No minimum in eCommerce
In the early days of your print-on-demand business, you probably won’t have a large order to fulfill. Although there are ways to secure a large inventory, it’s best to start gradually rather than ordering a large quantity and not being able to move it. Fortunately, some factories offer small businesses the opportunity to scale slowly. Their USP? “No Minimum.”
No minimums allow small brands to have smaller runs of their items to help fulfill smaller orders, identify hiccups in the production process, or help gain customer trust for a bigger run in the future. But what exactly does a no minimum order imply?
What does no minimum mean?
Let’s get one thing out of the way first: “no minimum” or “no minimums” aren’t standardized phrases. The terms could mean different things for different factories. Below are some contextual meanings of the term no minimum:
- No minimum for some factories means they can produce as little as 1 unit for a production run with no extra surcharges.
- For innovative factories, no minimums mean they help aspiring entrepreneurs in turning their vision into reality. That means they’ll happily provide 5 samples until they work out the deficiencies to deliver the best quality. Good quality means the entrepreneurs stand a better chance of raising money or securing their first large distribution deal. Thereon, these factors are available to help them scale up.
- “No minimums” often translates to 1 unit, whereas low minimums could mean any quantity a manufacturer is willing to commit to making. It can be one dozen, 5 units, 999 units, etc. However, most factories will list orders below 500 units as a low minimum.
What is the turnaround time for no minimum orders?
Based on our experience, there’s no difference in turnaround time for no minimum and larger orders. However, some conversations in eCommerce groups revealed that smaller orders sometimes take longer due to the set-up processes and times. When it comes to pricing, a smaller run tends to result in costlier units. That said, some factories state that there’s no fee for smaller orders associated with no minimums.
What does this mean for my Print on Demand business?
For POD businesses, no minimum offers a fantastic opportunity to test a product design. Find a digital or screen printing service that offers no minimums so that you can print just one item. Then, evaluate the consumer response to decide whether to scale up or refresh your POD designs.
Offer POD products and let customers print their own designs? Consider offering no minimums to make them attractive to purchase. When customers see they can order as low as one t-shirt, they’re more likely to place an order than if you used a low minimum of 5 or above.