MOQ.
aka minimum order quantity, minimum order, min. order
The smallest order a supplier will bother to make for you.
What it actually means
MOQ, minimum order quantity, is the lowest number of units, or the lowest order value, a supplier will accept. It exists because starting a production run has fixed costs: setting up machines, buying materials, printing packaging. Below a certain quantity the run is not worth the supplier's time.
A factory might quote an MOQ of 500 units per colour. Want three colours and you are buying 1,500 units before you know whether anyone wants one. For a new seller, MOQ is often the real barrier to having an own-brand product, more than the unit price.
MOQs are more negotiable than they look. Suppliers lower them for a higher unit price, for standard materials they already stock, or for a buyer who seems likely to reorder. Wholesale marketplaces for independent shops work the other way round and advertise very low minimums as their selling point.
Where you'll hear it
Their MOQ is 1,000 a style, but they will do 300 for the first run at 15% more per unit.
Translation: the minimum was an opening position. We pay a bit more per piece and risk a third of the stock.
Also on every product listing on B2B platforms, in supplier quotations next to price and lead time, and in the first uncomfortable spreadsheet of any private-label project.
The pop-culture version
You want one slice. The bakery only sells whole cakes, because once the oven is on and the tin is filled, a slice costs them almost as much trouble as the cake.
You can buy the whole cake and hope you find people to eat it. You can pay over the odds at a café that sells slices. Or you can talk the baker into a half-size cake at a slightly higher price per slice.
MOQ is the whole-cake rule. Every sourcing decision is some version of those three choices.
A low unit price with a high MOQ is not cheap if half the stock never sells. The right first order is the smallest one that still teaches you something.
Say it like you mean it
“MOQ is 300 a style at 4.60, or 1,000 at 4.00. We are taking 300 to test.”
Shows the trade between unit price and risk and makes a choice.“We got a great price.”
At what quantity? A price without its MOQ is half a quote.Never compare two supplier prices without their MOQs and delivery terms beside them. The cheapest unit is often the most expensive order.
Supplier types, MOQs, Incoterms, vetting and what to negotiate.
Decoded next
Decoded by the Kurums editorial team. Kurums Decoded translates the language of business for people who are new to it. Definitions are kept short on purpose; the serious version above goes deep. Nothing here is financial, legal or career advice.
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