Low MOQ Sportswear Manufacturer: 20–25 Pieces Per Design

What is the minimum order at ZipaSports, and who does it apply to?

The minimum order at ZipaSports is 20–25 pieces per design, lower quantities are possible on request, and there is no MOQ limit for sportswear brands and companies. That is the whole policy, and it is the same whether you are a first-time founder in Manchester, a Sunday league secretary in Toronto or a gym owner in Perth ordering staff kit.

ZipaSports has run cut-and-sew and sublimation production in Sialkot, Pakistan since 2005, and the 20–25 figure is the quantity below which a separate fabric cut, print run and sewing changeover stop making sense for a one-off design. It is not a negotiating position. If you need fewer for a sample run or a small squad, ask; if you are an established brand reordering a live style, the floor no longer applies.

Why a cut-and-sew factory needs a minimum at all

What MOQ means

MOQ, minimum order quantity, is the smallest number of pieces a factory will make of one design in one production run. It exists because several costs in a made-to-order garment are paid once per design, not once per piece, and a very small run cannot absorb them.

At ZipaSports the per-design costs are concrete. Fabric is bought and cut by the roll length, so a design that needs its own colour, GSM or knit ties up a minimum cut regardless of how many garments come out of it. Sublimation artwork is printed onto transfer paper and run through a calender press, and the press has to be set, registered and test-pressed for every new file. Patterns are graded across the size range on the CAD system before cutting, and a sewing line is rebalanced for each new style. Each of those steps takes the same labour for 20 pieces as for 200.

A cut-and-sew factory that claims no minimum at all for a brand-new design is either subcontracting, printing on stock blanks or recovering the setup another way. The honest answer is a low, stated number, which for ZipaSports is 20–25 per design.

What fits inside one 20-piece order

One order of 20–25 pieces is one design in one garment type, and you can split it across any sizes you like. A design means one artwork on one pattern: a sublimated football shirt, a pair of nylon-spandex leggings in one colour, a hoodie with one embroidered chest logo. The sizes underneath it are free to move, from adult XS to 5XL, women's XS to 4XL and youth sizes, all inside the same 20.

The table shows one worked size breakdown. It is arithmetic, not a rule; send whatever ratio your customers need.

What does not fit inside one minimum is a second artwork or a second garment. A tee and a hoodie are two designs. A black legging and a navy legging are usually two designs as well, because each colour is a separate fabric cut or print file; tell us at the mockup stage if you want a colour split and we will confirm how it is counted for your order before you commit.

First-range maths for a new sportswear brand

A first range is commonly three to five styles, which at 20–25 pieces per design comes to 60–125 garments in total. That is enough stock to photograph, list and sell without tying up money in sizes that may not move.

A typical five-style activewear launch looks like this: high-waist leggings in nylon-spandex at 240–300 GSM with 12–20% elastane, a matching sports bra in the same fabric, a sublimated training tee in polyester interlock at 140–180 GSM, a pair of shorts in interlock or microfibre at 140–180 GSM, and a hoodie in cotton-polyester fleece at 280–350 GSM. A fightwear launch swaps the leggings and bra for a rash guard at 180–220 GSM and fight shorts. A teamwear brand starts with a home shirt, an away shirt and shorts.

Founders planning a range from scratch should read the startup brands page for the full workflow and MOQ explained for apparel startups for the reasoning behind the numbers.

Per-design minimums versus per-order minimums: the difference that matters

ZipaSports applies its minimum per design, not per order, and there is no separate order-level floor on top of it. Some factories quote a per-order minimum, say a few hundred pieces across everything, which forces a startup to over-buy one style to reach the total. Others quote per design but then add a per-colour or per-size minimum underneath. Neither applies here: 20–25 of a design, in whatever sizes, is the only number.

The practical effect is that a brand can add a fourth style for another 20–25 pieces rather than another few hundred, and can drop a style that is not selling without disturbing the others. Every design is quoted separately after the free mockup, so the total is visible before you approve anything.

How the minimum works with private label and reorders

Private-label branding is available at the 20–25 piece minimum; it is not reserved for larger orders. Woven neck labels, printed size tags, hang tags and branded polybags or boxes are added to the order at the mockup stage, and the garments leave Sialkot carrying only your brand. The detail is on the private label page and the labels, tags and packaging page.

Reorders are where the policy changes in your favour. Once a design has been produced, its pattern, grading, print file and label spec are on file. A brand that has already launched with ZipaSports is treated as an established sportswear brand, and established brands and companies have no MOQ limit: you can top up a single style in the sizes that sold out, or add a new colourway in a small run to test it, without returning to the 20–25 floor.

• First order of a new design: 20–25 pieces, mixed sizes.
• Sample run or test batch before that: lower on request.
• Reorder of a live design by an established brand: any quantity.
• Labels and packaging: available from the first order.

Low-MOQ cut and sew compared with print-on-demand and blanks

A new brand has three ways to get product made in small numbers: a low-MOQ cut-and-sew factory, a print-on-demand service, or buying stock blanks and adding a label. Each is a legitimate route; they differ in how much of the garment is yours.

Print-on-demand suits an untested graphic tee idea; cut and sew is the route once the garment itself is the reason people buy.

MOQ by product category

The 20–25 piece minimum is the same across every category ZipaSports manufactures, and mixed sizes are allowed within one design in all of them. The fabric ranges differ, and so does what counts as a design, so the table links to each category hub.

For a jersey-only order, the low MOQ custom jerseys page covers names, numbers and home-and-away counting in detail.

What to send for a small first order, and the Quality Guarantee

A small first order needs less than founders expect. A logo file and a garment description is enough for the studio in Sialkot to produce a free digital mockup within 24 hours. A physical sample follows in 5–7 days at sample cost, credited against bulk; bulk production takes 15–25 business days after approval (express 7–12 days at additional cost); DHL, FedEx or UPS deliver to the UK, USA, Canada, Australia or Europe in 5–10 days.

Quality Guarantee: if any garment arrives with a manufacturing defect, we remake it free of charge — the remake goes into production within 3 days of your report. Print faults, stitching faults and wrong sizes against the approved specification qualify; report them with photos within 7 days of delivery. Made-to-order garments carrying your labels cannot be returned for change of mind. Terms: Quality Guarantee page.