Wholesale Reusable Bags in New York City, NY

Only reusable bags (woven/non-woven PP, PET, cotton, jute, canvas at ≥80 GSM with handles) and paper carryout bags (with the mandatory 5¢ NYC fee) are legal at NYC retail checkout. All plastic carryout bags — including thicker 'reusable' plastic film — are banned by the NY Bag Waste Reduction Act (ECL § 27-2803). Narrow exemptions exist for prescription pharmacy bags, produce/bulk bags without handles, meat/fish wrappers, garment bags, and restaurant takeout.

Under 6 NYCRR § 351-1.2(n), a reusable bag must have handles, be specifically designed and manufactured for multiple reuse, and be either (a) machine-washable cloth or fabric, or (b) woven or non-woven polypropylene, polyester, cotton, jute, or canvas with a minimum fabric weight of 80 grams per square meter. An August 20, 2020 NY Supreme Court decision invalidated the 'thick non-film plastic' exemption that had appeared in the draft regulations, so thickness alone does not qualify a bag as reusable in NY.

Yes. Our standard woven PP runs 100 GSM, non-woven PP runs 90–120 GSM, and canvas cotton runs 10–14 oz — all above the 80 GSM floor, all with stitched handles, all explicitly designed for multiple reuse. We supply the NY-required material certs (fabric weight, lead/cadmium-free confirmation) on request for retailers who want documentation on file for DEC inspections.

Most SoHo, Flatiron, and Upper East Side boutiques we supply order either a heavy 12oz canvas tote for branded gifting or a Stitched Box Tote in a brand-matched Pantone for checkout. Typical first orders run 500–2,000 units with 1–2 color screen prints; repeat orders for established retailers move to 3,000–5,000-unit runs with embroidered logos. Fashion-week gift-bag runs can spike a single order to 10,000–20,000 units.

Yes, but timing matters. For February shows we recommend placing custom orders by early November; for September shows, by early June. Ocean freight from Karachi to the Port of NY/NJ runs 28–35 days, plus 3–5 days for customs and trucking into Manhattan. Air freight is 10–14 days door-to-door if the timeline slips, though per-unit cost jumps roughly 3–4×.

Yes — grocery and bodega resale is one of our highest-volume NYC segments. Stores typically buy reusable bags in 100 GSM woven PP at the $0.40–$0.90 wholesale range and resell at $1.00–$2.50. The math works because a bag that meets the state spec and replaces banned plastic carryouts pays for itself in margin on resale and avoids the 5¢-per-bag friction on paper.

We clear customs at the Port of NY/NJ (Elizabeth or Newark) and truck from the terminal into Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Queens. For Manhattan specifically, we schedule deliveries off-peak (before 10 AM or after 4 PM) to work around the Midtown commercial-vehicle restrictions. Most NYC deliveries land the day after customs clears.

For Black Friday in-hand dates, place orders by the last week of August for ocean. For a December 1 arrival, the practical cutoff is mid-September for ocean or early November for air. The January and February calendar is the quiet stretch — lead times drop, pricing softens, and it's the right window to reset samples and tool up for spring.