Low MOQ socks: 200 pairs a colour, 120 if you need it.
The minimum order is the first thing a small brand asks a sock factory, and the answer is usually vague. Ours is 200 pairs per colour. This page sets out exactly how that works, what moves it, and what a first order costs before a single pair ships.
The rules, in one table.
They apply to every construction we knit in-house, which is every one in the catalogue except toe socks.
| Standard minimum | 200 pairs per colour, per size range. |
| Lowest minimum | 120 pairs per colour, at a higher price per pair. |
| Size ranges | Women 35–40 and men 40–45 as standard. A colour can be split into more sizes within its range, at a higher price per pair. |
| Knitted-in logo | Does not change the minimum. |
| Repeat orders | Same minimum as the first order. |
| Stock yarn colours | Do not lower the minimum. Every colour is a colour to set up, whoever chose it. |
| Several designs | Welcome in one order, as long as each colour reaches 200 pairs. |
| Labels and packaging | Below 3,000 pairs you send your labels and header cards and we fit them. From 3,000 pairs with one label design, we have them printed for you after your approval. |
| Sample | USD 100 per design on a first order. Programming is included, so there is no setup fee, and the 100 dollars is credited against the order if it goes ahead. |
| Sample time | 10 to 20 days, depending on the production load. |
| Production | Delivered within 60 days of sample approval. Urgent small runs in 20 to 40 days. |
What that looks like in pairs.
The minimum multiplies by colours and size ranges, not by designs.
One design, one colour, one size range. The smallest standard order.
One design in three colours, one size range. A typical first capsule.
Two colours across women's 35–40 and men's 40–45. A unisex drop.
One colour below the standard minimum, to test a design before committing. A little more per pair.
Why a factory has a minimum at all.
A minimum is not a sales tactic. It is the point below which setting up a run costs more than knitting it.
Every colour is a setup. Yarn has to be bought and set up on the machine for each colour, and that work is the same for 120 pairs as for 12,000.
Every design is a program. A knitted-in logo or pattern is drawn stitch by stitch, programmed into the machine and proved on a sample. We fold that into the USD 100 sample rather than charging for it again.
So going lower costs more per pair, not more in total. Below 200 the same setup is spread over fewer pairs. That is why 120 is possible and priced a little higher, and why we say so up front.
Who orders at these quantities.
Small runs are the normal order here, not an exception granted reluctantly.
A first collection in two or three colourways, without a warehouse-sized bet on which one sells.
A sock to sit next to an existing range, in its colours and under its label.
Limited editions and test runs that can be repeated quickly if they sell.
Club colours and crest for a squad, a season or a supporters' shop.
Branded socks for staff, gifting and events, where the quantity is set by a headcount.
A house sock under the shop's own name, in quantities a single store can sell.
White label or private label?
Both, from the same minimum.
White label means starting from a construction we already knit, a crew, an ankle, a sport sock, and changing the colours, the logo and the packaging. It is the quickest route to a first order because most decisions are already made. How white label works.
Private label means bringing your own design or technical file, or building one with us, and we knit to it. More freedom, and usually one more look at the sample.
Either way the sock carries your name only, and the minimum is 200 pairs per colour.
Send the quantity with the design.
Tell us how many pairs you have in mind when you first write. We will say in the first reply whether it runs as a standard order, as an order at the lower minimum, or not at all, rather than sending you a price list to decode. Send a brief.