When we first stepped into the world of exporting apparel, we heard this one word many times, but most people using them were not totally aware of the concept; the word, or better said, the abbreviation was MOQ.

What is MOQ?

Imagine you decide to order trendy t-shirts to sell in your children's store as an A-product for which you step out into the clothing manufacturing industry to fetch yourself a children's clothing manufacturer. Once you initiate the conversation with the manufacturer, you hear them quoting that their MOQ is 100 t-shirts. Hence, you begin wondering what it is. To keep you educated, we decode what the manufacturer's intent is to say: if you wish to do a business with them, you need to order a minimum of 100 t-shirts or else go find someone else. To be precise, it is the short form for Minimum Order Quantity. 

Why do manufacturers have MOQ?

The advantages of MOQs are surplus and beneficial for both the manufacturers and buyers. First is that the manufacturers get to decide who to do the business with; the uninterested and low-quality buyers get strained out right away, enabling them to take the orders that are profitable to them, saving their cost, expense, and efforts. It is also an efficient way to cover up the production cost as well as to earn the deserving profit over each order; after all, setting up the machinery is not an easy task, and the labor asks to be paid.

For the buyer, the inventory cost gets more petite, and so does the risk of returning the defective products. It also enables them to decide whether they have found the right supplier to hand over the bulk order or the quest shall remain continued.

What is the downside of the MOQ?

Often customers leave the prospect of business due to the high MOQ or switch the manufacturers for a particular reason. The higher the MOQ, the higher the investment at the start, and the higher the risk of losing it all too. Since inception, most customers are set out to test and try the manufacturers until they find their perfect match; in the trials, low MOQ manufacturers often benefit as trying their products causes no heavy losses to revenues. A low MOQ can range from 1-to 50 units depending on the business you are dealing with. If you are one such customer looking for low MOQ, contact us as we offer a reasonable arrangement of a minimum of 50 items per order.