OEM · Sportswear Encyclopedia
MOQ for Custom Sportswear
MOQ is not a policy — it's a maths problem. Fabric roll length, sublimation paper width, screen setup cost and pattern nesting all set a floor below which unit economics break. Here is what actually drives the number.
Fabric — where the real floor sits
Every knit or woven fabric ships on rolls that are 60–170 m long and 150–190 cm wide. To cut efficiently, the factory needs a marker layout that consumes a meaningful fraction of a roll. Cutting 15 jerseys from a 100 m roll and returning the rest to inventory means the buyer effectively pays for a full roll's holding cost. This is the reason no factory quotes cheerful pricing at 20 pieces — the fabric maths simply doesn't work.
- Polyester interlock 150 gsm — 50 pieces per colour amortises a roll cleanly.
- Poly-spandex 240 gsm with 8% elastane — 80 pieces minimum, higher yarn cost.
- Engineered mesh — usually cut as inserts, so it piggybacks on the main body MOQ.
- Fleece 320 gsm — 60–80 pieces per colour is standard for a hoodie run.
- Cotton-poly French terry — 100 pieces because premium yarn rolls are longer.
Decoration — screens, plates and digitising
| Decoration | Setup driver | Break-even |
|---|---|---|
| Sublimation | Paper & heat press — no per-design setup | 30–50 pcs |
| Screen print | One screen per ink colour per design | 100–150 pcs per design |
| DTF transfer | Film cost per m², heat press | 50 pcs |
| Embroidery | Digitising fee (one-off), thread setup | 50 pcs once digitised |
| Heat-transfer badge | Mould / plate per badge design | 100 pcs |
Colourway — the hidden MOQ multiplier
A 200-piece order sold as "one design, four colourways" is not a 200-piece order. It is four 50-piece runs sharing artwork. Each colourway has its own fabric roll, its own sublimation paper, its own inspection lot. This is why factories quote per-colourway even inside a single PO.
- Home / away / third kit — three colourways, three separate runs.
- Team A vs Team B set — always two runs even if design is symmetric.
- Dark base vs light base — different sublimation curves, treated as different colourways.
Size run — cutting layer maths
Fabric is cut in layers of 20–80 plies. Each size in the marker consumes plies proportional to demand. If the buyer wants two pieces in size XS, the marker either wastes fabric with a two-ply cut, or those two pieces get single-ply cut at 25–40% higher cost per piece. Practical rule: three pieces per size is the operational floor. If XS demand is one, drop the size and stop at S.
Sampling MOQ — separate from bulk
- Digital mock-up — free with a serious brief.
- PP (pre-production) sample — 1 to 3 pieces per style, USD 40–120 per sample.
- Size-set — one piece per size in one colourway, used for fit approval before bulk.
- No MOQ applies to sampling — but each sample takes 10–14 days independent of bulk.
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