What is a minimum order quantity (MOQ) in wholesale?

It is the smallest amount a wholesaler will sell in one go. It can apply to a single product line (for example, no fewer than four lintels), to the whole order (for example, a minimum value before you ship), or to the unit of sale (cases only, never single items). Most wholesalers use more than one kind, which is why the policy needs to say which applies where.

Is a minimum order the same as a minimum order value?

No. A minimum order quantity counts units: four of a product, or one full case. A minimum order value counts money across the whole basket. A customer can meet one and miss the other, so a policy that only says 'minimum order 50' leaves your office arguing whether that means 50 units or 50 pounds.

Can I charge a fee instead of refusing a small order?

Yes, that is a commercial choice and many wholesalers do it: a small-order surcharge, or a delivery charge that applies below a threshold. Whichever you choose, state the amount and threshold before the customer submits the order, not in a message afterwards, so the price they agree is the price they pay.

Should the MOQ be the same for every customer?

It does not have to be. Many wholesalers set one rule for new accounts and a lower one for established customers, or a different threshold per delivery area. What matters is that the rule is written down per account type, so staff apply it the same way and a customer can see why theirs differs.

What happens if we deliver fewer units than the customer ordered?

The Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 30, deals with delivering the wrong quantity. Section 30(1) says that if a seller delivers less than was contracted for, the buyer may reject the goods. There is a limit for slight shortfalls, and the seller carries the burden of showing it applies. Check your own contract with an adviser.

Where should the MOQ be written down?

In three places that match each other: your trade terms (what the customer agrees to when the account is opened), your price list (next to each product's unit of sale) and your ordering form or portal (where the rule is enforced). If the three disagree, the customer will quote whichever is most favourable to them.

Wholesale Minimum Order Quantity Policy Template

Short answer: a wholesale minimum order quantity (MOQ) policy has to answer five separate questions, not one: what unit you sell in (each, pack, case, pallet), the minimum per product line, the minimum for the whole order (in units or in money), what happens below the minimum (refuse, surcharge or allow with a delivery charge), and who is allowed an exception. Most free templates give one line such as "minimum order £100" and stop there, which leaves your office to decide the other four on the phone, customer by customer. Use the checker below to see which of the five your policy leaves open, then copy the wording underneath onto your price list and trade terms.

Check your MOQ policy: which disputes will it cause?

Tick each rule your policy states in writing today, on the price list, in your trade terms or on your order form. The meter shows how much is settled, and the list shows the argument each gap starts.

This runs in your browser. Nothing you tick is sent anywhere unless you choose to send it.

The five rules, with wording you can copy

Rule	What to decide	Wording to adapt
1. Unit of sale	Each, pack, case or pallet, per product	"Every product is sold in the unit shown beside it on the price list. We do not split packs."
2. Line minimum	The least of one product you will send	"Where a line has a minimum it is shown on the price list, in whole units of sale."
3. Order minimum	Units or money, and whether VAT and delivery count	"The minimum order is ____ ex VAT, before delivery."
4. Below the minimum	Refuse, surcharge or delivery charge	"Orders below the minimum are accepted with a ____ delivery charge."
5. Exceptions	Who may waive a rule, and how it is recorded	"Only the sales manager can approve an exception; the reason is noted on the order."

Two things make these hold. First, decide which of "units" and "money" you mean for each rule and say so. A line minimum counts units; an order minimum usually counts pounds. Mixing them is the most common cause of the "does that include VAT?" call. Second, keep the minimum separate from the free-delivery threshold. They are two numbers with two jobs: the first decides whether you take the order, the second decides who pays for the van. Customers who see one number assume it is the other.

What the policy does not need: a paragraph of reasons. Customers accept a rule they can find quickly; they argue with one they have to hunt for. Put the rule next to the unit of sale on your wholesale price list, which is where they look first, and repeat it in the terms they agree when you open the account.

What a minimum looks like when the basket enforces it

A written policy still depends on your office noticing a breach after the order arrives. The change that removes the argument is showing the rule while the customer builds the order, with the fix one tap away.

Basket screen for a fictional building supplies wholesaler, Kilnworth Trade, for account Harlow Brook Builders. Five lines are listed with their unit of sale, minimum and quantity in the basket. Cement, damp-proof course and plaster pass. Dense concrete blocks, sold in packs of 72, show 30 blocks and offer to round to one pack. Steel lintels show 2 against a line minimum of 4. A side panel shows 3 of 5 rules met, a sample order total of 212.40 pounds ex VAT against a 250 pound order minimum, and one-tap fixes to round the blocks and raise the lintels. — The same five rules applied in the basket: the customer sees why a line or the order falls short, and fixes it in one tap. Illustrative screen, sample data.

That is the difference between a form and an ordering portal. A paper or PDF form cannot check anything. A web form can require a unit of sale, but does not know the customer's account or their usual quantities. A portal knows both, so the rule can differ by account (rule 5) without anyone remembering it. Our guide to the wholesale order form covers the fields that make an order complete; this guide covers the rules the quantities have to satisfy.

Common ways MOQ policies go wrong

One number for everything. "Minimum order £100" says nothing about a line that is sold by the pallet, or a new account's first order.
Exceptions by whoever answers the phone. The customer learns to ring until someone says yes. Name the role that can waive a rule, and record the reason on the order.
The price list, terms and form disagree. The customer quotes the friendliest version. Keep all three the same, and change them together.
A minimum that blocks your best customers. A rule that suits a new account can annoy a customer who orders weekly. Set the rule per account type, not once for everyone.
Counting the wrong thing. If the minimum is in pounds but prices change, the unit count behind it moves too. Check the figure whenever you change prices.

A short legal note on quantities

A minimum order rule is a commercial term you are free to set, and this guide is not legal advice. But quantity does have a legal side once an order is placed. The Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 30, covers delivering the wrong quantity: section 30(1) says that if you deliver less than you contracted to supply, the buyer may reject the goods, and the Act limits that right where the shortfall is slight, with the burden of showing it on the seller (section 30(2A) and (2B)). In practice, that is a reason to keep the quantity on the order, the delivery note and the invoice the same, and to record any part delivery as agreed.

Where your minimums sit in standard written terms you send to every customer, section 3 of the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 applies to terms of that kind where one party deals on the other's written standard terms. It is aimed at terms that exclude or restrict liability, so a plain minimum is not its target, but a clause that lets you deliver something substantially different from what was ordered has to be reasonable. Show your terms to an adviser if they go further than a minimum.

Payment on a small order follows the same rules as any other: if no date is agreed, GOV.UK's guidance on late commercial payments says payment is late 30 days after the customer receives the invoice or the goods, whichever is later. Our trade account application form guide covers where to agree those terms before the first order.

When a policy on paper stops being enough

These are the signs we look for when a wholesaler shows us how minimums work today:

Small orders arrive and someone has to ring the customer. Every call is a refused or re-quoted order that could have been fixed at the basket.
Exceptions are remembered, not recorded. Nobody can say why one customer got a lower minimum.
Split packs are shipped "just this once". Then it becomes expected.
Orders keep arriving as emails and photos. Our AI order processing page covers reading them into your system, with the rule check applied afterwards.

A trade ordering portal applies the rules at the basket: unit of sale, line minimum, order minimum and the per-account exception. We build portals like that; one we built covers sales and warehousing and is used every day by a UK wholesaler. We connect to accounting systems such as Xero, Sage and QuickBooks through their official APIs, and you own the code and data, with CSV export any time. How it works for wholesalers is on our B2B ordering portal page, and our distributor order portal guide covers what to check before you buy.

How we'd approach yours

We start with a 20-minute walkthrough of how orders reach you today and where small ones cause work, then a fit check of your products, customers, price lists and warehouses, and only then a fixed plan and timeline. You get a fixed quote with the full cost known before work starts. If a clear written policy is all you need, we'll say so.

Book a 20-minute walkthrough or send us your minimum order rules and we'll mark the gaps that cause calls.

Sources

legislation.gov.uk, Sale of Goods Act 1979, section 30: delivery of wrong quantity (section 30(1), (2A) and (2B))
legislation.gov.uk, Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977, section 3: where one party deals on the other's written standard terms
GOV.UK, Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery

Last reviewed 6 November 2026. This guide explains what the official sources say; it isn't legal advice. Check your own terms and contracts with an adviser if you're unsure.

Wholesale minimum order quantity (MOQ) policy template: five rules to set, and the wording to put on your price list