Wholesale MOQ and tier pricing: how to set your minimum order and bulk rates

Short answer: set your minimum order quantity (MOQ) at the smallest order that still earns you money after packing and dispatch, sell in the same packs your goods come in, and add two or three lower prices for bigger quantities. Check your margin at each step, and keep special rates for the buyers who earn them.

November is when many retailers restock for the wedding season, so this is a good month to fix these numbers. A clear MOQ and price list also ends the 'bhaiya, 5 piece de do, same rate' conversation before it starts.

Three numbers every wholesale product needs

How to choose your MOQ

Every order costs you something before you earn anything from it: picking, packing material, the carton, a bill, a trip to the courier and your time on the phone. The MOQ is there so that a single order covers those costs and still leaves a profit.

Example: the smallest order worth packing

Figures are illustrative. Use your own costs and margins.

Then adjust the number for your trade

1. 1.Start from the break-even order above, and round up to a full pack or set.
2. 2.Check what a retailer can sell in one restock cycle. An MOQ they can't sell in a month or two makes them buy from someone else.
3. 3.Look at your supplier's MOQ. If you buy in cartons of 50, selling in sets of 10 or 25 is easier to stock than odd numbers.
4. 4.Keep sample or trial orders separate. A new shop that wants to test one design can be offered a smaller first order on a quote, instead of lowering the MOQ for everyone.
5. 5.Use a low MOQ per design if buyers like to mix, and reward the total order instead (more on that below).

Sell in packs your goods already come in

If your kurtas come in a set of S, M, L, XL, or your glasses come 12 to a box, sell them that way. Breaking a box means repacking, loose pieces and more damage in transit.

• Set the pack size to the box or set count, so buyers order 10, 20, 30 and never 17.
• Make the MOQ a multiple of the pack size. On Slaby, an MOQ of 15 with packs of 10 becomes a real minimum of 20, the next full pack, so set 20 and say so.
• Put your price breaks on pack multiples too: with boxes of 10, use breaks at 50 and 100, not 45 and 95.

How to set quantity breaks (tier pricing)

Quantity breaks give a lower price per piece when a buyer orders more. They work when the bigger order really costs you less per piece: one carton instead of five parcels, one bill, one dispatch. They hurt when you cut so deep that a big order earns less than a small one.

Example: check the margin at every break

Example product: cost ₹260 a piece. Figures are illustrative.

Rules of thumb for price breaks

• Two or three breaks are enough. More than that is hard for buyers to read and for you to keep updated.
• Each break should be a real step up in quantity, like a box or double the MOQ, not a few extra pieces.
• A bigger order should never earn you less in total than a smaller one.
• Keep a gap between your best wholesale rate and your retail price, so retailers who buy from you can still sell at a profit.
• Write the breaks the same way everywhere: on the product page, in your price list and in WhatsApp replies.

When buyers want to mix designs

Many retailers want six designs, a few pieces each, not 60 pieces of one. A per-product break doesn't help them, because each design is counted on its own.

• Keep the MOQ per design low (for example 4 or 6), so they can pick variety.
• Reward the whole order with a minimum-pieces offer: for example a few percent off when the cart has 50 or more pieces from a collection, mixed any way.
• Or reward the order value: a set amount or percentage off above a cart total you choose.
• Show the offer in your announcement bar and price list, so buyers plan the order around it.

Special rates for your biggest buyers

Your three or four biggest accounts will ask for a better rate. Give it to them alone, instead of lowering the price for everyone. A private rate stays between you and that buyer, and other buyers keep paying your normal list.

For a one-off large order, a festival bulk order or a new shop's trial order, send a quote with a price per line and an expiry date. The quote ends, and your normal prices stay as they were.

Setting it up on Slaby

If you sell retail on the same store On Slaby, a product's MOQ and pack size apply to everyone who buys it, retail shoppers too. If shoppers buy single pieces, keep that product's MOQ at 1 and make the trade box a separate product. Leave its Retail price empty and retail shoppers can't buy it online. The store-wide Minimum order value in delivery settings also applies to every order, not only wholesale.

Common mistakes

• One MOQ for every product, whatever its price or pack
• An MOQ that isn't a multiple of the pack size, so buyers get a different minimum than they expected
• Price breaks so deep that the big order earns less than a small one
• Cutting the list price for one buyer who asked, so every other buyer gets it too
• Different numbers on the website, the PDF price list and WhatsApp
• Never reviewing the breaks after your own buying price goes up

Common questions

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