Knitted Bag MOQ Explained: Why 100 pcs Applies Per Style and Colourway, and How to Plan Around It
MOQ on a knitted bag programme is 100 pcs per style and per colourway, not per order, because each colourway is a separate yarn set-up on the bed and set-up rather than units is what the minimum is protecting. A 300-piece order in one colourway is a different proposition from the same 300 pieces split three ways, and the unit price moves about 9% between them. This article compares the three order shapes item by item and shows what can be consolidated without crossing the minimum.
Why MOQ Is Stated Per Colourway Rather Than Per Order
MOQ is 100 pcs per style and per colourway because the cost a minimum protects is the set-up — a yarn set-up per colourway and a programme per style — and neither falls when one colourway's quantity rises.
This is the single fact most buyers misread, and it is worth being precise about what it costs to start a colourway. Each colourway needs its yarn brought to the bed, threaded and tensioned, and the first pieces knitted are consumed as set-up waste while the tension settles. That is a fixed quantity of time and a fixed quantity of yarn per colourway, independent of how many pieces follow. A buyer ordering 300 pieces in one colourway pays one set-up; a buyer ordering the same 300 across three colourways pays three, and the third is where the minimum comes from.
The same logic applies per style, with one difference. A style needs a knitting programme, and a programme is a larger fixed cost than a yarn set-up. Two styles sharing a programme — the same body in two shades, for instance — pay one programme and two yarn set-ups. Two genuinely different shapes pay two programmes. That distinction is why a colourway is treated as a set-up event and a style as a programming event, and why the two are counted separately in the minimum.
What Actually Consumes the Set-Up on a Knit Programme
Four things are consumed every time a colourway is started: about 12 kg of yarn across threading and tension waste, roughly 90 minutes of bed time, three to five set-up pieces, and one tension check by an operator.
The yarn figure is the one buyers find surprising, and it explains the minimum better than any argument about machine time. Threading a bed, running the tension up and knitting the first pieces until the fabric stabilises consumes yarn that never becomes a saleable bag. Twelve kilograms is roughly the yarn in 60 finished tote bodies at 320 g/m², so a run of 100 pieces carries a set-up waste of about 12% by weight, a run of 300 carries about 4%, and a run of 40 would carry about 30%. The minimum exists because below it the waste figure stops being a rounding error.
- Yarn: about 12 kg across threading and tension waste, roughly 60 finished bodies at 320 g/m².
- Bed time: about 90 minutes to bring a colourway up and stabilise the tension.
- Set-up pieces: three to five, knitted and measured before production pieces are counted.
- Operator time: one tension check, plus the measurement of the set-up pieces.
- Programme loading: once per style, not per colourway, where the two styles share a body.
Comparison Matrix: 100, 300 and 1,000 pcs on the Same Bag
On one style in one colourway, moving from 100 to 300 pieces reduces the unit cost by about 9% and moving from 300 to 1,000 reduces it by a further 7%, with almost all of both reductions coming from set-up amortisation rather than from yarn price.
It is worth stating what does not change across those three quantities: the yarn price per kilogram barely moves until a programme reaches container-scale volumes, the labour per piece barely moves at all, and the compliance screen is fixed per programme regardless. What changes is the set-up, which is spread across more units, and the inspection sample size, which grows sub-linearly under an AQL-indexed plan. A buyer who expects a large quantity reduction on a knit programme is usually disappointed, and the reason is that there is not much variable cost left to reduce once the set-up is amortised.
| Dimension | 100 pcs | 300 pcs | 1,000 pcs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit cost index | 100, the reference | About 91 | About 84 |
| Set-up waste as share of run | About 12% by weight | About 4% | About 1.2% |
| Yarn set-ups | 1 per colourway | 1 per colourway | 1 per colourway, and the lot can be held |
| Compliance screen | Fixed per programme | Fixed per programme | Fixed per programme |
| Inspection sample at AQL 2.5 | About 20 pieces | About 32 pieces | About 50 pieces |
| Sampling | 7 working days | 7 working days | 7 working days |
| Bulk production | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days, with yarn booked as one lot |
Colourway Splits Against a Fixed Total
Against a fixed total of 300 pieces, one colourway costs about 9% less per unit than three colourways of 100, and the reason is three yarn set-ups rather than one — a difference that no amount of volume negotiation removes.
The arithmetic is worth doing explicitly because it changes what a buyer should ask for. Three colourways at 100 each is 300 pieces and three set-ups. One colourway at 300 is 300 pieces and one set-up. The two orders are the same size and one costs about 9% less. The question is therefore whether three colourways are worth 9%, and the honest answer is that they usually are on a retail floor and usually are not on a promotional programme. A retail range needs colour choice at the fixture; a promotional handout needs the same bag in the largest quantity the spend allows.
There is a middle position that is worth knowing about. Where two or three colourways are genuinely required, splitting them across a shared programme rather than across separate programmes removes the programming element of the cost, leaving only the yarn set-ups. Three shades of the same body is the least costly way to get three colourways; three different bodies in three shades is the most expensive and is best avoided on a first programme.
Style Splits Against the Same Fixed Total
A style split costs more than a colourway split, because each additional style carries a knitting programme as well as a yarn set-up — three styles of 100 typically cost about 14% more per unit than one style of 300.
The gap between the 9% for colourways and the 14% for styles is the programming cost, and it is the clearest single argument for a focused first range. A buyer with 300 pieces to spend gets more bag by buying one shape in one shade, and gets more range by buying three shapes, and the two are genuinely in tension. The resolution most programmes land on is one shape in two or three shades for the first season, then a second shape once the first has proven itself — which defers the programming cost until there is sell-through evidence to justify it.
- MOQ
- 100 pcs per style and per colourway
- Yarn set-up waste
- About 12 kg, roughly 60 finished bodies at 320 g/m²
- Bed time per colourway start
- About 90 minutes to stabilise tension
- Set-up pieces per colourway
- Three to five, knitted and measured
- Colourway split penalty
- About 9% per unit at three colourways against one
- Style split penalty
- About 14% per unit at three styles against one
- Compliance screen
- Fixed per programme, independent of quantity
Where the Unit Price Steps and Why
The unit price on a knit programme steps at three volume bands rather than sliding continuously, and the steps are set by where a set-up, a yarn lot and an inspection plan each become efficient rather than by where a negotiation lands.
The first step is set-up amortisation, which is largely complete by about 500 pieces. The second is the yarn lot: above roughly 1,000 pieces the whole run can be knitted from one dye lot, which removes shade variation across the shipment and removes the need to segregate lots in packing. The third is the inspection plan, where an AQL-indexed sample grows sub-linearly, so the inspection cost per unit falls as the run grows. None of the three is negotiable in the way a buyer might hope; all three are properties of the process, and understanding them is what lets a buyer plan an order that sits just above a step rather than just below one.
What Can Be Consolidated and What Cannot
Three things can be consolidated across a programme without crossing the minimum — the knitting programme across colourways, the trim set across styles, and the compliance screen across a season — and three cannot: yarn set-ups, dye lots and inspection records.
Consolidation is where a buyer has real leverage on a knit programme, and it is worth being specific about the mechanism. Sharing one programme across three shades costs nothing extra in programming and is the single most effective consolidation available. Sharing one trim set across three styles means one zip gauge, one webbing width and one hardware finish, which is one booking rather than nine and a consistent look across the range. Sharing one compliance screen across a season's styles means one fee rather than one per style, which matters most on a small programme. What cannot be consolidated is physical: each colourway needs its yarn on the bed, each dye lot is a distinct lot, and each style needs its own inspection record.
Planning rules around MOQ 100 pcs per style and colourway
- Count colourways as set-ups: three shades of one body is three yarn set-ups and one programme.
- Keep every colourway at or above 100 pcs; below that the set-up dominates the unit cost.
- Take one shape in two or three shades for a first season rather than three shapes at once.
- Plan the annual figure, since a yarn lot can be held across a season above about 1,000 pieces.
- Consolidate the trim set across styles: one zip gauge, one webbing width, one hardware finish.
- Consolidate the compliance screen at programme level rather than repeating it per style.
MOQ Against a Multi-Season Programme
The minimum is per style and per colourway within a programme, so a multi-season buyer has three legitimate routes to a lower effective commitment: carry the style over, share the yarn lot, or group with a shade refresh.
Carry-over is the cleanest. A style that survives into a second season has already paid its programming, so a re-order of 100 pieces in the same shade is a re-order rather than a new programme, and the set-up is a yarn set-up only. Sharing a yarn lot is the second: where a seasonal shade is rebooked, the lot can be bought once across two seasons, which removes the minimum dye lot constraint. Grouping with a shade refresh is the third and is the practical answer for a buyer who wants a new colour each season but cannot commit 100 pieces to it: run the new shade as part of the existing programme's yarn booking.
Compliance Cost Against Order Size
A compliance screen is a fixed cost per programme, which means it falls hardest on the smallest orders: at 100 pieces a substance screen adds roughly the same per unit as 4% of the FOB price, and at 1,000 pieces it adds about 0.4%.
That tenfold difference per unit is the argument for consolidating screening at programme level and for not repeating a screen unnecessarily. A screen is triggered by a change: a new market, a new shade, a new trim or a new coating. A buyer who changes a hardware finish mid-programme triggers a fresh screen on the component, and on a 100-piece order that is a material addition to the unit cost. The practical rule is the same as it is for set-ups: consolidate what can be consolidated, and treat any change as a new item rather than as a substitution.
Planning an Order Around MOQ 100 pcs
The practical way to plan around the minimum is to decide the shape count first, then the colourway count, then the quantity per colourway — in that order, because reversing it produces a plan that crosses the minimum in more places than necessary.
An example makes the point. A buyer with 1,200 pieces to place could run four styles in three colourways at 100 each: twelve set-ups and four programmes. Or three styles in four colourways: the same twelve set-ups and three programmes. Or four styles in three colourways with 200 in the two strongest pairs: still twelve set-ups, but a better inventory position on the pairs that will actually sell. The third is usually the best of the three, and it illustrates the general rule — the set-up count is driven by how many style-and-colourway pairs exist, not by how many pieces each contains, so reducing pairs is the lever and raising per-pair quantity is the second one.
One style, one colourway, 100 pcs
One programme, one yarn set-up, about 12% set-up waste by weight. The smallest programme that runs cleanly and the reference unit cost.
One style, three colourways, 100 each
One programme, three yarn set-ups, about 9% more per unit than a single colourway at 300. The usual first retail range.
Three styles, one colourway, 100 each
Three programmes, three yarn set-ups, about 14% more per unit. The most expensive of the three and best deferred to season two.
One style, one colourway, 1,000 pcs
One programme, one set-up, about 1.2% set-up waste, and the whole run from a single dye lot so there is no shade variation.
What the Minimum Means for a First Order
For a first order the minimum is lower than most buyers expect and higher than they plan for: 100 pcs is a small commitment in pieces, but three colourways of a new style is 300, and two styles in three colourways is 600.
The gap between those numbers is where first programmes usually go wrong. A buyer plans for 100 pieces, discovers that the range needs three colourways, and is now at 300 with a spend plan built for a third of that. The remedy is to plan the pairs before the pieces, and to accept that a first knit programme is a commitment in the low hundreds rather than in the tens. Against that, sampling runs 7 working days and bulk runs 30 days, released against AQL 2.5 under an ISO 2859-1 sampling plan, on FOB Xiamen terms with CIF and DDP available. The reference unit cost for a standard E12 tote at 320 g/m² in 300D is USD 4.80, and capacity behind the programme is 7 production lines running about 200,000 pcs per month.
Plan an order around the 100 pcs minimum
Send the shape count, the colourway count and the annual volume. Our knit team will show the set-up count for each option, price the difference, and quote against 7 working days of sampling and 30 days of bulk production. Start on the contact page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the MOQ for knitted bags?
100 pcs per style and per colourway. The minimum protects the set-up rather than the machine time, and a colourway is a set-up event because its yarn has to be brought to the bed, threaded and tensioned separately.
Why does MOQ apply per colourway rather than per order?
Because each colourway needs its own yarn set-up, and that cost does not fall when another colourway's quantity rises. 300 pieces in one shade pays one set-up; 300 across three shades pays three.
How much yarn does a colourway set-up consume?
About 12 kg across threading and tension waste, which is roughly the yarn in 60 finished tote bodies at 320 g/m². On a 100-piece run that is about 12% by weight; on a 300-piece run, about 4%.
How long does a colourway set-up take?
About 90 minutes of bed time to bring the yarn up and stabilise tension, plus three to five set-up pieces knitted and measured before production pieces are counted, plus one operator tension check.
How much does splitting into three colourways cost?
About 9% more per unit than the same total in one colourway, because of three yarn set-ups rather than one. Whether that is worth paying depends on whether the bag needs colour choice at a fixture.
Why is a style split more expensive than a colourway split?
Because each style carries a knitting programme as well as a yarn set-up. Three styles of 100 typically cost about 14% more per unit than one style of 300, against about 9% for the equivalent colourway split.
Does the unit price fall much on a large order?
About 9% from 100 to 300 pieces and a further 7% from 300 to 1,000, with most of both coming from set-up amortisation. Yarn price per kilogram and labour per piece barely move, so there is little variable cost left to reduce.
Where do the volume steps sit?
Set-up amortisation is largely complete by about 500 pieces; above roughly 1,000 pieces the whole run can come from one dye lot; and the AQL-indexed inspection sample grows sub-linearly, so inspection cost per unit falls.
What can be consolidated across a programme?
The knitting programme across colourways, the trim set across styles, and the compliance screen across a season. What cannot be consolidated is physical: yarn set-ups, dye lots and per-style inspection records.
How does a carried-over style affect the minimum?
It reduces it in effect. A carried-over style has already paid its programming, so a re-order of 100 pieces in the same shade is a yarn set-up only rather than a new programme, which is the cleanest route to a smaller commitment.
How much does compliance add per unit?
About 4% of FOB at 100 pieces and about 0.4% at 1,000, because a substance screen is a fixed cost per programme. That is why consolidating the screen at programme level matters most on small orders.
What triggers a fresh compliance screen?
Any change: a new market, a new shade, a new trim or a new coating. Treating a change as a new item rather than a substitution is what keeps the screening cost predictable on a small programme.
What is the best order shape for a first programme?
One shape in two or three shades, at 100 pcs or more per shade. It pays one programme and two or three yarn set-ups, and defers the cost of additional programming until there is sell-through evidence.
How should a buyer plan around the minimum?
Decide the shape count first, then the colourway count, then the quantity per colourway. The set-up count is driven by how many style-and-colourway pairs exist, so reducing pairs is the main lever.
People Also Ask
Is 100 pcs enough for a first knitted bag order?
Yes for one style in one shade. But three colourways of a new style is 300 pieces, and two styles in three shades is 600, so plan the style-and-colourway pairs before the piece count.
Why is knit MOQ per colourway and not per order?
Because every colourway is a separate yarn set-up of about 12 kg of waste and 90 minutes of bed time. That cost is fixed per colourway regardless of how many pieces follow in another shade.
Can I split one order across several colourways?
Yes, at 100 pcs minimum per colourway. Three shades of 100 costs about 9% more per unit than one shade of 300, because of three yarn set-ups instead of one.
Do I get a big price break on a large knit order?
About 9% from 100 to 300 pieces and a further 7% to 1,000. Most of it is set-up amortisation; yarn and labour per piece barely move, so there is little variable cost left to reduce.
How do I reduce the cost of meeting MOQ?
Consolidate: share one programme across colourways, one trim set across styles and one compliance screen across a season. Those three remove cost without changing how many pieces you buy.
Sources and further reading
Every figure on this page is either our own programme data or attributed below. Open the originals before you write them into a specification.
- ISO 2859-1:2026 — Sampling procedures for inspection by attributes, Part 1: AQL-indexed sampling schemesISO Defines the AQL-indexed sample sizes quoted for 100, 300 and 1,000 piece orders.
- ISO 3801:1977 — Textiles, determination of mass per unit length and mass per unit areaISO The method behind the 320 g/m² conversion used to express set-up waste in finished bodies.
- Substances restricted under REACH (Annex XVII)ECHA The restriction list behind the fixed per-programme compliance screen discussed against order size.
- Recycled Claim Standard and Global Recycled StandardTextile Exchange Chain-of-custody standard relevant where a dye lot is shared across a season to meet the minimum.
- ISO 139:2005 — Textiles, standard atmospheres for conditioning and testingISO Defines the conditioning applied before set-up pieces are measured and accepted.
- Incoterms rulesInternational Chamber of Commerce Defines FOB, CIF and DDP, the terms under which the unit cost index is quoted.
The Minimum Is a Set-Up Number, Not a Sales Number
Everything about MOQ 100 pcs per style and per colourway follows from one physical fact: starting a colourway consumes yarn and bed time that no unit count recovers. Once that is understood, the planning rules follow — reduce pairs, share programmes, consolidate trim and screening, and defer additional shapes until a first one has proven itself.
For the sampling that follows a committed quantity, see knitted bag sampling workflow. For the brief that sets the quantity, see how to brief a knitted bag programme, and for the programme windows behind the quotation, see custom knit bags.