Quick answer
- An MOQ is a number plus a unit: per style, per color, per size, per run, or per service.
- The same 60 pieces can clear one factory's minimum and miss another's by 40.
- Minimums exist because every style has fixed setup work. Below the minimum it's often a price question, not a hard no.
- To get a smaller run: ask what the unit is, cut colors first, ask for the price at your number, and simplify the first style.
On this page
MOQ, the minimum order quantity, sounds like one number. In practice it's a number plus a unit, and the unit is where small brands get surprised. Here's how US factories in this directory actually word theirs, and how to ask for a smaller run without wasting anyone's time.
Same three letters, different units
| How it's counted | Real example (the factory's own wording, from its site or CFDA listing) |
|---|---|
| Per style | Custom Sewing: 25 units per style. Apparel Branders: from 50 units per style. |
| Per style and color | Prange Apparel: 25 garments per style and color. Carina: 50 pieces per style, per color. Aletheia: 20 per style per colorway. |
| Per style, size and color | Stoll Fashion & Technology: 10 pieces per style, size and color. |
| Per run, with colors and sizes included | ljoSew: a 100-piece run covering up to 3 colors and 4 sizes. The Evans Group (TEG): factory production from 50 per style, including all sizes and two colorways. |
| Depends on the service | BOMME Studio: 150 per style for CMT, 600 for full package. Hookfish Manufacturing: 200 for a first cut-and-sew order, 100 for reorders. |
| Depends on the garment | Full Speed 100: typically 50–100 per style per color for simple garments, 100–200 moderate, 200–300 complex. Euphoric Colors: leggings from 12, hoodies from 24. |
| "No minimum," with conditions | Fashion Solutions NYC: no production minimum, but under 12 pieces is priced as samples. KC Sewing Company (Fashion Tech Kansas City): no MOQ, but pre-production steps are required. |
The same 60 pieces, three different answers
Take 60 pieces in two colors and five sizes, which is 30 per color:
Why factories have minimums at all
Every style has setup work that doesn't scale with quantity: reading your tech pack, making or adjusting the pattern and marker, cutting, setting up the line, and checking the first pieces. Spread over 300 units, that setup is cheap per piece. Spread over 30, it isn't. Some shops show this openly. The Evans Group (TEG) gives a costing report at three volume levels (10–50, 50–100 and 100–300). A minimum is the factory saying "below this, the setup isn't worth it at our normal price."
The minimum is often really a price question. Many shops will make fewer if the unit price covers the setup.
Fair ways to get a smaller run
Ask what the unit is
Per style, per color, per size, or per order? That one question clears up most confusion.
Cut colors before sizes
One color at 50 beats two colors at 25 when the minimum is per color.
Ask for the price at your number
"What would 30 cost per unit?" is easier to say yes to than "will you lower your MOQ?"
Simplify the first style
Fewer panels, trims and operations means less setup. Save the complicated piece for run two.
Use stock fabric
A fabric the factory already buys, or one in stock at a supplier, avoids a separate fabric minimum. Fabric minimums are often the real blocker.
Say what happens next
If a reorder is likely, say so. Some factories already price reorders lower; Hookfish's first-order and reorder minimums are an example.
Match the shop to the run
For 10 to 40 pieces, a sample room or studio is usually a better fit than a production floor. See the no-minimum list, or studios like these:
What not to do
Find a factory for your run
Every listing shows the minimum the factory states, a link to where it came from, and the date we checked it.
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