Pet Carriers & Travel for Private Label & Wholesale

Specifying pet carriers and travel products

Carriers are the most regulated-feeling category in a pet range without actually carrying much regulation. What they do carry is a strong expectation set by airlines, and a buyer who believes a bag is cabin-approved and finds out at the gate that it is not will not buy from you again.

Be precise in your copy. A carrier has internal dimensions and a soft-sided silhouette; whether a given airline accepts it is that airline decision, and it changes. Describing a bag as cabin-sized with the dimensions stated is accurate; describing it as airline approved generally is not.

Carrier types and what each one sells to

For anything with wheels or a frame, the failure mode is mechanical, so the sample needs a cycle test, not just a look.

What belongs in the specification

• Internal dimensions and the maximum pet weight. External dimensions sell the bag; internal dimensions decide whether the cat fits.
• Ventilation area as a proportion of the surface. Mesh on one panel is not ventilation. State how many sides.
• The internal safety tether and its anchor. A clip stitched to a lining is not an anchor. It needs to be attached to a structural seam.
• Base board and how it is secured. A base that shifts in transit is the most common complaint on soft carriers.
• Zip gauge and whether zips lock. A cat that can open a zip from the inside will. Specify a lockable slider.
• Frame and wheel specification, where fitted. Steel gauge, weld points, wheel bearing type and the brake mechanism.

Testing your retailer may ask about

Carriers combine textiles, hardware and sometimes a frame, so the testing splits across all three. We arrange these per order and supply the report.

• Loaded carry test at the stated maximum pet weight, with the failure point named.
• Zip and handle cycle testing.
• REACH SVHC and azo dye screening on fabrics and mesh.
• Frame and weld inspection on trolleys, playpens and strollers.
• For strollers, brake function and stability on a slope, which is the figure a cautious retailer will ask for.

What goes wrong on a first order

• Writing airline approved in the listing. Say cabin-sized, give the dimensions and name the airlines you have checked.
• Sampling empty. Load the sample to the stated maximum weight and carry it for an hour before approving.
• Skipping the tether because it is not visible in photographs. It is the part a vet will comment on.
• Ordering strollers before checking the volumetric freight. They are the single bulkiest item in this range.
• Assuming the mesh colour matches the fabric. Mesh and Oxford take dye differently and almost never match without a lab dip.

Send us the specification and we will come back with factory options, the MOQ that actually applies and a sample route. Request a quotation or read the terms of supply first.