What Does MOQ Mean? Minimum Order Quantity Explained

MOQ stands for minimum order quantity: the smallest order a supplier will accept. It is set either as a number of units, such as 50 pieces per style, or as an order value, and it exists so that every order covers the supplier’s setup and handling costs.

Below are the two kinds of minimum, how a supplier works one out, and how to check whether a minimum fits your store before you order. For wholesale orders from BrandsGateway, the minimum is an order value of €1,000, made up of whichever products and sizes you choose.

What does MOQ mean?

MOQ is short for minimum order quantity. You meet it on supplier price lists, line sheets, wholesale pages and quotes. “MOQ 50” means you must order at least 50 units in one order, usually of one style.

It is a business-to-business term. Manufacturers and wholesale suppliers set it for retailers who buy stock to resell. A supplier with no minimum will sell you a single piece, though usually at a higher unit price than one that asks for 500.

Read the small print next to the number. The same “50” can count per order, per style, per color, or per size, and each of those changes what you spend.

Units or order value: the two kinds of MOQ

Unit-based minimums

The supplier sets a number of pieces. In clothing and shoes, this is often per style or per color, and sometimes per size. Some suppliers sell in packs or size runs: one pack might hold one piece each in sizes S to XL, and you order whole packs. Others sell in multiples, such as boxes of 12.

Value-based minimums

The supplier sets a minimum spend instead. To turn it into units, divide it by the price per unit:

Minimum units = minimum order value ÷ price per unit

Illustrative example: a supplier asks for €2,000 per order, and the jacket you want costs €80 wholesale. €2,000 ÷ €80 = 25 jackets.

When an order can mix products, only the total counts. Illustrative example: 12 T-shirts at €35 come to €420, and 8 pairs of sneakers at €75 come to €600. Together that is €1,020, which clears a €1,000 minimum with 20 pieces across two products, rather than 25 of one jacket.

First-order and tiered minimums

The minimum is not always the same for every buyer. Shopify’s guide to MOQs (updated May 27, 2026; checked October 2026) describes first-time buyers facing a higher minimum, to cover opening the account and checking credit, and tiered minimums that come down for long-standing customers. If a first quote looks high, ask what the minimum is on a reorder.

Why suppliers set a minimum order quantity

Many of a supplier’s costs come per order, not per piece. Setting up a production run, cutting fabric, picking and packing, invoicing, and booking a shipment cost much the same for 10 pieces as for 100. A small order can cost more to process than it earns.

That is the trade you are choosing between. A low minimum often comes with a higher unit price, and a lower unit price often comes with a higher minimum. Neither is better by default. It depends on how much stock you can sell and how much cash you can tie up while you do.

How to calculate MOQ

There is no single formula for a unit minimum. Each supplier sets its own from its own costs. What you can calculate is the floor a supplier usually starts from, and whether a given minimum works for your store.

The supplier’s side: break-even per order

An order is worth taking once each piece’s contribution covers the fixed cost of the order:

Minimum quantity = fixed costs per order ÷ (price per unit − variable cost per unit)

Illustrative example: a manufacturer spends €600 on each order to set up the cutting, sample and pack. It sells a shirt for €25, and the fabric, trims and labor for one shirt cost €13. Each shirt contributes €25 − €13 = €12. €600 ÷ €12 = 50 shirts. Below 50, the order loses money, so the price list says “MOQ 50 per style”.

Your side: can you sell it through?

Now the question changes: can you sell that quantity at full price before the season ends? Use your own sales history for similar products. With none, start from a small test order, or from a supplier whose minimum lets you buy less.

Illustrative example: you buy those 50 shirts at €25, which is €1,250, and sell them at €60. You need 21 sales at full price just to get the €1,250 back, because 20 sales bring in only €1,200. Sell 30 and you have €1,800 in, €550 ahead before your other costs, with 20 shirts still on the shelf.

If the minimum is above what you can sell through, the extra pieces are cost, not stock. Discounting them later to clear space eats the margin you bought them for. Here is how to deal with overstock inventory if it happens anyway.

Your budget: open to buy

Open to buy (OTB) is the budget left for new stock in a period, once you count what you already hold and have on order. Check each minimum against it. If a supplier’s minimum is larger than your open to buy, the order waits, or you buy elsewhere. Review the figure as sales come in, not once a season.

MOQ vs EOQ

The two are easy to mix up, and they answer different questions. MOQ is the smallest order the supplier allows. EOQ, economic order quantity, is the order size that keeps your own costs of ordering and holding stock lowest.

Shopify gives the EOQ formula as EOQ = √(2DS ÷ H), where D is annual demand in units, S is the cost per order, and H is the holding cost per unit per year.

Illustrative example: you sell 1,200 units a year, each order costs you €50 to place and receive, and holding one unit for a year costs €3. 2 × 1,200 × €50 = 120,000. Divided by 3, that is 40,000, and the square root of 40,000 is 200. Your economic order is 200 units.

Then compare it with the minimum. If the supplier’s MOQ is 50, order around 200. If it is 300, you cannot order fewer than 300, so you will hold stock for longer and pay more to store it. That extra cost belongs in the price you compare suppliers on.

How to work with a high MOQ

• Negotiate the shape of the order. Ask for a smaller first order, for permission to mix styles or colors to reach the minimum, or for fewer pieces at a higher unit price. Suppliers often say yes to one of the three.
• Spend the minimum on what already sells. Put it into styles with a sales record. Drop slow sellers, and resist near-identical colorways: demand for the fifth color of the same shirt is easy to overestimate.
• Price for sell-through before you order. Work out the price at which the full quantity sells, and what is left after cost. Markup vs margin explains the two numbers, and here is what a good wholesale profit margin looks like.
• Buy from a multi-brand supplier instead of the manufacturer. When one style’s minimum is beyond your budget, a supplier that holds stock from many brands lets you spread the same budget over more styles. This guide to buying wholesale covers what to check.
• Pay on time. A buyer who reorders and pays when due has more to negotiate with than one who does not, and lower reorder minimums are where that shows.

Minimum order at BrandsGateway

We supply branded and designer clothing, shoes, bags, and accessories: over 47,000 products from over 700 brands. All products are 100% authentic and come with original tags, bought from the brands, their licensees, or official distributors.

Wholesale orders have a minimum order of €1,000. It is a minimum by value, with no quantity per style: you choose the products and sizes that make it up, across brands. You need a free account and no subscription to see wholesale prices and order. Here is how to buy wholesale from BrandsGateway.

Traders can export a filtered selection of the catalog as a packing list, which helps when you plan an order to the minimum. If you would rather not pick item by item, stocklots are predefined selections sold as one lot.

If you would rather not hold stock at all, dropshipping works per order. With an active subscription, you order each item after your customer buys it, and we ship it directly to them. The plans are on our plans and prices page, and dropshipping vs wholesale compares the two.