If you've shopped for custom packaging, you've hit the term MOQ, or minimum order quantity. It's the smallest number of units a supplier will print in one run. Understanding it helps you budget, avoid waste and get a much better price.
Why minimums exist
Every custom print job has fixed setup work before a single unit is made: preparing artwork files, making plates or setting up the press, matching colours and running test prints. That setup costs roughly the same whether the run is 100 units or 10,000.
Spread over a tiny run, setup makes each unit expensive. Spread over a larger run, it nearly disappears. Minimums keep orders in the range where custom printing makes economic sense for both sides.
How quantity changes your price
Custom packaging is almost always priced in tiers. As quantity rises, the price per unit falls, often dramatically. A typical pattern:
| Quantity | What happens to unit price |
|---|---|
| 1,000 | Highest unit price; setup is spread over few units |
| 5,000 | Noticeably lower per unit |
| 10,000+ | Lowest per unit; setup is a tiny share of cost |
That's why the total for 5,000 units is usually far less than five times the price of 1,000. On every PakGenie product page you can switch between quantities and see the exact total and per-piece price instantly.
PakGenie's minimum: 1,000 units
At PakGenie, every product starts at 1,000 units per design. That's low enough for a new cafe, bakery or boutique to test a design, and it lets us print to the same quality as large runs. When you're ready to grow, the same product scales up to 100,000 units.
How to pick the right quantity
- Estimate monthly usage. Count how many bags, cups or boxes you go through in a typical month.
- Cover two to three months. Most packaging stores well. Ordering for a quarter balances cash flow with a better unit price.
- Check the next tier. If the next quantity up costs only a little more in total, it's usually the better buy.
- Think about storage. Flat items like bags, labels and tissue take little space. Assembled boxes and cups take more.
- Keep designs evergreen. A design that doesn't mention a season or date can be used until the last unit.
Avoid these common mistakes
- Ordering the minimum of everything. It's better to order more of the item you use most than the minimum of five items.
- Splitting into too many designs. Each design is its own run. One strong design in a larger quantity is usually cheaper and more recognisable.
- Waiting until you run out. Custom production takes weeks. Reorder when you have about six weeks of stock left.
The takeaway
MOQs exist because setup costs are fixed. Order enough to bring your unit price down, keep your designs timeless, and reorder before you run low. Browse any product to compare quantities and prices side by side.
