How to Create a Line Sheet
Build a line sheet buyers can order from, set terms they'll respect, and know what happens next when the orders come in.
Joe Lauder·Founder, Kōbō·Updated Nov 2, 2026A line sheet is the document a wholesale buyer orders from: one entry per style with an image, style number, wholesale price, retail price, sizes, colours, fabric and minimums, plus a cover page and a terms page. Get the terms right before you send it, because they decide everything after the order: the confirmation, the deposit invoice, production and the delivery paperwork.
Build a line sheet now, free interactive template
Fill in styles, colourways, size runs, wholesale price and MSRP, then print it or export CSV. Every field is explained as you go, so you don't ship a sheet with a missing MOQ or a blank delivery window. No signup, nothing to install.
Open the line sheet templateEssential Line Sheet Components
Every style needs these, in the same order on every entry:
| Element | What to put |
|---|---|
| Product image | A flat or ghost-mannequin shot, with the same background and crop on every style. |
| Style number | Your internal code. It's what the buyer writes on the order. |
| Product name | The same name you use on the order and invoice. |
| Wholesale price | Per unit, excluding taxes. |
| MSRP / RRP | On every line, so the buyer can see their margin. |
| Size range | With a size chart reference. |
| Colours | Swatches or names, priced separately if they differ. |
| Fabric | Composition with percentages. |
| MOQ | Per style, per colour or per order, stated plainly. |
Six to twelve styles a page is plenty. Buyers scan, and they need white space to compare.
What Buyers Actually Look For
A buyer with your sheet open is building an order they'll have to defend to a merchandising manager, against an open-to-buy budget that's already spoken for. Everything they look for follows from that.
Margin first. They take your RRP, subtract your wholesale price and see whether the gap clears their threshold. Print only the wholesale price and they'll guess an RRP or skip the style. If you're still setting those numbers, see the wholesale and retail pricing guide and the free wholesale price calculator.
Then whether they can afford to try you. A buyer taking a risk on a new brand wants a small opening order across a few price points. If your minimums force them into six colourways of one style, you've priced yourself out of the trial.
Then the calendar. Buyers plan floor sets months out, so a window that lands after their season starts is a no. A single ship date, or none, reads as a brand that isn't sure it can deliver.
And they're comparing. Your sheet sits next to eight other brands and gets a couple of minutes, so consistency beats artistry: same crop, same background, same field order on every entry.
Digital vs. PDF Line Sheets
PDF is still the standard for first outreach, email and showroom appointments: it opens anywhere, prints the same everywhere and needs no login. B2B platforms such as JOOR and NuORDER add live stock, online ordering and reorders. Most brands use both: a PDF to open the account, the platform once it's reordering.
Header and Terms Pages
Open with a cover page and close with a terms page.
Cover page
Terms page
Every term you leave off gets filled in by the buyer's assumption, and it won't be the version that favours you.
| Term | What to state |
|---|---|
| Minimum order | Total and per style, in units or value. State both: they aren't the same constraint. |
| Payment terms | Net 30, net 60, deposit plus balance, or prepaid for first orders. Say what applies to new accounts. |
| Shipping terms | Who pays freight and duty (EXW, DAP, DDP). Buyers price landed cost, so a missing term gets read as the worst case. |
| Delivery window | A start and end ship date per delivery, not a single date. |
| Cancellation date | When the buyer can cancel unshipped goods. Leave it out and it's whenever they decide. |
| Reorder policy | Whether reorders are open, the lead time and any lower minimum. |
| Returns | Faulty goods only is the norm. Spell it out so nobody assumes sale or return. |
| Territory | Any exclusivity, or the fact that there isn't any. |
Keep it to one page. It's what you point at when a delivery slips or a buyer asks for sale or return in month three. If a store pushes for bespoke terms, the guide to negotiating retailer agreements covers where to hold the line.
What Happens After the Orders Come In
The line sheet gets the order. In your first wholesale season, most of what follows will be new:
- Confirm each order. An order confirmation repeating the styles, sizes, quantities, prices, delivery window and terms. It's what both sides go back to in a dispute.
- Bill the deposit. If your terms take one, the deposit invoice goes out with the confirmation. See deposit and pro forma invoices.
- Place production. Add up the confirmed orders by style, colour and size, and raise purchase orders with your suppliers in time for the delivery window.
- Pack and label. Each delivery needs a packing list and labelled cartons, and big stores send their own rules. See packing lists and shipping marks.
- Ship across borders with a commercial invoice. It needs the HS code, origin and fibre on every line. See the commercial invoice for clothing and the free HS code lookup.
- Invoice the balance. The order total minus the deposit, on your terms.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Outdated information: A wrong price or a discontinued style costs more trust than a late sheet. Update it every season
Too much lifestyle: Save the mood for the lookbook. Line sheets sell products
No colour caveat: Say colours may vary from screen to production, and offer swatches to key accounts
No way to order: Attach an order form or link to your B2B portal
Line Sheet vs. Lookbook vs. Catalog
| Document | Audience | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Line Sheet | Retail buyers (B2B) | Sales tool with wholesale pricing and ordering info |
| Lookbook | Press, buyers, influencers | Brand storytelling with lifestyle imagery, no prices |
| Catalog | End consumers (B2C) | Retail shopping guide with consumer prices |
Most brands send buyers both: the lookbook creates the interest, and the line sheet turns it into an order.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a line sheet?
The wholesale document a fashion brand sends to retail buyers: every style in the collection with its image, style number, wholesale price, RRP, sizes, colours, fabric, minimums and delivery dates, so the buyer can place an order.
What should a line sheet include?
For each style: image, style number, name, wholesale price, RRP, size range, colours, fabric and minimum order. Around them, a cover page with your contacts and season, and a terms page with minimums, payment and shipping terms, delivery windows, cancellation date, reorders and returns.
Should a line sheet state the payment terms?
Yes, on the terms page: whether you take a deposit and how much, when the balance is due, and whether first orders are treated differently. Unstated terms get settled on the buyer's assumptions.
Final Thoughts
Start from the free line sheet template and fill it in style by style. If the real bottleneck is that your prices, size runs and colourways live in five spreadsheets, that's a product data problem rather than a document problem, and it's what fashion PLM software is for. Kōbō's pricing is published per user, with free supplier seats.
Joe's the founder of Kōbō Labs. Before this, he founded Satta, a fashion brand he scaled to sell internationally at Mr Porter, SSENSE, and Beams Japan. A decade of running his own brand (design, suppliers, production, the lot) is what Kōbō is built on.
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Make the line sheet from your styles.
Kōbō builds line sheets from the styles you already have, then carries the same data onto orders, invoices and shipping paperwork.
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