Minimum order quantity is the number buyers ask about first and understand last. It is rarely a sales policy. It is arithmetic — what the material supplier will sell, what a printing run costs, and what it takes to set up a line before the first sellable piece exists.
The short answer
Our starting quantities are from 200 pieces per model for the mats and the self-warming mat, from 300 for the belly band, and trial quantities on request for the harness, ramp and car seat cover. The number comes from material minimums, printing runs and line setup rather than from sales policy, which is why it moves when those inputs move. Start with a sample at US$25–40 per model, prepared in 5 days and credited back in full against your first production order.
Where an MOQ number actually comes from
- The material minimum. Fabric, filling, closures and backing are bought in fixed-size rolls or batches. Order below the material minimum and the partner buys more material than your order uses — and either absorbs the difference or prices it in.
- The packaging run. Printed bags, boxes and labels carry their own minimum. A printed polybag with your artwork is a printing job before it is a packing job.
- Line setup and cutting. Cutting tables, patterns and thread changes are set per model and per colourway, and paid once per run whatever the run size.
- Quality control and records. Every batch is inspected against an approved sample and logged — per run, not per hundred pieces.
- Freight and handling. Small volumes pay the same fixed costs to move — collection, cartons, documents — over fewer units.
Our starting quantities
| Product family | Starting quantity | What that means for a first order |
|---|---|---|
| Mats and self-warming mat | From 200 pcs per model | One model in one colour is enough to test a market. The second colour is a reorder decision. |
| Belly band | From 300 pcs per model | The size spread is the real decision — the total quantity follows from how many sizes you carry. |
| Harness, ramp, car seat cover | Trial quantities on request | Ask. We quote what makes sense for a first order on the mobility range rather than a fixed number. |
A quoted figure also has to say what it counts. On our range the minimum is per model, with the size and colour split agreed on the quotation — ask any supplier the same question, because 200 of one size and 200 across a size range are very different orders.
Planning a first order around the number
Work from what one model can prove. If you carry one product in one size and one colour, 200 pieces answers the only question a first order can answer: does this sell in my channel, at my price, with my label on it? The reorder decision then happens with real sell-through data instead of a forecast.
Spread the quantity across sizes only once you know the size split, and if you must carry a full range from day one, make the smallest size the deepest — that is where sell-through concentrates. Then decide when the reorder has to be placed: production lead time is stated on your quotation, freight sits on top of it, and an MOQ only becomes a problem when it is too late to reorder against it. See consolidating orders into one shipment for combining a reorder with products from other suppliers.
When a smaller quantity is possible
There are three honest ways to get closer to a small first order. A product that already exists as a model — no new pattern, no new tooling. A lower-cost customisation: colour and labels applied to an existing construction rather than a new one. Or several SKUs planned into one production run, so the total order carries the setup for each model.
What does not work is asking for a fraction of the material minimum; the partner still buys the roll. If a supplier agrees to a quantity below their own material minimum without changing anything else, ask what will be different — the answer is usually the material, the packing, or nothing at all. Your launch cost shape matters here too: what a private label pet product launch actually costs separates the parts you pay once from the parts you pay per unit.
Questions we get asked
Can I order below MOQ for a first test?
On the mats and the belly band, no — the table figure is the starting point. On the mobility range, trial quantities are available on request, so the honest answer depends on the product. If a first test must be smaller than the minimum, the practical route is fewer SKUs rather than fewer pieces: one model at 200 pieces says more than a spread of half-orders that each fail the minimum.
Is the minimum per model, per colour or per size?
On our range, per model, with colour and size splits agreed on the quotation. Confirm this with any supplier: a figure quoted as 200 pieces can mean 200 of one size or 200 across a size range, and those are very different orders.
Does a bigger order lower the unit price?
Usually yes, because material, printing and setup spread across more units. Ask for the price at a larger quantity, then weigh what the extra stock costs in cash and space, and how long it sits before it sells. A lower unit price on stock that ages is not a saving.
What happens if only one size sells?
The approved sample and spec sheet make a reorder a repeat rather than a new project: same materials, same construction, same reference at inspection. That is what the first order really buys — a product that can be made again exactly, in the sizes and colours that sold.
If you know the product, the market and your sell-through assumption, tell us and we will set the first order at the smallest sensible size. The service page lists the quantities and what is included, and the contact page reaches us directly — we answer within one business day.