Prebook orders and ship windows
By account, with sizes and quantities.
Running Surf-Shop Wholesale Alongside DTC
Surf shops and your own website want the same stock at the same time of year. Here is how to keep both supplied.
Two Kinds of Customer, One Inventory
Independent surf shops are often where a surf brand builds credibility, and its website is often where the margin is. Both buy the same styles in the same season. Running them from one warehouse keeps stock in one place, as long as you decide in advance who gets what and when.
One inventory for both
Website orders and wholesale purchase orders ship from the same warehouse and the same stock.Parcels or pallets
Small shop orders can ship as parcels, and larger ones as palletized freight.Labels and paperwork
Purchase order routing, retail-compliant labels and ASNs for accounts that need them.Storage that follows the season
Storage is based on the space you use and pro-rated daily, so it grows into summer and shrinks after.Someone on site
Your account manager works on site at our Anaheim fulfillment center, in the same building as your inventory. When something is urgent you call and talk to a person who can walk to the shelf and fix it. Call anytime. We are here. We got you.
How OC3PL supports surf brands:
How Surf-Shop Wholesale Usually Runs
Most of the work happens before the season starts.
Shops typically place prebook orders ahead of their season, often from a line sheet or at a trade show, with ship windows that bring product in before demand rises. Reorders follow during the season for styles that sell. Your website sells the same styles, often starting when the shop orders ship.
| Stage | What happens | What the warehouse needs |
|---|---|---|
| Prebook | Shops order styles, sizes and quantities for the coming season | Order data with ship windows, received ahead of production arriving |
| Production arrives | Cartons land from the factory | An ASN, so receiving is fast and counts are checked |
| Shop orders ship | Prebooks go out inside their windows | Stock allocated to each order so the website cannot sell it |
| Season sells | Your website and the shops sell through | Accurate counts by size, synced to your store |
| Reorders | Shops reorder what is working | Fast picking and parcel shipping for small reorders |
| End of season | Leftover stock is reviewed | Aging reports so slow styles are cleared, not stored all year |
See how surf brands sell wholesale and surf apparel seasonality for the basics.
Allocation: Deciding Who Gets the Stock
The hardest part of running wholesale and DTC together is not shipping. It is deciding who gets the units when there are not enough for everyone. If you do not decide, the website sells first, because its orders arrive automatically.
- Hold stock for confirmed prebook orders until they ship.
- Decide in advance which sizes you protect for your website on a style that sells out.
- Set a rule for reorders: first come, first served, or held for your best accounts.
- Review allocation weekly in season, with stock by size in front of you.
Shipping to Shops
A small surf shop reorder is often a few cartons and ships like a large parcel. A big account or a chain may want palletized freight with labels, an ASN and a delivery appointment. OC3PL ships both from the same inventory.
Write down each account’s preferences once: cartons or pallets, labels, paperwork, how garments are packed and any receiving hours. Then the warehouse follows them every time, instead of asking every order. If a shop sells through a wholesale marketplace, see Faire fulfillment.
Keeping the Website Honest
When stock is allocated to a shop order, your website should stop showing it as available. Inventory syncs from the warehouse system back to your store as orders ship, which prevents overselling. Ask your 3PL how allocated stock is shown to your store before the season starts, and test it.
All client requests are acknowledged within two hours, and support is never outsourced.
Reorders in Season
Reorders are where surf-shop wholesale is won or lost. A shop that sells through a style in July wants more in days, not weeks. Keep reorder stock visible by size, ship small reorders as parcels, and make sure reorders do not take units your website needs for its best-selling sizes.
Talk to your best accounts before the season about how they reorder and how quickly they expect product. Then tell your warehouse, so the pace is planned.
Before the Season
Four things to send your warehouse.
Production dates
When each style lands, with an ASN.
Account preferences
Parcels or pallets, labels, paperwork, pack-out.
Allocation rules
What is held for shops and what is protected for your website.
Common Questions
Yes. Direct-to-consumer orders and wholesale purchase orders ship from the same warehouse and the same inventory at OC3PL.
Yes. Small wholesale orders can ship as parcels, and larger ones as palletized freight.
Allocate the stock to the shop order and make sure allocated units are not shown as available on your store. Agree how that works with your 3PL and test it before the season.
Yes. The retail and wholesale service covers purchase order routing, retail-compliant and GS1 labels, ASN processing, EDI integrations for major retailers and palletized shipping.
Storage is based on the space your inventory actually uses and is pro-rated daily, so it can shrink when the season ends.
Yes. Write each account’s preferences once, such as cartons or pallets, labels, paperwork and how garments are packed, and the warehouse follows them every order.
Small reorders ship as parcels, and orders imported by 12 PM PST ship the same day. Tell your account manager about large reorders ahead of time so labor is planned.
Related Reading
More detail, in OC3PL’s own guides.
High-Volume Apparel Fulfillment at OC3PL
The overview: what we handle, how a garment moves through the building, and every apparel guide.
Surf Brand Fulfillment | Apparel & Accessories 3PL
Fulfillment for surf brands from Orange County: boardshorts, tees, hats and accessories for DTC, surf shops and retail, through every season.
Surf Apparel Seasonality: Planning Inventory
How surf brands plan inventory and fulfillment around the season: spring buildup, summer peak, holiday gifting and what to do with leftover stock.
Faire Fulfillment: Wholesale That Ships Like Parcels
Faire orders are wholesale, but Faire does not support pallet, expedited or overnight shipping. What that means for a brand running Faire alongside retail purchase orders.
Wholesale and B2B Order Fulfillment
Shipping wholesale purchase orders and DTC from one warehouse: retail-compliant labeling, ASN processing, EDI, palletized shipping, and Faire orders syncing as B2B.
Retail & Wholesale Fulfillment Solutions
OC3PL offers B2B order fulfillment, retail compliance, palletized shipping, and integrations built for wholesale and multi-channel DTC operations.
Apparel Wholesale & Retail Fulfillment | DTC + B2B
Apparel wholesale and retail fulfillment from the same inventory as your DTC orders: PO routing, GS1 labels, ASNs, EDI and palletized freight.
Plan Your Season With Us
Send us your monthly order volume, SKU count and where you sell. You will get a line-item quote, and a person on site you can call.