Here’s a great question from the comment section this morning:

Q: How do immediates work? How long does it take to get them, do all lines do immediates?

A: This is a good question, and one I get a lot, and for a good reason. It seems that a lot of people who are new to this business are interested in immediates, and it’s not surprising, because investing thousands of dollars 4-6mos ahead of time is VERY daunting. I, personally, change my mind like clockwork so it’s tough. Right now with my brick and mortar retail space I’m doing everything on an immediate basis.

Some lines have immediates and some don’t. I’m lucky to work with a couple of great labels who not only have plenty of immediates but also are VERY flexible about reordering. But what I’m hearing is that with the economy changing lines are starting to cut only what is ordered, making immediates a bit more scarce (funny story though…the west coast sales rep for a certain brand told me this, and then the east coast sales rep for the exact same line emailed me telling me there were TONS of immediates…interesting!) So you really need to get to know the line before you risk waiting for immediates. Feel them out a bit; of course ask the sales rep, but also see for yourself. Try and get on the mailing list for the showroom (if they have one) because that’s one of the quickest ways to find out whats available. Also, visit their showrooms and visit them during trade shows; usually lines will show their immediates along with the upcoming season, and it’s a good way to gage how much they tend to keep available.

The way immediates tend to work is pretty simple. The merchandise for a season will become available, and will ship out to the stores that already placed orders first. Then whatever is left over after that will become available. The amount of time it takes just depends on how long it takes them to ship out all the orders placed. Generally each collection will have a 15 day window (which is why some linesheets will say a delivery is open 3/15 – 4/01) or longer. Once they become available and you place the order, it should ship out to you right away. How quickly you receive it after that just depends on where you live. It’s great being 90 miles away from LA because I can order something and get it in stock the next day.

So if you know you’re going to want immediates, email your sales rep around the time the delivery is set to ship. Ask them to email you with what’s available when it becomes available. Hope that helps! And as always, feel free to email me with questions or leave them in the comments section!