The MOQ guide: what minimum order quantities really mean

Why a minimum order quantity exists at all

Making a sock involves three fixed costs that do not shrink with quantity. First, a yarn lot: yarn is bought by the lot, and a lot has a minimum size. Second, a machine setup: a knitting machine has to be set with the right yarn, the right pattern and the right tension before it produces anything sellable. Third, the sampling and approval chain: a pattern has to be built, a sample produced and approved before bulk begins.

None of those costs care whether you ordered 200 pairs or 2,000. Spread across 200 pairs they make the sock expensive; spread across 2,000 they are a rounding error. That is the whole of it. A supplier who says yes to 100 pairs is either absorbing a loss, charging you a very high unit price, or producing something that is not what you approved.

What OK and not-OK minimums look like

If your supplier's minimum is 500–1,000 pairs per design, that is a normal, workable entry point. If it is 5,000 pairs per design, that supplier is organised around volume and is not set up to help you test a market. If it is 100 pairs, ask what happens to the price at that quantity — it will be high, and it is worth understanding why before you assume you have found a bargain.

Design, colourway and size — three different minimums

This is where most first-time buyers get caught out. There are three separate variables, and they behave differently:

• Design — the construction and pattern. Each new design needs its own pattern and machine setup. One design at 500 pairs is a valid order.
• Colourway — each colourway within a knitted design is a separate yarn setup. Two colourways cost proportionally more than one at the same total quantity.
• Size — sizes within a design are graded from the same pattern and do not carry a separate minimum. A full size run at a total of 500 pairs is fine.

So the correct question is never "what is your MOQ?" but "what is your MOQ per colourway?"

How to structure a first order

The most useful first order is usually not the deepest. If you have a budget for 1,500 pairs, three designs at 500 pairs each will tell you more about your market than one design at 1,500 pairs. You will learn which construction sells, which colourway is wrong, and what your customers complain about — with real data rather than an opinion.

Two additional things make a first order more useful. First, choose the designs so that they span different price points: one entry, one mid, one premium. Second, decide the packaging on the trial order, so the reorder needs no change. Changing packaging after the first run is the most common way a promising product loses its schedule.

How MOQ interacts with price

MOQ and price are the same conversation. Our tier structure breaks at 500–2,000, 2,000–10,000, 10,000–50,000 and 50,000-plus pairs. At the entry tier you pay the highest unit price; at the programme tier the lowest. Ask for a quote at two quantities — say 2,000 and 10,000 — and the value of the next tier becomes a number you can decide about rather than a feeling.

What to ask any supplier about MOQ

• Is the minimum per design, per colourway or per order?
• Do mixed sizes count towards the same design?
• What happens to the unit price at the minimum quantity versus 10× the minimum?
• Is the sample fee refunded if the bulk order is placed?
• Is there a separate minimum invoice value on top of the pair minimum?
• What is the reorder lead time once the specification is locked?

Any supplier should be able to answer all six in writing. If they cannot, that is the answer.