MOQ & Size Run Planner: Plan a 10-Piece Custom Sportswear Run
Most first orders do not fail on price. They fail on a size curve nobody thought about. A buyer asks for ten pieces, we ask which sizes, and the answer arrives three emails later as a list with one piece in XS, none in 3XL and no way to photograph the missing size. This planner exists to stop that conversation before it starts.
It was put together by the design and production team at Fexwear. Since 2010 we have run our own factory with in-house knitting, cut-and-sew, sublimation, embroidery and QC, and we have spent most of that time working with small and medium sportswear businesses rather than large wholesale accounts. Our minimum starts at ten pieces per style and colour, shipping to 30 countries. The questions below are the ones our sample room actually asks, written down and turned into a calculator.
Enter your styles and colours, choose a size range and a starting curve, and the planner will show you exactly how those ten pieces land across each size, where the gaps are, and what your first enquiry should say. Everything runs in your browser: no account, no upload, no email capture, no data sent to a server. It is a planning tool, not a quote.
What ten pieces really buys you
A low minimum is only useful if you know what you are testing. Use the facts below as a starting frame, then build your own run in the planner underneath.
Build your size run
Add one style or several, list the colours you want, set the pieces per style and colour, then pick the sizes you intend to stock. The table updates as you type. When it looks right, copy the RFQ brief and paste it into our quote form, or download the CSV for your own records. Nothing is stored anywhere except in this browser.
MOQ & size-run planner
Fexwear’s minimum is 10 pieces per style and colour — per design, not per order. This planner shows how those pieces actually land across your size range, then turns the result into a brief you can send us. No account, no upload, no quote implied.
1 · Styles & colours
Separate colours with commas. Each style × colour is one 10-piece minimum.
2 · Quantity & sizes
Fexwear MOQ: 10 pieces per style and colour.
3 · Size curve
Indicative starting points only. Replace these with your own sell-through data as soon as you have it.
4 · Add to your enquiry
Privacy: everything runs in your browser. Your inputs stay on this device (saved locally so you can come back to them) and are never sent to a server. Use Reset to clear them.
Your size run
RFQ brief preview
Why the size run matters more when the MOQ is small
On a 2,000-piece order, a buyer allocates sizes from last season’s sell-through data. On a ten-piece order there is no data yet, and every single piece carries weight. One misplaced unit is ten per cent of the run. If XS receives zero pieces, there is no XS garment to photograph, no XS to put on a fit model, and no way to check whether the graded block behaves on the smallest body in the range before you commit to a reorder.
This is the practical reason we ask about sizes early. Ten pieces spread over XS to 3XL will always leave gaps — the arithmetic does not allow seven non-zero sizes with a ten-piece minimum unless you accept a very uneven curve. The honest options are to narrow the first run to the sizes you actually expect to sell (often S to XL), to raise the pieces per style and colour to 20 or 30, or to run fewer styles with deeper stock. Which one is right depends on whether you are testing a silhouette, a fabric, a colour, or a price point.
For marketplace sellers, the range breadth decision is usually the more expensive one. Our wholesale programme for Shopify and Amazon sellers covers why fewer styles with deeper stock tends to outperform a wide first drop, and our sizing and measurement blueprint explains what a graded block needs to describe: finished-garment measurements, not body measurements.
How Fexwear’s minimum actually works
- 10 pieces per style and colourNot 10 pieces for the whole order. Each additional colour is an additional minimum.
- Sample cost is creditedSample cost is credited against your first bulk order, so sampling is not a separate sunk cost.
- Fabric is specified before it is pricedWe hold 50+ BSCI test certified fabrics in stock; the specification comes before the number.
- Setup is per styleEvery extra style and size adds pattern, panel-change and setup time — see the full manufacturing service range.
How this planner divides the pieces
The planner uses the largest-remainder method. Each size is given a share of the ten pieces proportional to its weight in the curve; the whole-number part is assigned first, then the remaining pieces go one at a time to the sizes with the largest fractional remainders. That guarantees the row always adds up exactly to the number you entered. Plain rounding does not — it can quietly give you nine or eleven pieces, which is the kind of small error that becomes a packing discrepancy later.
The five starting curves are deliberately generic. Balanced suits general activewear, the US marketplace curve is weighted more heavily through the middle, the EU studio and youth curves lean smaller, and the even split ignores weighting entirely. They are starting points drawn from common retail distributions, not proprietary sales data and not a promise about your market. A garment that works in a European studio and one that works in a US marketplace are often different garments, usually in sizing and fabric weight rather than in design. If you already know your own sell-through, choose Custom weights and enter your own numbers.
Where a size ends up with zero pieces, the planner says so rather than hiding it. It also flags a first run spread across six or more SKUs, because that is where a small budget stops producing a clear answer. The four summary cards — styles, SKUs, pieces per style and colour, and total pieces — are the same numbers our team will read when your enquiry arrives.
What to send us after you plan
The RFQ brief produced by the tool is structured around the five things we ask for in a first enquiry: the style, the fabric, the quantity, the delivery date and the destination country. The size run and SKU breakdown come from the planner; the other fields are left for you to fill or to confirm with us. Destination belongs in the first message because air and sea freight lead times are not interchangeable, and we ship to 30 countries.
We do not put a price on a garment before the fabric is specified. Fabric choice is by far the largest cost lever, followed by decoration method, range breadth, and packaging and shipping. Embroidery, for example, is priced by stitch count rather than by area, so a small left-chest logo and a full back graphic can differ three-fold on the same garment. These are the trade-offs our fabric selection guide and printing methods guide were written to explain.
From size run to approved sample to bulk
Who this planner is for
It is built for people placing a first or an early reorder: Shopify and Amazon sellers testing a range, independent studios and yoga or gym brands building a first drop, teamwear and event buyers who need names and numbers applied in the same production run, and anyone who has a reference garment but no tech pack. You do not need to be an expert in apparel to use it — you need to know what you are trying to sell and who for.
It is not the right tool if you need an exact price today, live freight rates, inventory availability, or a place to upload artwork. Those require a conversation and a costed quote, not a calculator. If you are looking for a category rather than a calculation, start with activewear, gym wear or teamwear, each of which carries its own fabric and decoration specification.
Limits, and what we will not claim
- Not a quoteA price below a certain level on a given fabric is not a better deal — it is a different garment. A costed quote follows once fabric and decoration are specified.
- Curves are not your dataAll five presets are indicative starting points. Use your own sell-through as soon as you have it.
- Sizing is confirmed on the sampleGrading increments, tolerances and finished-garment measurements are finalised on the approved sample, not in this planner.
- Your artwork, your trademarkWe produce to your artwork; we cannot advise on whether a mark is yours to use. Trademark registration is your responsibility.
- No data leaves your browserNo account, no upload, no server storage. Drafts stay in this browser’s local storage until you press Reset.
- Not a substitute for a tech packThe brief is a starting point for an enquiry. Our sizing blueprint covers what a full tech pack contains.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 10-piece minimum per order or per design?
Per style and colour. It is genuinely per design rather than per order, so you can develop four styles at ten pieces each instead of ordering forty of one. Sample cost is credited against your first bulk order.
Can I mix sizes within the ten pieces?
Yes. The ten pieces are allocated across whatever size range you choose. That is exactly what this planner does — and why ten pieces across seven sizes will usually leave one or two sizes empty.
What should I do when a size ends up with zero pieces?
Either narrow the size range for the first run or increase the pieces per style and colour. A run with gaps cannot tell you how the graded block behaves at that size. There is no wrong answer, but it is a decision worth making before the sample is cut, not after.
Do I need a tech pack before I use this?
No. You can start with a sketch, a reference garment or a product you already sell well, and we will reverse-engineer it rather than guess. The brief this tool produces is a structured way to start that conversation; the sizing blueprint explains what to add later.
Does the planner give me a price?
No. Fabric is specified before it is priced, and a real quote also depends on decoration method, range breadth, packaging and destination. Use the planner to work out quantities, then request a costed quote.
Can I use my own size curve?
Yes. Choose Custom weights and enter a weight for each selected size. The weights are relative, so 10 / 20 / 30 behaves the same as 1 / 2 / 3. Only the proportions matter.
What happens to the data I type in?
It stays in your browser. Draft inputs are saved to this browser’s local storage so you can come back to them, and Reset clears them. Nothing is transmitted to Fexwear or to any third party, and the tool loads no external scripts, fonts or trackers.
Which size range should a first run use?
It depends on your market. We build youth-adult and mens-womens grading blocks across XS to 3XL, but a first test run is often more informative with four or five sizes and more pieces in each. If you are selling into a specific region, tell us the destination in your first enquiry and we will give you an honest read on the range.
Further reading from our team
These guides were written by the same team that samples the garments. They go deeper than a calculator can, and they are the pages we send buyers most often.
More free planning tools
This planner covers minimums and size curves. Five companion tools take the next steps: matching a fabric to a decoration method, writing a quote-ready enquiry, understanding what moves your unit cost, working backwards from a launch date, and pricing your own landed margin. All six run entirely in your browser, and nothing you type is uploaded to a server.
About the team behind this tool
Fexwear was founded in 2010 and runs a self-owned factory with in-house knitting, cut-and-sew, sublimation, embroidery and QC. We hold 50+ BSCI test certified fabrics in stock, build dedicated youth-adult and mens-womens grading blocks, and ship retail-ready, barcoded cartons to 30 countries by air or sea. Our ten design specialists work from local market needs, and the same team that samples your garment is the team advising on it. That is why this planner is written the way it is: practical, specific, and willing to tell you when a plan will not work.