Silk Pillowcases: What to Confirm Before Ordering
Pillowcase lists are settled in writing before ordering, at category level. This article sets out the questions to settle, the grouping for the list, and the inquiry shape for pillowcase orders.
Category level, settled in writing
Silk pillowcases are listed in the company's Alibaba shop at category level, and this site covers them at category level only. That framing shapes the whole inquiry: the buyer names the items, the quantities, and the requirements in the buyer's own words, and asks what applies to each item. No page on this site lists individual pillowcase designs, and no page presents one pillowcase as representative of the family.
Buyers sometimes arrive with search words that carry expectations the category framing does not support. Set those expectations aside when writing the inquiry, and write only what the list itself carries: the items, the quantities, the requirements, and anything to settle in writing. The inquiry is the place where the list becomes specific.
Group the list before writing the questions
Split the list into groups before writing any question: pillowcases in one group, other families in their own groups, with the quantities beside each item. A list with no grouping makes the questions harder to place, because a question that belongs to a pillowcase item can sit beside a scarf item by mistake. Groups first, items inside groups, questions beside the items they belong to.
Inside the pillowcase group, split again where sizes or shapes differ, with the requirements named for each sub-group. A mixed pillowcase list with no sub-grouping leaves the size and shape questions open for every item on it, because a requirement for one sub-group reads as if it covered the whole group.
Size and shape questions
Size and shape words appear often in buyer searches for pillowcases, and buyers often arrive with a size or a shape in mind. This site publishes no size or shape claim for any item. Name the size and shape requirements in the inquiry, beside the items they belong to, and ask what applies to each item. The buyer's own terms for size belong in the message, written out in full.
When the size or shape is still open, name the use setting first and leave the size and shape questions open beside the group they belong to. The questions belong in the inquiry, listed beside the items they belong to, not assumed from the search words that led to the page.
Colour questions
Colour words appear in buyer searches for pillowcases, and buyers often arrive with a colour in mind. This site publishes no colour claim for any item. Name the colour requirements in the inquiry, beside the items they belong to, and ask what applies to each item. Colour requirements named once for the whole list leave the question open for groups the requirements do not cover.
When a list spans pillowcases and other families, name the colour requirements separately for each family group. A colour requirement for a pillowcase group and a colour requirement for a scarf group are different questions, and they belong beside different items.
Quantities and the destination market
Put the quantity beside each item, in the buyer's own terms, and name the destination market for the list as a whole. No page on this site states a minimum order figure, and no page states a lead-time figure. Put quantity and timing questions in the inquiry, beside the items they belong to, and keep them with the list.
When a list spans several destination markets, split the list by market before sending, with the quantities beside each item in each split list. A single list spanning markets with no split leaves the market question open for every item on it.
Questions for the inquiry, grouped
Write the questions as a grouped list inside the inquiry: size and shape questions in one group, colour questions in another, and anything else to settle in writing in a third. Each question sits beside the items it belongs to, and each group of questions sits beside the group of items it belongs to.
- The groups in the list, with the items in each group
- Size and shape requirements, beside the items they belong to
- Colour requirements, beside the items they belong to
- Quantities beside each item, and the destination market for the list
- Anything to settle in writing, beside the items it belongs to
The record to keep
Keep the item list as sent beside the record for the inquiry, with the questions attached to the items they belong to. If you receive a confirmation, keep it with the quote, beside the list it belongs to. When the list changes after the inquiry, send the changed list as a whole, with the questions carried beside the items they belong to, so the record stays in one place.
The pillowcase guide page sets out the same questions in guide form for buyers whose choice is still open. The pillowcase family page gives the same inquiry shape for a settled list.
When the list spans families
A pillowcase list that spans families needs the family split written before any question is placed, because a size question for a pillowcase group and a size question for a scarf group are different questions, and a colour question for one family group is not a colour question for another. Write the pillowcase group first, with its size, shape and colour questions beside its items, then each further family group with its own questions beside its own items. A single set of questions written once for the whole list leaves the family question open for every item on it.
The same split applies when the list spans destination markets. Split the list by market before sending, with the quantities beside each item in each split list, and carry the size, shape and colour questions into each split list beside the items they belong to. A market split written after the questions are placed forces the questions to be rewritten; a market split written first lets the questions sit beside their items from the start.
Read the finished message once for markets alone before sending, and check that no split list is missing its questions. A split list that carries the items but not the questions reads as a bare list, and the questions left in the unsplit message belong to items that no longer sit beside them. Markets first, questions second, and every split list complete on its own.
Related pages
Send an inquiry
Send your item list and quantities for a quote. Include size, shape and colour requirements beside the items they belong to.