Yarn minimums and garment MOQ: choosing stock or custom colours for knitwear

Ask which minimum applies to the yarn offer

Request separate written conditions for garments and yarn. For garments, clarify the minimum by style and colour; for yarn, ask whether the quoted minimum applies per article, colour, dyeing batch or total purchase, with units stated. Identify whether the colour is available stock, awaiting replenishment or a new custom-colour request. Ask for confirmed usable quantity, offer validity and any small-lot charge. UPW’s public stock-service description gives a minimum by colour, illustrating why a material offer needs its own quantity basis. That supplier’s terms are not WTBF terms or proof that a particular yarn is available for your order. Compare actual written alternatives, not an assumed universal yarn minimum.

UPW: stock-service quantity basis↗

Combine material needs only after confirming compatibility

Two navy styles do not automatically share one yarn purchase. Confirm yarn article, composition, count, colour reference and usable lot allocation, then approve each garment’s construction and finishing. Use trial-confirmed gross consumption for the actual size mix, with agreed allowances included once. Hypothetical example: style A needs 300 garments at an assumed average 0.30 kg each, while style B needs 200 at 0.20 kg: 90 + 40 = 130 kg. With 20 kg of approved, unallocated stock, the new requirement is 110 kg. If the hypothetical offer requires buying at least 150 kg, buying that amount leaves a planned 40 kg after this order. These are assumptions, not WTBF consumption data, minimums or guaranteed output. Recalculate if quantities or specifications change.

Choose the full purchase scope, not extra garments by default

If available, compare a stock-colour proposal, a custom-colour minimum purchase and a smaller yarn lot with a separately quoted charge. Include material, sampling, agreed services, transport and any storage costs on the same basis; check what the garment price already includes so yarn is not charged twice. A different stock yarn or colour still needs buyer approval and any required resampling. Do not increase garment quantities merely to absorb surplus yarn without a separate buying decision. Agree who owns the remainder, where it is held, stock reporting, release conditions and its treatment if the order changes or no reorder follows. Send WTBF the style-colour-size breakdown, yarn priorities, acceptable colour flexibility, destination and required arrival date. Request the material options and surplus-stock terms with the production quotation; confirm dates against actual material availability and capacity.