Most wholesale trolley bag questions come back to one fork: ABS or polycarbonate. The two shell materials sit at different price points and behave differently once a case has been dropped on an airport floor, an unplanned mix usually ends up with one tier that sells and one that sits. This guide works through the ordering side: how the materials differ as a purchase, how the current range splits by tier, and how minimums, specifications and reorders should be written down before sampling.
The two shell materials as a purchasing decision
ABS is the economy tier of hardshell luggage. It moulds at a lower cost, which is why it anchors entry-level programs, and its trade-off is impact behavior: an ABS shell is more rigid and can crack under a sharp knock where a more elastic shell would flex and recover. The Lightweight ABS Cabin Trolley 20" carries the ABS flag at roughly 38 liters, with four wheels and a telescopic handle in white, black and navy, at 300 pieces and a 30-35 day lead time, and the Cartoon Dopamine Spinner Luggage 20" runs the same construction into the kids segment with a bright cartoon colorway.
Polycarbonate is the mid and premium tier. The material is lighter for the same wall section and noticeably more elastic, so it absorbs impact by flexing and returning to shape rather than resisting until it cracks. In this range PC runs from the Polycarbonate Cabin Luggage 22" with a TSA lock in charcoal, black and navy, through the Solid Color Spinner Luggage 24" in black, navy and red and the Expandable Checked Luggage 26" with an expandable zipper panel, to the Hardshell Trolley Case 28" PC Spinner at roughly 95 liters with a textured shell, four double spinner wheels and matte black, navy and silver colorways. The Business Hardshell Trolley 26" adds brushed metal corners in charcoal and black for corporate channels. All run at 300 pieces per style with a 30-35 day lead time.
For a wholesale buyer the practical difference is not the resin name but the price-per-tier it supports: ABS lets a program open at a retail price PC cannot reach without cutting wall thickness or hardware, and PC holds a mid-tier price without the crack-and-replace service cost rigid economy shells can accumulate. Programs spanning both usually assign ABS to the volume driver and PC to the margin driver.
How the tiers map onto an order sheet
A workable three-row structure for the current range, letting each tier answer a different commercial question:
| Row | Style | Shell | Commercial role | MOQ / lead time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Volume driver | Lightweight ABS Cabin Trolley 20" | ABS | Entry price point, highest units | 300 pcs, 30-35 days |
| Margin driver | Hardshell Trolley Case 28" PC Spinner | PC | Checked size, premium finish | 300 pcs, 30-35 days |
| Premium anchor | Aluminum Frame Checked Luggage Set | Aluminum frame + ABS shell | Top price point, two-piece set | 200 sets, 35-40 days |
The third row changes the ordering rules. The Aluminum Frame Checked Luggage Set is a two-piece medium and large configuration with a rigid aluminum frame, reinforced metal corners and an integrated frame lock, in silver, gunmetal or black, at 200 sets and a 35-40 day lead time — so its calendar differs from the hardshell rows and its economics are quoted per set.
Alongside the hard tiers, the Softside Spinner Luggage 24" uses a polyester fabric shell with four double spinner wheels in navy, black and grey, at the same 300-piece minimum and 30-35 day lead time, covering the softer price step without a second supplier relationship.
Specifications to freeze before sampling
Hardgoods carry more factory-set variables than a first-time buyer expects, and each moves either the price or the approval sample. Five belong in the request before a sample is quoted:
- Shell material and wall section. Name ABS or PC per style — the resins do not substitute silently, and a switch between sample and production changes both weight and impact behavior.
- Colorway set. Each style ships with a fixed standard set — white, black and navy on the ABS cabin case; black, navy and red on the 24-inch PC spinner; matte black, navy and silver on the 28-inch case. Ask which colorways run on existing tooling and which need a new shell color program, because that changes both quotation and schedule.
- Wheels, handle and lock specification. The range runs four spinner wheels on the PC styles, four double spinner wheels on the 28-inch and softside cases, a TSA lock on the 22-inch cabin case and an integrated frame lock on the aluminum set. Wheel, handle and lock grades are confirmed per line before sampling so the approved sample matches the target price.
- Hardware finish. The Business Hardshell Trolley 26" shows the hardware option: brushed metal corners over a PC shell in charcoal and black. Corner protection, zipper pulls and handle finish should be named per style.
- Packing. The 24-inch PC spinner packs in an individual carton as standard; confirm per style whether branded packaging or hang tags are needed, because packing changes carton counts at loading.
Lining, pocket layout and hardware color are the remaining OEM variables the product pages list as adjustable, with specific options and any related tooling or minimums confirmed before sampling. None are price-neutral, so they belong on the request.
Minimums, the mixed container and the calendar
Minimums here are consistent enough to plan around: 300 pieces per hardshell or softside style, 200 sets for the aluminum frame set, lead times of 30-35 days on the case lines and 35-40 days on the aluminum set, counted after sample approval and order confirmation. A first program of three styles commits 900 cases across two material tiers, which is why tier assignment matters before the purchase order is signed.
Mixed loading works best when the rows share what they can: keep packing specification, carton marking and inspection standard identical across the order, and vary only shell material, size and colorway. Finished-product inspection is built into the workflow before packing, so one inspection standard covers a mixed order in a way three separately negotiated orders cannot.
On the calendar, a repeat order needs the full pipeline: 30-35 days of production plus an assumed 35 days of ocean transit and port handling puts goods received roughly 65-70 days after approval (30 + 35 = 65; 35 + 35 = 70). The transit leg has to be replaced with the figure for the actual route. The aluminum set's 35-40 day production window shifts its own pipeline a further five days, which matters when set and cases are reordered on the same season.
Reorders: what carries over and what gets re-quoted
A reorder is cheaper and faster only if the records from the first run are complete. What carries over: the approved sample, the frozen specification sheet, the colorway set and the packing standard. What gets re-quoted: unit prices against the current quantity, the schedule slot, and any seasonal colorway or hardware change. The per-style minimum applies again — 300 pieces per case style, 200 sets for the aluminum configuration — and lead time is confirmed at booking. The common failure is a reorder that quietly changes a variable, such as a different zipper pull or a color run on different tooling, without those changes being flagged against the approved sample. Writing the reorder as an amendment to the original specification sheet, with unchanged items marked as unchanged, keeps the second run matched to the first.
FAQ
Can ABS and PC styles ship in one container under one minimum?
Both tiers run at 300 pieces per style, so a mixed program of one ABS and two PC styles commits 900 cases on one purchase order. Whether minimums can be aggregated across styles, and how mixed-container pricing is structured, is a quotation question to confirm with the export team.
Which colorways can run without new tooling?
Each style lists its standard colorway set on the product page. For a color outside that set, the questions are whether it runs on existing tooling and what minimum or tooling cost applies — both confirmed before sampling.
Next step
Buyers can compare the ABS and PC tiers across the travel luggage range, then send one request covering target sizes, quantities per style and destination port, so per-line minimums, unit price bands and a sampling schedule come back on one written plan.
Wellmax Luggage is an OEM/ODM luggage and bag manufacturer founded in 2013 in Fujian, China, with a 12,000 m² facility, about 320 people, a monthly output of roughly 150,000 pieces and buyers in more than 40 countries. Its quality management system is certified to ISO 9001:2015 and the facility is audited under the BSCI framework; both apply at company and factory level rather than as a product-specific claim.