Clothing Manufacturer MOQ in Turkey

Why MOQs exist at all

An MOQ is not a factory being difficult. It is the point at which a production run covers its fixed costs: fabric mills sell by the roll or by minimum dye lots, cutting tables are set up per marker, sewing lines are balanced per style, and print or embroidery setups cost the same whether you run 50 pieces or 5,000. Below a certain quantity, the setup cost per garment becomes so high that the unit price stops making commercial sense for both sides.

Fabric is usually the binding constraint. A custom-dyed knit fabric typically has a mill minimum of around 300-500 kg per colour, which translates into several hundred garments depending on weight. This is why colour count affects your minimum more than almost anything else: three colourways can triple your effective MOQ even if the total style quantity stays the same.

How we structure minimums

We manage apparel production through a vetted network of Turkish manufacturers, and we structure MOQs around what those factories can run profitably without inflating your unit price. Our standard minimum is 300 pieces per style. For knitwear programs on stocked yarns and fabrics, we can go down to 100 pieces per colourway, because the fabric minimum problem is already solved by the program.

Within a style, quantities are split across sizes using a size curve you approve at order confirmation. A 300-piece style order might run S through XL across one or two colourways. If you need three or more colourways, expect the per-colourway floor to apply, since each colour needs its own fabric lot and its own lay on the cutting table.

• 300 pieces per style as the standard minimum
• 100 pieces per colourway on knit programs using stocked fabrics
• Size curves are flexible within the style total
• Each additional colourway adds a fabric minimum, not just a colour swap

Typical MOQ by product category

Minimums vary by category because construction complexity, fabric type and finishing processes vary. A basic jersey tee is the easiest garment to run in small quantities; outerwear and denim carry more setup stages, so their practical minimums sit higher. The table below shows indicative ranges we see across our network, not fixed rules, and a well-prepared tech pack can sometimes unlock the lower end of a range.

Treat these numbers as planning figures. The exact minimum for your project depends on your fabric choice, colour count and decoration methods, and we confirm it in writing at quotation stage before you commit to anything.

What lowers your effective MOQ

The fastest way to reduce a minimum is to remove custom fabric from the equation. Choosing a stocked fabric quality in an available colour skips the mill dye minimum entirely, which is exactly how our 100-per-colourway knit programs work. Consolidating colourways, sharing a base body across several designs and differentiating with prints or embroidery all push in the same direction.

The opposite is also true. Custom-dyed fabric in a Pantone-matched shade, yarn-dyed stripes, all-over prints or specialty washes each add a process with its own minimum, and the highest single minimum in the chain becomes your effective floor. If low quantity matters more than full customisation for your first run, tell us early and we will design the program around that constraint.

MOQ versus unit price: the honest trade-off

Smaller runs always cost more per unit, because fixed costs are spread across fewer garments. As an indicative example, a basic 180 GSM cotton tee that lands around 3.50-6.50 USD per unit at 1,000 pieces will typically sit noticeably higher at 300 pieces, all else equal. Final pricing always depends on your tech pack, fabric and decoration, so treat any number you see online, including ours, as a range rather than a quote.

Our advice to first-time buyers is simple: order the smallest quantity that lets you properly test the market, accept the higher unit cost as tuition, and plan your reorder pricing at higher volume from day one. A factory relationship priced honestly at 300 pieces scales far better than a too-good-to-be-true offer that falls apart at reorder.