MOQ is not a policy, it is arithmetic. Once you see which costs are fixed and which scale, the number stops looking arbitrary and starts looking negotiable in specific ways.
How the number is built
Every line in this category has the same cost structure in miniature: a setup that does not scale, a run that does, and a colour change that resets both. For Oxford the published MOQ is 500-1000 m per colour; for Oxford it is 500-1000 m per colour. The difference is the size of the batch the process needs, not the willingness of the factory.
| Family | Typical MOQ | Sampling | Production | 3D mesh | 300-500 m per colour | 5-7 days | 15-25 days | Oxford | 500-1000 m per colour | 7-10 days | 20-30 days | knitted fabric | 500-800 kg per colour | 7-10 days | 20-30 days | basswood | 300-500 sets per colour | 7-10 days | 25-35 days | paulownia | 300-500 sets per colour | 7-10 days | 25-35 days | PVC slats | 500-800 sets per colour | 7-10 days | 20-30 days |
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Why it is quoted per colour
A dye bath, a print screen or a machine run is a fixed cost. Five colours at the minimum is five setups; one colour at five times the minimum is one. That is why consolidating shades usually beats negotiating the unit price, and why a supplier will sometimes accept a lower total if it comes in fewer colours.
Anatomy of the lead time
Quoted production is measured from sample approval, not from the purchase order. Sampling runs 5-7 days to 7-10 days depending on the family, and the buyer’s approval time sits on top of that. A quotation that gives one number without saying where it starts is hiding the stage that most often slips.
- Sampling and lab dip, then your approval.
- Material: usually in stock, occasionally 2-3 weeks for a specific grade.
- Production, quoted from approval.
- Inspection and packing, 2-4 days, longer if a third party is booked late.
- Transit: 28-40 days to Europe or the US, plus port dwell.
Three ways to reduce MOQ without paying more
Consolidate colours, launch the first run on a stock shade, and accept a longer production slot. The third is the cheapest concession available and it is almost never asked for, because buyers negotiate on price and volume rather than on timing.
Where the time actually goes
| Stage | Duration | Note | Sampling and lab dip | 5-7 days | Buyer approval sits on top of this | Material procurement | 0-3 weeks | Only when a specific grade is not stocked | Production | 15-25 days to 20-30 days | Quoted from approval, not from PO | Inspection and packing | 2-4 days | Longer if a third party is booked late | Sea transit | 28-40 days | Plus port dwell at both ends |
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This table is not a scoring system. It is a set of follow-up questions, because the first answer in each row is the one that sounds best and reveals least.
Related detail for MOQ terms
Family specifications start from the fabric overview or the wooden blinds overview. Our documentation and testing regime is on the quality control page, and commercial terms are on the logistics page.
Questions buyers ask before ordering
Does tolerance move between the moq guide sample and bulk?
On moq guide, we can meet 500-1000 m.
What happens to moq guide if we need tolerance tighter than 500-1000 m?
On moq guide, 500-1000 m applies to the roll as delivered.
MOQ negotiation: the same question, asked of motorised blinds
The two lines fail differently, so the wording that protects you differs too. On motorised blinds the recurring modes are these, caught with a different test.
| Failure | What triggers it | Test to demand on the production lot | motorised blinds: Limit drift | Mechanical limit switches or unstable encoder counts. | IP rating — IEC 60529; acceptance IP44 for bathroom use | motorised blinds: Motor stall on wide blinds | Torque below what the blind weight and friction require. | Operation noise — 1 m, anechoic or quiet room; acceptance <= 35 dB |
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Where a MOQ actually comes from
A MOQ is not a policy. It is the smallest run the machinery can do without losing money, and it is different for each process in the chain.
- Dyeing sets the floor. A dye bath has a minimum volume, typically 300-500 kg for a package machine. Below that, the colour is charged as a sample, not a production run.
- Weaving and knitting set the width. A loom runs a fixed width; ordering 800 m of a 150 cm fabric may mean weaving 1 200 m and selling the rest as stock, which is why the price steps.
- Coating sets the pass. A coating line runs continuously. A 500 m order is priced as if it were 2 000 m because the setup is the same.
- Packing sets the last step. Custom cartons, labels and inner bags have their own minimums, usually far below the fabric but often overlooked.
This is why the same fabric has three MOQs: 300 kg for a stock colour, 1 000 m for a custom colour, and 3 000 m for a custom construction. Asking “what is your MOQ” gets the first number, which is rarely the one that applies.
The way to move a MOQ is to move the constraint: choose a stock colour, accept a wider roll, or share a dye lot with another order. Each is a real concession and each has a price.
Consolidating three items under one MOQ
Most buyers face the same problem: three articles, each below the minimum, and a supplier who quotes each one separately. Consolidation is a technical exercise, not a negotiation.
- Share the base, vary the finish. Three colours of the same greige are one weaving run and three dye lots. The weaving minimum is met once; only the dyeing is split.
- Share the dye lot, vary the article. Two weights in the same colour can run in one bath if the fibre is the same. This is the concession to ask for first, because it costs the mill nothing.
- Move the constraint, not the quantity. A wider roll, a stock colour, a standard packing — each removes a setup, and each is worth more than a 10 % quantity increase.
- Pay the setup once. If the total is genuinely below the minimum, ask for the setup cost as a separate line rather than a quantity you cannot use. It is usually cheaper than the inventory.
The arithmetic to bring to the conversation: total metres, split by article, plus the annual repeat. A supplier who sees a programme will find a way to run a small first order; one who sees a one-off will quote the minimum.
Get the consolidated quotation in writing, with each article priced separately inside it. That document is what the second order is built on.
The MOQ ladder, and what each step actually costs
| Quantity | Setup per colour | Price effect | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| 300 m | 300-800 USD absorbed | +15-30 % over the 3 000 m price | Colour approval and a test market |
| 500 m | Same setup, half the absorption | +8-15 % | One colourway, one channel |
| 1 000 m | Setup spread across two dye lots | +3-8 % | The usual first production order |
| 3 000 m+ | Setup amortised | Base price | Repeat programmes with a forecast |
Dye lot minimums sit inside these numbers: 300-500 m per colour is the floor at most mills, and a 300 m order in four colours is four setups, not one. That is the arithmetic buyers miss when they ask for a low MOQ across a colour range. The request that gets a yes is 1 000 m in one colour, not 250 m in four.
Below the floor the factory has three honest options: charge the setup, run the order with a stock colour, or refuse. A supplier who accepts 200 m at the 3 000 m price is either subsidising the order to win the account or planning to substitute the material, and both show up later in the programme.
Working a sourcing decision through?
Describe the end use and the failure you are designing out. We reply with the material we would specify, the figure that decides it, and the test that proves it.
MOQ negotiation: failure modes worth a clause in the purchase order
| Failure | What triggers it | Test to demand on the production lot | Snagging | Loose cover factor and fine denier without a compacted surface. | Chlorine resistance — ISO 105-E03 / retained elongation 50 h; acceptance >= 80 % retained | Recovery loss at seams | Seam construction that does not stretch with the fabric. | Colour fastness to chlorinated water — ISO 105-E03; acceptance >= grade 4 |
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Products in this range
Related reading
- Landed Cost for Importers: The Six Lines Buyers Forget
- How to Document a Quality Claim So It Gets Resolved
- Cotton and T/C Fabric Guide: Yarn Count, Density and Shrinkage
Sample cut with your values on it · Neutral packing and private label · Consolidation, documents and lead times
