Business
Minimum Order Quantity Calculator
Enter setup cost, unit cost and selling price (or target contribution) to see a break-even MOQ.
How to calculate minimum order quantity
Minimum order quantity answers how many units you must sell (or produce) before a fixed setup or tooling cost is recovered from the contribution on each unit. Contribution is selling price minus unit cost; MOQ is roughly setup ÷ contribution, rounded up. If you already know contribution per unit, enter it directly and leave the price path unused. Lower setup costs, higher prices or cheaper unit costs all shrink MOQ. This is a break-even sketch for a single run, not a full economic order quantity model with holding costs and demand curves. Compare margin structure with gross margin and set list prices via break-even units when volume and fixed costs span a longer horizon.
Worked example
Setup £480, unit cost £4.50, price £8 → contribution £3.50 → MOQ = ceil(480/3.50) = 138 units.
Limits and assumptions
Ignores storage, spoilage and stepped discounts. One contribution rate for the whole run.
Frequently asked questions
What does MOQ mean?
MOQ stands for minimum order quantity — the smallest number of units you should make or buy so that fixed setup or tooling costs are covered by the profit (contribution) on each unit.
What is contribution?
Here it means price minus unit cost (the cash left per unit before other overheads).
What if contribution is zero or negative?
There is no finite MOQ that recovers setup — raise price or cut cost first.
Is this the same as a supplier’s stated MOQ?
Supplier MOQs are commercial rules. This page estimates a cost-recovery MOQ from your numbers.