MOQ is the first number that decides whether a supplier conversation goes anywhere. It is also the number most often quoted without explanation, which leaves buyers assuming it is an arbitrary hurdle rather than a consequence of how garments are actually made.
This is what the number is, what sets it, and how to plan a first production run around it.
What does MOQ stand for?
MOQ stands for minimum order quantity: the smallest quantity a manufacturer or supplier will produce or sell in a single order. In apparel it is usually expressed per style, and often per style and colour together, rather than as a single figure for the whole order.
A supplier quoting "MOQ 100" is telling you that a production run below 100 units of that item either cannot be scheduled or cannot be priced at the rate on the sheet.
Why a minimum order quantity exists at all
An MOQ is not a commercial preference. It is arithmetic from the factory floor.
Every production run carries fixed costs that do not shrink with the order: setting up a cutting table, threading and calibrating machines, mixing dye, making and approving a pre-production sample, and taking a line out of whatever it was running before. Those costs are the same whether the run is 40 pieces or 4,000. Divided across 40 pieces they make the unit price absurd. Divided across a few hundred they disappear into the rate.
The MOQ is the point at which the setup stops dominating the unit cost. Below it, a factory is not refusing your order because it is small. It is refusing because the price it would have to quote is one you would not accept.
MOQ is set per style, not per order
This is the detail that catches most first-time buyers. An order for 300 units split across three styles is usually three runs of 100, not one run of 300. Each style has its own pattern, its own cut, its own setup.
Colour often splits it further. Dyeing is done in lots, and a lot has a minimum of its own. Two colourways of the same hoodie can therefore behave like two separate minimums even though the pattern is identical.
When a supplier says "100 units", ask the follow-up: per style, per colour, or per order. The answer changes your whole plan.
What actually drives the number
Four things move an MOQ up or down:
- Fabric. Mills sell by the roll and knit to a minimum. A stock fabric a factory already holds carries a lower floor than a custom weight or a custom colour that has to be knitted and dyed for you.
- Decoration method. Screen printing needs screens burned per colour per design, so it wants volume. Embroidery digitises once and runs cheaply at low counts. Woven labels are made mill-direct and carry their own minimum, often independent of the garment.
- Construction complexity. A garment with more panels, linings, or hardware takes longer to set up and grade, which pushes the break-even quantity higher.
- Whether it is a blank or a build. Rebranding an existing blank is a short setup. Manufacturing to your own pattern is a full production cycle with sampling, and the minimum reflects that.
MOQ in manufacturing versus MOQ at a stockist
These are different businesses and the numbers are not comparable.
A stockist or distributor is reselling goods that already exist in a warehouse. Their minimum is a commercial threshold: the smallest order worth picking, packing, and invoicing. It can be very low, and the trade-off is that you are buying someone else's product with someone else's label position.
A manufacturer is scheduling production capacity. Their minimum is a break-even. It is higher, and the trade-off is that the product is specified to you.
A low MOQ is not automatically the better deal. It usually tells you which of these two you are talking to.
How to plan a first order around an MOQ
The mistake is treating the minimum as a target. It is a floor, and a first order sitting exactly on the floor is usually the wrong shape.
- Go narrow on styles, not on units. Two styles at 150 will teach you more, and cost less per piece, than six styles at the minimum.
- Decide the size split deliberately. A run distributed evenly across seven sizes leaves you with unsellable tails. Ask the supplier for the size curve their other buyers in your category actually use.
- Sample before the run, always. Sample pricing reflects single-unit handling and looks expensive next to the bulk rate. It is the cheapest money in the whole process.
- Check where the next price break sits. If 250 units unlocks a materially better rate and you are at 180, the extra 70 units may cost less per piece than the 180 did.
Questions to ask before you accept an MOQ
- Is that per style, per colour, or per order?
- What does the unit price look like at the minimum, and at the next two price breaks?
- Is the fabric in stock, or does it need to be knitted and dyed for this run?
- Does the decoration method carry its own minimum separate from the garment?
- What is the reorder minimum once the pattern and sample are already approved? It is often lower than the first run.
That last one is worth asking early. A supplier who has already made your pattern, approved your sample, and digitised your logo has done most of the setup. Repeat runs frequently sit below the first-order floor.
What our minimum order is
888 Wholesale runs a standard minimum of 100 units per style. Enterprise and uniform contracts start at 300 units per order with volume breaks above that. Custom and private label minimums depend on the specification and are confirmed in your production quote before any deposit is taken, because a pattern-built garment and a rebranded blank are not the same run.
The pricing structure is published in full, including the volume-break ladder, so you can see where the breaks sit before you open an account. If you want to see what the minimum buys, the product catalog lists the per-style floor on every item, and private label production covers the build-to-specification route.