MOQ, price breaks and lead time — the honest math

Every apparel factory quotes three numbers together: minimum order quantity (MOQ), unit price at that quantity, and lead time. All three move together — you can't push one without moving the others.

What actually drives MOQ

MOQ is rarely about the sewing. It's mostly about the mill.

• Fabric roll size — a mill will not dye 20 kg of a custom shade. Standard cotton dye lots run 300–800 kg.
• Custom trims — woven labels and printed hangtags typically have 500–1,000 pc supplier minimums.
• Machine setup — screen print exposure, embroidery digitising and DTG setup are one-time costs amortised over the run.

This is why "low MOQ" usually means the factory is holding stock fabric or accepting a lower-margin dye lot on your behalf.

Where the unit price goes

A typical hoodie cost at 500 pcs looks roughly like:

• Fabric — 45–55% of cost
• Trims, labels, packaging — 8–12%
• CMT (cut, make, trim labour) — 20–25%
• Print / embroidery — 5–15%
• QC, overhead, margin — the rest

At 5,000 pcs the fabric % goes up (because dye lot pricing improves), CMT goes down per unit, and setup costs disappear into the volume. That's the price break.

Lead time is a chain, not a number

A 35-day lead time is usually: 10 days fabric, 10 days sampling & bulk cut, 10 days sewing, 5 days QC + packing. Fabric is the longest link, and the one most often blamed for delays. If your PO lands during a peak season (Aug–Oct for Western brands sourcing holiday stock), add 10–15 days everywhere.

Where you can honestly push

• Fabric — accept a stock colour or nearby GSM to cut 10–15 days.
• Trims — accept the factory's woven label supplier to cut a week.
• MOQ — split a bigger order across two colours to hit the fabric minimum in one dye run.

What you should not push: QC time, shrinkage tests and PP sample approval. Those are the last checks between you and a defect claim.

How we quote

Send us a tech pack and a target quantity. We come back with a per-unit price at your quantity plus one or two step-ups, a real MOQ based on mill data, and a lead time in working days — not "about a month."