general sourcing / Buying guide
1688 minimum order quantity
Most 1688 listings sell from between 2 and 10 pieces. Some require 100 or more, and a few require a full production run — but the platform-wide “you must buy in bulk” belief is simply wrong.
What actually stops small orders is freight. Below roughly 5 kg, international shipping per unit is high enough to erase the wholesale saving.
In this guide
How MOQ is displayed
The listing shows tier pricing: a quantity, then a price per unit, repeated for each tier. The lowest tier is the minimum. Tiers commonly break at 2, 10, 50, 100 and 500.
Custom work — your logo, your colour, your packaging — carries a separate and much higher minimum, because it triggers a production run rather than a warehouse pick.
When MOQ is negotiable
- Stock goods held in a warehouse: usually negotiable, because there is no production cost to amortise.
- Sellers who are trading companies rather than factories: often flexible, because they are picking from someone else’s stock.
- First orders framed as samples ahead of a larger run: frequently accepted.
- Anything requiring a mould, a print plate or a dye lot: not negotiable at all.
Questions & answers
Common questions
- Can I buy a single piece?
- Sometimes, at a higher unit price. If you only need one, Taobao is usually cheaper and simpler.
- Can I mix colours or sizes within the MOQ?
- Usually yes for stock goods, usually no for custom production.
Your next step
Have a link you want checked?
Send a 1688 or Taobao product link and you get back the specification in English, the supplier check, and the landed cost to your country before you commit to anything.
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