Minimum order quantity (MOQ), explained

What MOQ means

MOQ is the smallest quantity a supplier will accept for a production run. In apparel it's rarely one flat figure — it usually applies at several levels at once: per order, per style, per colour and per fabric. A factory might run your total order happily, yet still need a minimum per colour to make it work.

Why minimums exist

MOQs aren't arbitrary. They come from the real economics upstream of stitching:

• Yarn & knitting — mills knit greige fabric in efficient batch sizes; tiny quantities waste set-up and yarn.
• Dyeing — dye lots have minimum weights, so each colour carries a fabric minimum. This is usually the single biggest driver of colour-level MOQs.
• Set-up costs — marker-making, cutting lays, screen/strike-off for prints and embroidery digitising are fixed costs spread across the run.
• Trims & packaging — custom labels, tags and cartons are often ordered in minimum packs.

MOQ is layered, not a single number

Level	What it governs
Per fabric / colour	Dye-lot minimums — usually the tightest constraint
Per style	Cutting and production efficiency for one design
Per size	Size breakdown within a style/colour
Per order	The supplier's overall commercial minimum

This is why "I want 2,000 pieces" behaves very differently as one colour versus ten colours.

How to work within MOQs

• Consolidate colours — fewer colours, more units each, keeps you above dye-lot minimums.
• Use stock / available fabric — fabrics already running for other buyers can cut the fabric minimum dramatically.
• Share a base fabric across styles — one quality in several garments pools the fabric minimum.
• Plan ranges, not one-offs — combining a season's styles into one booking improves every minimum.

What to expect with us

KnitScout coordinates bulk programmes typically in the range of 5,000–50,000 pieces, with the practical per-style and per-colour minimums depending on the fabric, dyeing and finishing your product needs. Tell us your styles, colours and quantities and we'll tell you honestly what's workable — and how to restructure the buy if a colour falls short of a dye-lot minimum.