Most price guides for activewear quote a range somebody remembers. This one counts. On 2 October 2026 we read every priced style in our own live catalogue and grouped them by product type, fabric blend and construction. The figures below are list prices for ready styles, in US dollars per piece; the catalogue's pro-forma invoices quote them FOB Xiamen. They are not quotes for custom development, and the dates matter: prices move as styles are added and repriced.
The short answer
- In our live catalogue on 2 October 2026, the median list price of a ready activewear style was $9.20 per piece across all priced styles (US dollars, FOB Xiamen).
- Full-length leggings sat at a median of $9.10, sports bras $7.80, cut-and-sew yoga sets $15.30, seamless yoga sets $12.90, bikini sets $7.10 and tennis skirts $9.35.
- Stock styles start from 100 pieces with colours and sizes mixed; custom development is quoted per brief from 300–500 pieces per style.
What was measured
The source is SEAMDANCE's live catalogue of ready styles — the same catalogue a buyer opens from this site. We read its public product feed on 2 October 2026 and kept every style that carries a price. Each style is listed with one unit price in US dollars; the trade term on the catalogue's pro-forma invoice is FOB Xiamen, meaning the price covers the goods loaded on board at the port of Xiamen [1].
We grouped styles by the catalogue's own product types and report the median and the middle half of prices (the 25th to 75th percentile). Medians and quartiles were chosen on purpose: a handful of styles carry prices that are plainly mis-keyed — a few are listed above $100 — and an average would let them pull the picture. Product types with fewer than 20 styles are left out of the tables.
What these numbers are not: a quotation for your design, a price for custom fabric or colour, or a landed cost. Custom development is priced per brief, and freight beyond Xiamen, import duty and taxes come on top — the landed-cost calculator on this site adds them for your market.
List prices by product type
Sets are the clearest pattern: a cut-and-sew yoga set (top and bottom) sits at a median of $15.30, roughly twice a single piece and a little under a sports bra ($7.80) and full-length leggings ($9.10) bought separately. Shorter or lighter pieces sit lower — bike shorts at $7.60, crop tops at $7.30 — and men's basics cluster between about $6 and $12, with joggers at the top of that band.
| Product type | Middle half (USD per piece) | Median |
|---|---|---|
| Cut-and-sew yoga set | $13.70–16.70 | $15.30 |
| Seamless yoga set | $11.30–14.80 | $12.90 |
| Tennis skirt set | $13.70–16.00 | $15.30 |
| Cut-and-sew jumpsuit | $11.60–13.70 | $12.30 |
| Seamless jumpsuit | $9.40–10.88 | $9.75 |
| Full-length leggings | $8.40–10.30 | $9.10 |
| Seamless leggings | $6.60–8.00 | $7.50 |
| Bike shorts | $7.00–8.40 | $7.60 |
| Sports bra | $7.30–8.30 | $7.80 |
| Tank top | $7.80–8.50 | $8.10 |
| Crop top | $6.85–8.40 | $7.30 |
| Long-sleeve top | $7.78–9.30 | $8.60 |
| Tennis skirt | $8.07–10.75 | $9.35 |
| Bikini set | $6.80–7.70 | $7.10 |
| One-piece swimsuit | $6.30–7.00 | $6.50 |
| Swim cover-up | $8.40–12.10 | $8.75 |
| Men's T-shirt or tank | $6.30–8.80 | $7.20 |
| Men's training shorts | $6.10–7.75 | $6.90 |
| Men's joggers | $8.65–11.57 | $10.15 |
Seamless is not automatically the dearer route
Buyers often assume seamless costs more because the machines do. In this catalogue the opposite holds for ready styles: seamless yoga sets have a median of $12.90 against $15.30 for cut-and-sew sets, seamless leggings $7.50 against $9.10 for full-length cut-and-sew leggings, and seamless jumpsuits $9.75 against $12.30.
The likely reason is what the ready seamless styles are. Many are knitted as a single tube with the shaping built into the stitch, so there are fewer panels to cut and fewer seams to sew; several cut-and-sew styles carry extra panels, pockets and bonded details. A custom seamless programme is a different calculation — the knitting programme, yarn and minimums are set per brief — so treat the gap as a property of these ready styles, not a rule for development.
Fabric blend: what moves the price and what does not
Nylon-spandex dominates the catalogue: 75% nylon with 25% spandex alone accounts for close to half of all priced styles. Polyester blends are concentrated in men's styles and a few swim pieces.
The blend moves price less than construction does. Leggings in nylon blends and in polyester blends share the same median of $8.50, though the polyester styles spread wider. Among men's styles, nylon blends sit higher ($8.80) than polyester ($7.10). Within nylon leggings, styles with 20–30% spandex run about a dollar above those with 12% or less (medians of $8.50–8.80 against $7.70) — consistent with spandex usually costing more than nylon, and higher-stretch knits using more of it.
| Fabric blend | Share of priced styles |
|---|---|
| 75% nylon, 25% spandex | 45% |
| 78% nylon, 22% spandex | 19% |
| 90% nylon, 10% spandex | 12% |
| 80% nylon, 20% spandex | 4% |
| 100% polyester | 3% |
| 85% polyester, 15% spandex | 2.2% |
| 90% polyester, 10% spandex | 1.6% |
Same product type, different fibre
Where a product type has enough styles in two fibre families, the comparison below shows how far apart they sit. Small counts are flagged rather than hidden.
| Product type | Nylon blends (median) | Polyester blends (median) | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leggings (all types) | $8.50 | $8.50 | Same median; polyester styles range wider, $5.50–11.20 |
| Men's styles | $8.80 | $7.10 | Cotton blends sit between, at $7.85 |
| Swimwear | $7.10 | $8.50 | Few polyester swim styles, so read the gap loosely |
| Yoga sets | $14.90 | $21.80 | Only nine polyester sets; not a basis for a rule |
What a list price leaves out
A list price is for the garment as shown in the catalogue. Your own fabric, colour development, custom trims, labels and packaging are confirmed on the quotation, and custom development is priced per brief from 300–500 pieces per style. Ready styles start from 100 pieces with colours and sizes mixed.
Under FOB Xiamen the seller's delivery ends once the goods are on board the vessel in Xiamen [1]. Ocean or air freight, insurance, import duty, VAT or sales tax and the customs broker's fee are added for your market; the duty rate depends on the HS code and the origin, not the supplier's price list. Our landed-cost calculator and the duty guides on this site put those numbers next to the FOB figure before you commit.
Using these numbers in a brief
Use the medians as a sanity check, not a target. A quote far below the lower quartile for its product type deserves questions about fabric weight, spandex content and construction before it deserves an order; a quote far above it should come with a reason you can see in the sample.
Compare like with like. A legging quote only means something next to its blend, fabric weight and construction, so put those in the brief and ask for them on the quotation. And date-stamp what you compare: these figures were read on 2 October 2026, and list prices move as styles are added and repriced.
Quick answers
How much does it cost to manufacture leggings in China in 2026?
In our live catalogue on 2 October 2026, full-length leggings had a median list price of $9.10 per piece (middle half $8.40–10.30), seamless leggings $7.50 and bike shorts $7.60, in US dollars, FOB Xiamen. These are list prices for ready styles from 100 pieces with colours and sizes mixed; custom development is quoted per brief.
How much does a sports bra cost from a manufacturer in China?
Across 241 ready sports bra styles in our catalogue on 2 October 2026, the median list price was $7.80 per piece and the middle half ran from $7.30 to $8.30, FOB Xiamen. Cup construction, band elastic and fabric weight move a custom quote away from that figure.
Is seamless activewear more expensive than cut-and-sew?
Not for the ready styles in our catalogue: seamless yoga sets had a median of $12.90 against $15.30 for cut-and-sew sets, and seamless leggings $7.50 against $9.10. Many ready seamless pieces have fewer panels and seams. A custom seamless programme is priced per brief, so the gap is not a rule for development.
Do nylon leggings cost more than polyester leggings?
In our catalogue the medians were the same, $8.50 for both nylon-blend and polyester-blend leggings, although the polyester styles spread wider. Spandex share mattered more: nylon leggings with 20–30% spandex ran about a dollar above those with 12% or less.
Why does a yoga set cost about twice a single piece?
A set is two garments cut, sewn, checked and packed as one. In our catalogue the median cut-and-sew yoga set was $15.30, a little under a sports bra ($7.80) plus full-length leggings ($9.10) bought separately.
What is not included in a catalogue list price?
Freight beyond Xiamen, insurance, import duty, VAT or sales tax and broker fees are separate under FOB. Custom fabric or colour, trims, labels and packaging are confirmed on the quotation, and custom development is priced per brief.
Where do these figures come from, and how current are they?
They were read from the public product feed of SEAMDANCE's live catalogue on 2 October 2026, covering every style with a listed price. We report medians and the middle half of prices so a few mis-keyed prices do not distort them. Prices change as styles are added and repriced, so check the date before you rely on them.
Sources
- International Chamber of Commerce — Incoterms® 2020 (what FOB, Free On Board, covers: the seller delivers the goods on board the vessel at the named port of shipment; checked 2 October 2026)
- SEAMDANCE — live catalogue of ready styles (source of every price on this page; public product feed read 2 October 2026; opens after you leave your email)
Garment price, samples, freight and duty set out in one place, so the FOB figure is never the only number you see.
Open the programSourcing styles for your line? The 2026 catalogue lists every ready-to-develop style — colorways, materials, quote list built in.