Sportswear MOQ Explained: How Minimum Order Quantities Work
What a minimum order quantity (MOQ) means for custom sportswear, why factories set one, and how to plan an order that meets it.
What a minimum order quantity (MOQ) means for custom sportswear, why factories set one, and how to plan an order that meets it.
A minimum order quantity (MOQ) is the smallest number of units a factory will produce for one order, usually counted per design and colourway. It exists because every production run has fixed set-up work: pattern making and grading, fabric cutting, printing set-up and line planning. Spreading that effort across more units keeps the price per garment sensible.
A design is a specific style in a specific colourway with its artwork. Ten different designs of ten pieces each means ten separate set-ups, which is very different from one design of one hundred pieces. That is why factories quote MOQs per design, and why mixing sizes within one design is normally fine while mixing designs is not.
Order one design for the whole club and include juniors, reserves and staff. Add spare sets for new joiners. Use the same base design in two colourways only if each colourway reaches the MOQ. Combine training and match tops into one tech pack where fabrics allow.
Team uniforms are usually quoted in sets (for example a jersey and shorts), while fitness wear and casual styles are quoted in pieces. Formore Exports works to 50 sets per design for team uniforms and 100 pieces for fitness wear and accessories; first-time buyers can ask about smaller sample runs.
Fabric weight and type, number of print colours or embroidery stitches, trims and labels, packaging requirements and sizing range all move the unit price. A clear tech pack helps a factory quote accurately the first time.
Browse our sportswear catalogue, check MOQs and lead times, see the manufacturing process, or request a quote.
Tell us what you need and we will quote it, with a sample before bulk production.