Starting a Bed Linen Supply company mainly to support our airbnb and other Hosts?

Hi Everyone,

I have been running a couple Airbnb properties in Dallas and Austin, we have been doing this for the past 3-4 yrs. During this period we have gone through many bed linen brands to finally settle on the Costco 300 TC (thread count) Bedding sets for all our properties. these run from 49.99 to 39.99 depending on sale or not…

anyway… me and wife were talking and we thought maybe we can do a group buy with other hosts so we can save on bedding costs…

we just wanted to reach out and see if there is interest by other hosts to find ways to reduce cost of bed sheets. we know we go through a lot of them and it can easily add up.

please feel free to ask questions and give us your thoughts and inputs…

thank you for reading :slight_smile:

Is this the Kirkland or the Charisma branded sets, or something else?
Are you planning to buy through Costco’s Volume Sales department or directly from the manufacturer?
If Costco, did you already get pallet quantity and pricing information?

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ive actually been using the Charisma Brand ones from Costco.

i have some friends in sri lanka ( where i am orginally from), they have textile factories, so i sent them samples and had them match the quality and TC to the samples. I am pretty impressed with the samples so far i must say.

I have not figured out pricing yet, i need to figure out how much it would cost to import a container or something… maybe a pallet to start… depending on feedback…

but just a guesstimate… it could be like 30-50% savings…

I’ve tried the Costco sheets and like them but I don’t know what the 300TC are. They carry a variety and they don’t always have white in the various lines. What I have now are 540TC sateen for myself. I’m not using them in my Airbnb room. For the Airbnb room I think I’ve settled on the Peru Pima 415TC percale (first recommended by a forum member here).
Just today I noticed they have a lifetime guarantee against rips, tears or pulls. I noticed a tiny hole in one corner of a pillowcase. I wrote to Peru Pima, (via Amazon but they also have their own website) gave my order number and sent a pic of the hole and they answered within hours saying they are sending me a new pair of pillowcases. If that’s the kind of customer service I’m going to get and I like the sheets then I’m sticking with those. Costco never has a percale.

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Charisma-400-Thread-Count-6-piece-Sheet-Set **google this :wink:

this is what we were using, its 400TC actually, not 300 TC (as mentioned in the initial post)

i see what your saying. that is awesome having the lifetime protection against tears pulls and rips… but in my expierence my sheets have mainly been replaced because of stains ( we only use white sheets)

also the fact the sheets you mentioned at 89.99 roughly on amazon. the ones im talking about here are maybe $20-25 for a queen set ( flat, fitted and 2 pillow shams) 100% cotton and these are sateen weave. (strongest weave recommended for bedding)

Yes, they are more but if they have a lifetime warranty and just generally last they could be worth it. I don’t know if the sateen behaves differently with stains but I’ve been able to get all the stains out so far. I like the feel, the heft, the crispness, the generous enough sizing. I’ve been doing Airbnb 5 years and have hosted about 700 people and lots of one night stays. I do a lot of turnover and have tried several different brands of sheets including multiple items from Costco. Those less expensive sheets just aren’t working out for me though I don’t have to buy all that many. I use the “old” sheets on my bed and it’s not so painful buying new ones for the Airbnb.

Good luck to you. Lots of hosts here like Costco products. There are a number of hotel linen supply companies already so it’s a crowded field.

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appreciate the kind words :slight_smile:

it does seem like a crowded field but i have yet to find someone who just wants to cater to the Airbnb market and mainly with the goal to cut costs for the hosts. personally being one, if i can reduce my cost and help others also save, my goal is achieved

Will you be including items such as bedspreads, duvet covers, towels, pillow/mattress protectors, robes and so on?

Hi @TEXLANKAN - I use all white too (everything) but I’ve never lost any bedding to stains. The bedding currently in use in our two rentals was all bought in 2015. So i’m not sure that other hosts have the same problem as you and ‘go through a lot of them’?

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i guess it depends on how often the room is turned and so for. our 1 property in austin has gone thru 4 sets in about 1 year. its a 4 bedroom that we rent out by the room. so we have a pretty high daily turnover rate. but our other property in austin that has 2 bedroom and is rented as a whole unit. that generally has a minimum 3 day turnsover and so we havnt had to change those yet.

we could definitely look into those and grow into a full one stop shop maybe ( maybe a costco of sorts for airbnb hosts only (except free membership lol)

would packaging matter to hosts? my wife was saying there wouldnt be a need for fancy packing etc… i honestly dont want packaging, waste of resources and waste of time trying to get it opened.

That’s amazing. We have two apartments with full occupancy (okay, 99%) and yet we’ve not lost anything to stains for quite a few years. Guests stay on average for four days though, so it’s not as though we have one nighters with daily turnovers.

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I absolutely definitely agree with your wife :slight_smile:

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yep. i feel its those one nighters thats causing extensive wear and tear… but its ok… its a property near downtown and its mainly catered to people who are traveling for work and need a safe quiet place to put their head down for the night :slight_smile:

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We get all of our linens and towels at Direct Textile Store. They have a big selection and everything we’ve ordered has been quality and really holds up. Their customer service is some of the best I’ve experienced in years. It may not work for hosts with only one bed as the minimum order is often at least 12 pieces but we have 5 beds total so it makes sense for us. A lot of the products can be ordered as a single piece as a “sample” but costs a wee bit more than if you order by the dozen; however, still much less expensive than anything I’ve heard quoted from hosts buying sheets retail.

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I buy the white Charisma towels when they are on sale. I used to get them for $5 each, now they are at least $6. I’ve gotten some other ones there too but haven’t used them yet. I just love them and the price can’t be beat … or can it :wink: ? I go through towels faster than sheets. They get a pull or hole or just get thinned and stiff from so much laundering with those one nighters. I like them to be soft and fluffy.

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those are the same ones we use haha! i will look into pricing for towels as well and get back to you :blush:

do we really not have someone already running a website thats a one stop shop for airbnb?

hey thank you so much for telling me about Direct Textile Store!

i was just comparing pricing on their

OXFORD SUPER T-300, 100% COTTON
Oxford Super T300 Bed Linens are made of T-300 thread count 100% Ringspun Combed Cotton white sateen fabric.

  • Color: White
  • T-300 Thread Count
  • Sateen Weave - Mercerized
  • Fitted Sheets Have 18" Pockets
  • Pillow Cases with 3" Hem
  • Flat Sheets with 3" Top Hem, 1" Bottom Hem
  • Color Coded Bottom HemThread Color by Size for Easy Laundry Identification (Twin - Red Thread, Full - Blue Thread, Queen - Brown Thread, King - Gold Thread)

Queen Sheets
fitted sheet : 15.54
Flat sheet: $14.33
Pillow cases : 2.34x2
total: $34.55

Min qty is 12…

if i could get identical quality and finish sheets for 30% off the price and you can order as many or as few as you like. you pay shipping of-course, maybe free shipping after X sets or something you know…

would that be something worth looking further into?

Not for me personally. Honestly, I’m really good at researching and did a ton of it and these guys have the sweet spot of the best prices, the best product and the best service. I buy the biggest cases and get the best price and they often do free shipping promotions. Because I have 3 units, I need to buy in bulk anyways, so splitting it with someone else doesn’t help me.

For hosts with just a bed or two, it definitely makes sense to buy the biggest case and split it up but I’m not sure that it makes sense for a third party to facilitate it - you kind of lose some of the savings by having to ship it all around and pay the third party. It would be the most savings for hosts who are local to each other to split up a case and avoid the extra shipping costs and middle-man costs.

I guess you’re talking about buying a whole pallet and suggesting the prices will go even lower than wholesale but the costs will add in somehow (shipping, import taxes, etc). Also, I’m suspicious of anything that is priced well below what it’s worth - someone is bearing that cost along the way - cheap comes at a price to someone.

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im actually talking about manufacturing the sheets itself and selling them directly thru a website, cutting all middle men out of the equation.

I understand, but then you really become the middle man. There will be costs of time, effort and money to get the sheets imported, shipped, etc and the website has to be designed and there will be lots of taxes both to sell the sheets and to import them. Inventory will need to be done, shipping and orders taken care of, credit card fees for selling, some place to store all of the sheets, etc, etc All kinds of stuff and you’ll need to add to the price of the sheets to cover those costs and you’ll be the middle man ,)

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