Wholesale MOQ and Case Packs Explained for US Buyers
Short answer: MOQ is the smallest quantity a supplier will sell of one product. It is not always one case. On our own listings the minimum is the figure in the quantity box on each product page, it is enforced at checkout, and on many products it is a pallet-level quantity rather than a single case. Check it before you plan an order, because it decides the size of the commitment more than the unit price does.
The three words that get mixed up
- Case pack — the sealed unit the manufacturer packs for trade. Twelve bottles, twenty-four sachets, six boxes: whatever that product is packed in. This is what you buy.
- Inner pack — a smaller sealed bundle sometimes found inside the case, sized for shelf replenishment. Handy on the shop floor, but not usually a unit you can order on its own.
- Master carton — the outer shipping carton, which may hold several case packs. It matters for freight and for pallet building, not for pricing.
When a supplier says “MOQ 1”, ask what one is. One case of a face cream and one case of a household cleaner can be twelve units and forty-eight units.
Why suppliers sell by the case
Breaking a case costs money: someone opens it, counts it, repacks the remainder, and the odd units sit in the aisle until they are written off. That cost has to go somewhere, and in a business running on trade margins it goes onto the unit price. Selling sealed cases is what keeps wholesale pricing below retail, and it is also what keeps the goods factory-sealed in the manufacturer’s own packaging, which matters if you resell on a marketplace that checks condition.
Working out what a case actually costs you
The number that decides whether a product makes money is not the case price. It is the landed cost per unit:
Landed unit cost = (case price + freight share + any prep cost) ÷ units per case
Worked through: a case of twenty-four units at $96 is $4.00 a unit. Add a $9 share of freight and it is $4.375. Add $0.30 a unit of labelling or polybagging and it is $4.675. If your selling price is $8.99, your gross margin is $4.315, not the $4.99 the case price alone suggested. Two products with the same case price and different case counts are not the same deal, and this is where most first-time buyers lose their margin.
How deep to go on a product you have not sold before
As shallow as the minimum allows, and no deeper.
The first order on any product is buying information, not stock: how fast that product actually turns in your shop, to your customers, at your price. Spread the first order across several candidate products at their minimums rather than putting the whole budget behind one, sell through, and put the depth behind the ones that moved. If a minimum quantity is larger than you want to commit on an unproven product, say so when you enquire — it is a conversation worth having before you order, not after.
Reaching a sensible freight weight
Because you buy in whole cases, the way to bring your per-unit freight down is not to over-buy one product. It is to combine products onto one shipment. Mixing health and household, beauty and personal care and perfumes in one order spreads the freight across more units while keeping every individual product at its own minimum quantity.
Questions buyers ask
Can I split a case?
No. Cases ship sealed as the manufacturer packed them.
Is there a minimum order value?
Yes. Our minimum order value is $5,000, and you can reach it by mixing and matching different products in whatever quantities suit you. Each product also shows its own minimum quantity in the box above Add to cart, so you can see what a single item commits you to before you plan the order. For an order below $5,000, contact our team by email or WhatsApp chat.
Do prices improve at volume?
Ask us. On some products there is room at multiple cases and on others there genuinely is not, and we would rather tell you which than have you order depth for a saving that does not exist. Send us the products and the quantities by email or WhatsApp chat and we will price it against your order.
What if a product runs out mid-order?
Availability is confirmed against stock when your payment clears, not when you add to cart. On fast-moving products that gap matters, so tell us early what you need and we will say what is actually held.
Where to go next
If you run a shop, case-pack wholesale for retail stores covers ordering and restocking. Marketplace sellers should read wholesale for Amazon FBA sellers or eBay, Walmart and TikTok Shop. Buying from outside the US? Start with the export and worldwide shipping page.
Or just call +1 (754) 293-6834 (Monday to Saturday, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM EST) or WhatsApp +1 (365) 829-2085 with a list of what you sell, and we will tell you the case counts before you commit to anything.
