Setting a minimum order quantity
Your minimum is a commercial decision disguised as a technical one. How to work out where it belongs.
An MOQ exists because setup costs the same regardless of run length. Below some volume you lose money no matter what you charge, because the fixed cost of a clean, a changeover and the first units to waste swamps everything else.
That gives you a technical floor. Where you actually set the minimum is a commercial decision on top of it — and it is mostly a decision about what kind of customer you want. A low MOQ brings volume of enquiries, more first runs and more brands who will never scale. A high one brings fewer, larger, more predictable customers and a quieter phone.
The mistake is having a stated MOQ you routinely break. Every exception teaches the market that the number is negotiable, and you end up running small jobs at a discount while turning away the brands who would have paid the stated rate.
What to actually do
- Work out the technical floor firstSetup hours plus material loss, divided by contribution per unit. Below that you are paying for the privilege.
- Decide what customer you want, then set above itThe floor tells you what is possible. The number tells the market who you are for.
- State it publiclyAn unpublished MOQ is a conversation you have to have with everyone who was never a fit.
- Have a pilot option instead of exceptionsA priced trial run lets you say yes to promising brands without eroding the number.
- Review it when your mix changesAn MOQ set when you had one line and four customers is not the right one at three lines and twenty.
Your minimums, formats and rate bands live on your own site profile in NextBatch, so a brand sees them before they ask rather than after you have spent a call explaining them.