What 100 pieces of private label yoga wear actually costs

Everyone quotes “MOQ 100 pieces”. What that actually costs you — and what it does not include — is where most first collections go wrong.

This is a cost breakdown of a 100-piece private label run, the way we quote it, with the numbers we use in real quotations. It is not a price list; fabric and decoration move the total a lot. It is the structure you need to compare suppliers fairly.

What MOQ 100 really means

On a stocked fabric and an existing pattern, 100 pieces per style and colour is a genuine minimum — the cutting room can lay it, and the dye lot is already fixed. Three things change that number:

• A new colour — Pantone matching usually starts at 300 pieces per colour, because the mill has a minimum dye batch.
• A new pattern — 500 pieces is typical, to cover pattern development and grading.
• A decorated garment — silicone print, embroidery or a custom zip bag adds a set-up cost that is charged once, then amortised.

The five cost lines

1. Fabric

The largest single line, usually 35–45% of the FOB price. A butter-soft 75/25 nylon-spandex at 230 gsm costs materially more than a 78/22 polyester at 220 gsm — often 25–35% more per metre. On a legging using about 0.9 m, that difference is the whole margin on a low-price order.

2. Cutting, sewing and finishing

Roughly 30–40%. It is driven by the number of panels, the seam type and the trims. A legging with a gusset, a double-layer waistband and a hidden pocket has more operations than a plain one, and the make-up cost reflects it even at the same fabric price.

3. Trims and branding

Woven labels, care labels, size labels, hangtags, polybags, silicone logo. At low volume these are small in total but disproportionate per unit, because each artwork has a plate or set-up charge. Budget them once, correctly, rather than adding them after the first sample.

4. Sampling

One sample is usually free or refunded against a bulk order above 500 pieces; extra rounds and courier are charged. Expect to pay courier in both directions if you are comparing several suppliers.

5. Freight, duty and landed cost

FOB Xiamen is where our price stops. Add air freight (fast, expensive, good for a first small run) or sea freight (cheap, 30–45 days door to door), plus duty and VAT in your market. A 100-piece order is often cheaper to fly than to sit in a container port for six weeks — check both before you decide.

A worked example

100 high-waist leggings, one colour, butter-soft 75/25 at 230 gsm, custom woven label and silicone logo, existing pattern:

Line	Share of FOB
Fabric	35–45%
Cut, sew, finish	30–40%
Trims and branding	5–8%
QC, packing, inland freight	4–6%
Our margin	8–12%

Ask any supplier to break their price into these lines. A quote that arrives as one number with no breakdown usually hides which line they are cutting — and that is the line that will disappoint you later.

Where the money actually goes wrong

• Sampling in the wrong fabric. Approving a sample in a lighter fabric than the bulk order, then discovering the bulk is translucent. Fix the fabric before the sample, not after.
• Forgetting the label cost at sample stage. A woven label with four colours and a fold is not the same cost as a printed one. Decide at sample stage.
• Ordering 100 of three colours. The per-colour minimum turns a 100-piece order into 300. Confirm the split before you sign.
• Ignoring the dye lot. A 300-piece dye batch split across two runs will not match. If you plan to reorder, ask for the dye lot number and keep fabric reserved.

Timeline for a first 100-piece order

Stage	Duration	What you do
Brief and quote	2–3 days	Send styles, quantities, market, target price
Fabric and trim selection	3–5 days	Approve swatches, labels, packaging artwork
Sampling	3–5 days + courier	Test fit, colour, opacity on a physical sample
Sample revision	3–5 days	One round is normal; two means the brief was thin
Bulk production	25–35 days	First-piece approval, in-line QC photos
Inspection and dispatch	3–5 days	AQL 2.5 report, packing list, FOB or DDP

Realistically: eight to ten weeks from brief to landing, if nothing is changed after sample approval.

Five questions that expose a bad quote

1. “Which fabric, at what gsm, from which mill?” — a category is not a specification.
2. “What is the MOQ per colour, and what does a Pantone match cost?”
3. “What is included in this price — labels, polybag, inspection, inland freight?”
4. “What is the lead time for a repeat order on stocked fabric?”
5. “What happens if the bulk does not match the approved sample?”

A supplier who answers these with numbers is worth a sample. One who answers with adjectives is not.

Send your brief and we will come back with the five-line breakdown for your styles — fabric, make-up, trims, QC and freight — rather than a single number.