“Low MOQ” Is Now a Marketing Claim. Here Is What It Actually Costs

By Joe Joo · 8PCK · Shantou

Beauty Packaging writes that low MOQs are no longer a differentiator. The number on the website and the number on the quotation are rarely the same thing.

Beauty Packaging reports that low minimum order quantities have stopped being a selling point, because everyone claims them. That matches what we see: buyers arrive expecting 500 pieces, and the quotation comes back at 3,000 with a surcharge.

A low MOQ is not one number. It is a set of conditions: which colour, which decoration, whether the bottle exists, and whether the closure is in stock. A 500-piece order of a stock clear bottle with a label is genuinely possible. A 500-piece order in a custom Pantone with hot stamping is not — the set-up alone exceeds the order value.

The honest structure at our factory: 1,000 pcs per colour on an existing mould, no tooling; silkscreen from 1,000; hot stamp and spray coat from 3,000; a new shape from 3,000–5,000 because the mould has to be cut.

If a supplier quotes 500 pieces on a custom colour without a surcharge, ask what happens at production. Either the colour is a stock shade, or the price moves after the sample.