MOQ planning

One order, three colours: how the 3,000-piece minimum actually splits

25 Oct 2026

Answer first: 3,000 pcs is the order minimum. On stocked materials it can be split to 1,000 pcs per colour or size — which is the number that actually decides how many colourways a first range can afford.

The arithmetic

• 3 colours × 1,000 pcs — works, 3,000 total.
• 2 colours × 1,500 pcs — works, and leaves room to add a size split.
• 4 colours × 750 pcs — does not work: two of the four sit under the 1,000 floor. Four colourways means 4,000 pcs.
• 6 colours × 500 pcs — does not work at all. Six colourways is 6,000 pcs.

So the shape of a first range is decided before the design is: if the launch needs five colourways, the minimum quietly becomes 5,000 pcs, and it is better to learn that while planning than after the brief.

What counts as a colour or size split

Material colour and size are the obvious ones. Print, lining colour and a different logo method may or may not count as a separate split depending on how the run is set up — this is worth settling line by line in the brief rather than assuming either way. Ask us to confirm which of your variations break the split before you fix the range.

What breaks the split

Stock material. A colour inside the stocked range can be run at 1,000 pcs, because the material is already on the shelf. A colour outside it becomes a material order placed ahead of the bulk run, and a dyed material has its own minimum — which is the single most common reason a five-colour, 3,000-piece plan turns into a two-colour plan.

Where the first order should spend its money

• One structure, proven. A new shell is a new pattern, new skiving, new sample rounds.
• One material, stocked. It keeps the 1,000-piece split available and removes a material lead time from the critical path.
• Differentiation in print, not in dyed material. Print is applied to a stocked material; a dyed material is a supply chain.
• One logo method. Each method needs its own tool, screen or die.

Timing per variant

Sampling runs about 7 working days per round; bulk runs about 25 days from sign-off on the sample and the artwork. Colours and sizes are made in sequence rather than all at once, so a three-colour order is not three parallel 25-day runs — the whole order ships together. Payment is 30% deposit with the 70% balance before shipment, EXW by default, with FOB, CIF or DDP quoted per project.

Send the colour count, the size count and the target date and we will tell you what the minimum turns into.