---
title: "Minimum Order Quantity (MOQ)"
description: "Require customers to buy at least N units of a product or variant before they can check out."
contentType: "docs"
locale: "en"
localized: true
source: "https://orderrules.com/docs/product-limits/minimum-order-quantity"
slug: "product-limits/minimum-order-quantity"
---
## Require a Minimum Purchase

A minimum order quantity (MOQ) sets a floor: a customer must buy at least N units of a product before checkout will complete. It's the standard rule for wholesale catalogs, bulk-only SKUs, and items where shipping or handling a single unit doesn't make sense.

MOQ is a **per-order** rule. It doesn't track a customer across orders — that's what [per-customer limits](/docs/customer-rules/per-customer-quantity-limits) are for, and the two work together.

## How to Set Up

1. Go to **Product Limits**
2. Find the product or variant
3. Enter the floor in **Minimum quantity** — for example `5`
4. Click **Save**

## Example: Bulk-Only Coffee

```
Rule:  Minimum quantity 5 on "Bulk Beans 1kg"

Customer adds 3  -- blocked, badge reads "Minimum order: 5"
Customer adds 5  -- OK
Customer adds 8  -- OK
```

## MOQ vs. Case Packs

These solve different problems and are often used together:

| Rule | Question it answers | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum quantity | How few may they buy? | At least 12 |
| [Step quantity](/docs/product-limits/step-quantity) | In what increments? | In multiples of 6 |

```
Minimum: 12
Step:    6

Valid:   12, 18, 24 ...
Invalid: 6, 15, 20
```

## What Customers See

**On the product page:**
- "Minimum order: 5 units"

**At checkout, below the minimum:**
- "This product has a minimum order quantity of 5."

Both messages are customizable under **Settings → Storefront Messages** and appear in each shopper's own language — see [Languages & Translations](/docs/languages).

## Bulk Setup

Applying the same floor across a wholesale catalog is faster through the CSV import than product by product. See [CSV Bulk Import & Export](/docs/guides/csv-bulk-import).

## Tips

- Use variant-level minimums when only some sizes are bulk-only
- Combine with a [maximum per-product limit](/docs/product-limits/per-product-limits) to define both ends of the range
- If your MOQ exists because of packaging rather than pricing, a [step quantity](/docs/product-limits/step-quantity) rule is usually the better fit