Around 500 pieces per style per colour is where most compliant export factories in Bangladesh become comfortable. That figure is not a sales position and it is not arbitrary. Every colour needs its own dye lot and its own cutting layout regardless of how many pieces you order, so fabric minimums, colour minimums and style minimums all converge at roughly the same place.
Below it, the arithmetic is unforgiving. Markers, machine setup, line changeover and fabric booking cost about the same whether the run is 300 pieces or 3,000, so a small order carries that overhead across fewer units — typically 15 to 30 percent above standard pricing. Any factory quoting you a small minimum at volume pricing is absorbing that somewhere, and it is worth knowing where.
Be sceptical of advertised 50-piece minimums
They exist, and they are usually one of three things. Stock garments with your label heat-pressed on, which is not custom manufacturing. A sampling room rather than a production line, which will not scale when your range works. Or a unit price so far above market that the low minimum is really the product being sold. None of those is necessarily wrong for a first test — but you should know which one you are buying before you commit a season to it.
What we actually offer
Rather than pretend our 500-piece minimum is flexible, we built the capability separately. Collective Studio, our group company, runs knitwear from 150 pieces per style and colour — a genuine production line set up for short runs, with the same merchandising discipline, the same quality gates and the same worldwide DDP delivery.
- From 150 pieces per style, per colour.
- About 10 days of sampling, then 40–50 days of production once the sample is approved, plus freight.
- Organic cotton on request: ask for the factory's GOTS licence number and check it in the GOTS public database before you order.
- The same sampling process — proto, fit and pre-production — as a full-scale order.
- A clear path up: when a style proves out, it moves to Belle Vouz volume production without re-engineering the pattern.
That last point is the reason to start here rather than with a random small-batch supplier. The pattern, the fit and the material specification all carry across when your volumes grow, so scaling is a purchase-order decision rather than a redevelopment project.
“A supplier who tells you 500 is negotiable is either quoting something other than custom production, or has not costed it honestly.”
Common questions
Why do you route small orders to Collective Studio instead of just accepting them here?
Because a 150-piece run on a factory set up for 500-plus is a bad deal for both of us. Setup costs are the same whether the run is 150 or 2,000, so the unit price on a small order at a volume factory is either inflated to cover them or subsidised by the factory in the hope of a bigger order later. Collective Studio is set up for short runs: knitwear from 150 pieces per style and colour, priced honestly for that quantity. It is a different production model, not a discount on ours, and routing you there is more useful than accepting an order we would quote badly.
Is the quality the same at 150 pieces as at 5,000?
The standards are the same — the same inspection stages, the same AQL tolerance, the same fabric certification. What differs is the economics. A short run carries its fixed costs across fewer units, so the price per piece is higher, and it usually runs on stock fabric qualities rather than a custom development, because a mill will not develop a colour for 150 garments. If you need a custom fabric or a very specific hand-feel at 150 pieces, tell us — sometimes it can be done, and sometimes the honest answer is that the quantity does not support it yet.
Can I start at 150 pieces and move to bulk with the same pattern?
Yes, and it is the route we would suggest for a new brand. Prove the style at 150 through Collective Studio, then bring the approved pattern and the sales data to us for a 500-plus run. The pattern, grading and fit corrections carry over, so you do not repeat development; what changes is the fabric booking, the factory, and the unit price, which drops meaningfully at volume. Brands that do this arrive at their first bulk order knowing which sizes sell and which colourway did not, which is worth more than any saving on the first run.
Questions that apply to every arrangement
What is the difference between FOB, CMT and full package?
They differ on who buys the materials, which changes everything else. Under CMT you supply the fabric and trims and pay only for cutting, making and trimming — the lowest headline rate, because it excludes the largest cost in the garment. Under full package, quoted FOB, we buy everything and hand you finished goods loaded onto the vessel, so you get one comparable number and one accountable party. FOB is what most brands should quote, particularly first-time importers, because fabric is 38 to 52 percent of a garment's cost and sourcing it badly from another continent is the most expensive mistake available. If you compare a CMT rate against someone's FOB price without adding your fabric cost back in, you are not comparing the same thing.
Which service should I choose?
If you do not have mill relationships in Asia, start with full package — it puts material sourcing on the party who does it daily. If your brand depends on a specific fabric you have developed or certified yourself, CMT or nominated fabric gives you that control. If you want to move fast from an idea to a sellable range, private label starts from proven blocks and cuts sampling rounds. If the product itself is your differentiator and needs to be legally yours, that is OEM. And if you cannot commit 500 pieces yet, start at 150 through Collective Studio and move up when a style proves out. Tell us your situation and we will tell you which of these fits, including when the answer is that we are not the right supplier.
Can I mix services across one order?
Yes, and it is more common than you would think. A range often runs full package on most styles with one nominated fabric where the brand has a specific mill relationship, or private label on the core basics with OEM on the one signature piece that has to be original. What matters is that the arrangement is written down per style before costing, because the price basis, the risk allocation and the lead time all differ. Ambiguity about which model a style is running under is where disputes start.
Do you charge for samples?
Yes — roughly $200 to $600 per style across development, fit and pre-production rounds, with much of it non-refundable, though we credit it against bulk on committed orders. Charging properly for sampling is deliberate. A free sample is paid for somewhere, usually in a rushed development cycle or a unit price you will not notice until later. Paying for a real sampling process is how a fit problem gets found on one garment rather than on two thousand, at which point it stops being a sampling cost and becomes rework, air freight and markdowns.