# The sample request process with wholesale buyers > A sample request process for apparel wholesalers: what to capture from the buyer, the phases, owners and due dates, loans, and following up to an order. Page: https://samplyn.com/guides/sample-request-process Updated: 2026-11-12 By the founder. Published 2026-11-12, updated 2026-11-12. A buyer asks for samples in a meeting, in an email, or by circling styles on a line sheet. What happens next decides whether the right garment reaches the right desk before the buyer's meeting, and whether anyone remembers to ask for the order afterwards. A written process turns that from memory into routine. ## Capture the request completely, once Most sample problems start with a request that was half written down. Before anything is made or pulled from the rack, record: - The account, the buyer and the ship-to address. - Each style, color and size, and how many of each. - What the sample is for: a line review, a fit check, a photo shoot, or a meeting with the buyer's own team. - The date the buyer needs it in hand, not the date you hope to ship it. - Whether it is a loan to come back, or the buyer's to keep. ## Decide where each sample comes from Some styles are on the rack today; others need a new sample from the factory, and some start from a design or a mood board rather than an existing style. Split the request by source, because a rack pull takes a day and a factory sample can take weeks. Tell the buyer which is which when you confirm. ## Move it through phases everyone can read Give each request a phase and an owner. A sequence that works: draft, submitted, approved, in the factory, in production, shipped, received, then evaluated. Each phase has one person who moves it on, and a due date that works back from the buyer's date. Mark urgency honestly. If every request is a rush, none is; keep rush for the meeting that cannot move. ## Treat loans as loans Samples sent to a buyer are inventory you will want back, or will want to count when you do not get it. Send each loan with a statement of what went out and when it is due back, then follow up. - Keep, return or more time: give the buyer three easy answers. - Remind before the due date, not after it. - When a buyer asks for another color or size, record it as a new request, not a note. ## Follow up to the order A sample is a question to the buyer. After the meeting, record what the buyer said about each style: yes, no, or changes. The styles that passed go on the buyer's list for the order; the ones with changes go back to development with the notes attached. Over a season, the record shows which samples turned into orders and which never did. That is the cheapest sample budget review you will ever run. ## Where Samplyn fits Samplyn gives every sample request a record that buyers can start and your team can run, from the first ask to the garment coming back. - Buyers add styles from their lists to a sample cart and check out into a sample request. - Twelve phases from draft to passed or failed, with priorities, owners and printable sample-submit forms. - Custody by barcode scan, and buyer loans with keep, return, more time or send me another, with statements and reminders. See how Samplyn runs samples: https://samplyn.com/platform/samples --- Book a demo: https://samplyn.com/demo. Every page: https://samplyn.com/llms.txt.