armenian leg. We coordinate with HayPost, SPS Express, DHL Armenia and FedEx Armenia, and clearance runs on the standard regime of the destination country. Corridor freight is shown as its own cost line on the pass-through invoice.

4. Confidentiality handling

An NDA is signed before work starts, our production and shipping staff are briefed on the white-label requirement, the supplier brand comes off packaging and labels, and billing is built as AMD pass-through. The arrangement is reviewed annually and whenever your contract terms change.

5. One production base for mixed products

Organic cotton and recycled-polyester apparel, non-tinning food-grade steel drinkware, aluminium and printed-metal notebooks, recycled bags and recycled-paper notebooks are produced in one base across Yerevan industrial zones and Vanadzor. Every end-client brief keeps its own schedule inside that single relationship.

6. Qualification you can put in a checklist

Multi-client guideline handling, AMD pass-through billing capability, a working EAEU shipping system, a certification file covering FSC, GOTS, GRS, OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and non-tinning food-grade steel, and willingness to sign confidentiality terms. Expect 2 to 4 weeks for selection, and start it before you need it.

7. Implementation and the quality ledger

Production release, quality control and delivery run per end-client, with defect, replacement and size-exchange percentages recorded against that client's code. The 10 to 15% buffer held for each client is what accepted claims draw on, without a supplementary purchase order.

8. Twelve-month terms

The framework agreement runs 12 months with a cumulative annual volume, AMD payment terms at 50/50, confidentiality conditions and agreed quality standards. The master invoice settles 50% at the production lock and 50% at delivery, which keeps cash aligned with the work actually done.

What the client actually receives, item by item

Goods packed under the client's own brand

Cartons arrive with no supplier mark on the product, the wrap, the packing slip or the shipping label. Each end-client's units are packed and counted separately even when several clients share one delivery address, and the packing list repeats the same structure in writing. That way the allocation stays uncontested when your team opens the boxes and the client's own staff open them later.

The compliance file in the same carton

The file covering FSC, GOTS, GRS, OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and non-tinning food-grade steel in 18/8 or 18/10 travels with that client's goods rather than in a separate courier envelope, and it is archived against the pass-through invoice it belongs to. Sending it with the product means the client's procurement team has it on the day the boxes arrive, which is usually the moment they ask for it.

Documentation the client's finance team expects

Each delivery carries a packing list, a per-client delivery note and the pass-through invoice lines behind it, all in AMD with VAT at 20% applied consistently. VAT-exclusive and VAT-inclusive figures appear separately in the quotation so the approval matches the invoice. Nothing in the paperwork names the supplier, and nothing requires your client to call anyone but you.

What your team keeps on its side

A master calendar with the four gates marked, one guideline binder per end-client, a per-client ledger of defect and exchange percentages, and a record of the buffer consumed by each client. That set is what makes the second year faster than the first, because the next quotation is built from last year's real numbers instead of from an assumption.

Regional clients and the extra paperwork

An end-client outside Armenia adds a customs leg and a document set, not a different production process. The shipment runs through the EAEU corridor with HayPost, SPS Express, DHL Armenia or FedEx Armenia, cleared under the standard regime of the destination country, and the freight line appears on the pass-through invoice so the client can see the real cost of shipping rather than a blended one. Transit time is quoted per destination rather than assumed from the domestic leg, and it is worth building into any regional delivery promise you make to the client.

Documents, cross-border shipping and the alternatives

The compliance file your client will ask for

Each end-client receives a file covering FSC, GOTS, GRS, OEKO-TEX Standard 100 and non-tinning food-grade steel in 18/8 or 18/10 where items touch food. It travels with the goods to that client's receiving point and is archived against the pass-through invoice, so a procurement audit months later has a document attached to the right invoice. Our brand does not appear on the cover page.

Two sites, one queue, different rules

Yerevan industrial zones handle short runs and tight dates, where moving a queue position costs a day. Vanadzor carries the longer laser and embroidery work, where a week of queue position is cheaper than a week of express handling. Splitting a programme across the two sites is normal; promising a deadline against the wrong queue is what causes the emergency shipment.

What the other three routes give up

Bringing production in-house buys volume and full compliance control at the cost of a fixed minimum and a certification pack you maintain. Going direct to a white-label factory lowers unit price but usually means your client's guideline is not applied. Wholesale distributors offer a broad catalogue and simple administration with no white-label handling and no pass-through billing. Each route trades something different, so price them against the rework you expect to absorb.

The honest limit of the model

A single end-client brief above 5,000 pieces is where this stops being the right structure, because direct factory discounts apply at that scale. Between 1,500 and 24,000 pieces a year, across 3 to 8 clients, the framework is the cheaper operating choice: you give up some unit value and buy guideline application, AMD pass-through billing, delivery reliability and confidentiality that holds.