Minimum order quantity (MOQ)

Every screen print shop draws a line called minimum order quantity, or MOQ — the floor it sets per design before it will run the job at all, commonly 24 to 48 pieces, since burning screens and mixing ink only pays off once volume covers the setup labor behind them. Digital methods like DTG or DTF flip that math: because there's no screen to burn, plenty of shops will print a single shirt with an MOQ of one.

For buyers, MOQ is often the real decision point in choosing a decoration method, more than price per shirt. A 12-piece family reunion order usually gets routed straight to DTF or DTG instead of screens, because no shop wants to burn four screens for a run that small — even though screen printing would come out cheaper per shirt at 100 pieces of the same design.

If an order sits right below a shop's stated MOQ, ask what the options are: some shops offer DTG or DTF as a workaround, others charge a less-than-minimum fee to run it through screens anyway. Combining several small designs onto one screen setup, using the same ink colors with different art per size, is another way shops absorb a below-MOQ order.

The common mistake is assuming MOQ exists purely to protect a shop's profit margin. It's really a break-even line: below it, per-shirt setup costs from screens, film positives, and press time outweigh any reasonable per-piece price, so the shop either declines the job, adds an LTM fee, or reroutes it to a method built for low volume.