Minimum Order Quantity and Pack Size Calculator
If a minimum order quantity and a pack multiple round your requirement up, work out the true unit cost you pay, how long the surplus sits on the shelf, and whether moving up a price tier actually pays.
Calculator
If a minimum order quantity and a pack multiple make you buy more than you need, work out the true unit cost you pay and how long the surplus will sit on the shelf.
Result
Prices are labelled TRY because that is the currency we quote in. The arithmetic is linear, so if you enter your own unit prices in another currency the totals come back in that same currency — read the suffix as your currency, not ours.
The calculation runs entirely in your browser; nothing you type is sent to our servers. Only if you press “Turn this into a quote request” is the result written to your browser’s session storage, so it can be carried into the quote form.
Worked example
Opened with its default case — What will you do with the surplus?: I will use it later — it goes into stock · Quantity you actually need for this order (pcs): 140 · Pieces per pack or carton: 24 — the calculator returns the figures below. The headline result is 41.77 TRY / pc (surplus is used later; only carrying cost charged) (true cost per unit needed). They are written out here so the output is readable without running JavaScript: in print, with scripts disabled, or by a search engine.
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| What will you do with the surplus? | I will use it later — it goes into stock |
| Quantity you actually need for this order (pcs) | 140 |
| Pieces per pack or carton | 24 |
| Minimum order quantity (pcs) | 200 |
| Quoted unit price (TRY/pc, excl. VAT) | 38 |
| Freight or handling charge per order (TRY) | 450 |
| Quantity of the next price tier (pcs) | 500 |
| Unit price at that tier (TRY/pc) | 31 |
| Your monthly usage (pcs/month) | 35 |
| Your annual inventory carrying cost (%) | 30 |
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Situation | Your requirement is rounded up by both the MOQ and the pack size |
| Quantity you have to buy | 216 pcs (9 packs) |
| Surplus over your requirement | 76 pcs (54.3%) |
| Invoice value (excl. VAT) | 8,208 TRY + freight 450 TRY |
| TRUE cost per unit needed | 41.77 TRY / pc (surplus is used later; only carrying cost charged) |
| Gap to the quoted price | 9.9% — on top of the quoted 38.00 TRY |
| How long the surplus sits on the shelf | 2.2 months |
| Carrying cost of the surplus | 78 TRY (on average inventory) |
| If you move up a tier | 504 pcs · unit cost 44.69 TRY · surplus covers 10.4 months |
| Verdict | DO NOT MOVE UP A TIER — 2.92 TRY more expensive per piece |
Change any field above and the calculator recomputes; this table is the default case only. Money figures follow the default unit prices built into the tool at August 2026 price levels, VAT excluded — enter your own prices for a real budget.
Why is the quoted unit price not the unit cost you pay?
Because you buy what the seller will break, not what you need. Two rules get in the way: the minimum order quantity (MOQ) and the pack unit — carton, pack, roll or pallet. Together they round your requirement up.
With numbers: you need 140 pieces, the carton holds 24 and the minimum order is 200. The MOQ lifts you to 200, and the pack multiple rounds 200 up to 216 (9 cartons). At 38 TRY a piece the invoice is 8,208 TRY, with 450 TRY of freight on top.
What happens next depends on what you do with the surplus, and the two answers are a long way apart. If the surplus is left over — a one-off job, the end of a project, a model change — the whole invoice is charged to the 140 pieces you use: a true unit cost of 61.84 TRY, 62.7% above the quoted price. If the surplus will be used later, its purchase price is not wasted; only the carrying cost of the months it waits is charged, and the unit cost falls to 41.77 TRY, 9.9% above the quoted price. Either way the gap is not a price increase, it is the pack unit — and it is invisible when quotes are compared.
True unit cost: the right basis for comparison
Comparing two quotes on unit price assumes both arrive in the same pack unit. They rarely do. The right basis is the invoice divided not by the quantity bought but by the quantity you will use.
Surplus left over → True unit cost = (Invoice + freight) ÷ Quantity needed
Surplus used later → True unit cost = (Quantity needed × unit price + freight + carrying cost of the surplus) ÷ Quantity needed
⚠ That is why the first field of the calculator exists. If the surplus will be used later, its purchase price is not wasted — only the carrying cost of the months it sits on the shelf is charged to this order. If the surplus is left over, the whole invoice is charged to this job and no carrying cost is added on top; counting both would be writing the same quantity off as scrap and holding it in stock at once. Freight is charged in full to this order either way.
The two modes are two different questions asked of the same arithmetic, and only you know which one applies. The price-tier comparison is run in the mode you choose — otherwise two different methods would be compared against each other.
This measure is what first makes visible a quote with a low headline price and a large pack unit. The same measure has to be used for the price-tier decision: the unit price of the higher tier is always lower, but whether it lowers your true unit cost depends on how long the surplus stays on the shelf.
⚠ Freight has to be divided as well. A flat carriage charge per order raises the unit cost of a small order, which is why “order less, order often” is not always cheaper. The calculator handles both together.
Four shapes of the same trap
| Shape | How it looks | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum order quantity (MOQ) | “We don’t go below 200 pieces.” You need 140, the invoice is written for 200. | Work out the shelf time of the surplus; if it is beyond 6–12 months, look for a second buyer to split the MOQ with, or a seller with a smaller one. |
| Pack multiple | Cartons of 24, packs of 12, rolls of 500 m. The seller will not break the carton; you buy 216 and use 140. | Ask for the pieces per carton when you request the quote and state your requirement rounded to the pack multiple — see the surprise at the quote stage. |
| Price tiers | “31 TRY a piece at 500.” The tier looks attractive, but the part of those 500 that exceeds your requirement sits on the shelf for more than 10 months. | Make the tier decision on true unit cost, not on unit price, and include the carrying cost. |
| Flat charge per order | Carriage, courier, handling fee or a minimum invoice value. It quietly raises the unit cost of a small order. | Divide the flat charge by the order frequency, and see the real difference between “often and small” and “rarely and large”. |
All four can run at once and their effects collide: the MOQ lifts you to 200, the pack multiple rounds you to 216, the tier pulls you towards 500 and the freight charge penalises the small order. Looked at one at a time, none of them looks big.
Is a price tier really cheaper?
A tiered price list is the most persuasive table in purchasing: as the quantity rises the price falls, and the fall is visible and verifiable. The one thing the table does not show is how long the difference will sit on the shelf.
Shelf months = Surplus ÷ Monthly usage
Carrying cost of the surplus = (Surplus ÷ 2) × Unit price × Annual carrying rate × (Shelf months ÷ 12)
The ÷ 2 in the formula is the part not to skip: the surplus does not sit still, it drains away linearly as it is consumed. The average quantity held is half the surplus; charging the whole of it doubles the carrying cost and makes the tier look unfairly bad.
The calculator tests the higher tier on that measure and comes out in both directions. Where the tier gap is large and consumption fast, moving up pays; where the gap is small and consumption slow, the carrying cost eats the discount and the tool tells you not to move up.
If you do not know your carrying rate, your own cost of finance is a reasonable place to start — but the true rate is higher than that, because warehouse space, stock counting, shrinkage and obsolescence sit alongside the tied-up capital. On items with a shelf life, obsolescence alone can decide the answer.
What surplus stock costs you
- Tied-up capital. Goods on a shelf are money not working elsewhere; the cost is at least your own cost of finance.
- Warehouse space and handling. Space, racking, counting and movement all grow with the quantity.
- Shrinkage, damage and obsolescence. Goods that wait get broken, get lost, or get superseded. On items with a shelf life this is larger than all the others put together.
- A bigger buying mistake. A wrong choice of 140 pieces can be corrected; a wrong choice of 500 sits in the warehouse for years.
- Stock discipline slips. A quantity far above the requirement is read as “there’s plenty”, usage tracking loosens, and when it does run out nobody notices.
Five questions to ask when you request a quote
The whole trap becomes visible with five questions asked at the quotation stage. Each is one line, and no supplier is uncomfortable answering them.
- How many pieces are in a pack, and will you break it?
- What is the minimum order quantity? (In pieces, or in value?)
- Is there a tiered price list, and at what quantities do the tiers start?
- Is there a freight or handling charge per order, and above what value does it drop away?
- Is the price inclusive or exclusive of VAT, and how long is it valid?
The fifth is not the subject of this page but belongs in the same note: a quote that does not say whether VAT is included is not comparable with anything.
What the tool says when an input is missing
The calculator is built to be able to say no, and never to round something away quietly. Four cases are reported in words rather than absorbed into a number.
- No requirement entered. If the quantity you need is zero, every unit cost would be a division by zero. The tool says the requirement is missing and prints nothing else.
- Pack size below 1. A pack of less than one piece has no meaning, so it is taken as 1 — and the tool says on the result line that it did so.
- No monthly usage entered. Shelf time and carrying cost are not invented from thin air: the tool says the usage is missing, and in stock mode the true unit cost then carries no carrying cost at all.
- No price tier entered. Instead of a tier verdict the tool states your true unit cost and tells you to compare quotes on that basis, and it also names which rule did the rounding — the MOQ, the pack multiple, or both.
One point of order that matters more than it looks: the MOQ is applied first and the pack rounding second. Reversed, a 200-piece MOQ would round to 192 — eight cartons — and the minimum order would be broken.
How we handle this
On our quotes the unit and the pack are written separately on the line — “piece” and “carton (24 pcs)” do not get mixed on the same row. Where an item carries a minimum order quantity we say so in the quote and we do not hide the quantity that exceeds your requirement, because a surprise belongs in the quotation, not in the invoice.
Putting several items into one order also splits the flat charges per order. The consolidation calculator gives you the figure for that side.
Frequently Asked Questions
I need 140 pieces, the carton holds 24 and the minimum order is 200 — how many will I actually buy and what will I pay?
First the minimum order lifts you to 200, then the pack multiple rounds 200 up to a whole number of cartons: 200 ÷ 24 = 8.33 → 9 cartons = 216 pieces. At 38 TRY a piece the invoice is 8,208 TRY, plus the freight charge per order. The number that matters, though, is this one: divided by the 140 pieces you will use, your true unit cost is 61.84 TRY — 62.7% above the quoted 38 TRY. Put your own figures into the calculator above.
What is a minimum order quantity (MOQ)?
It is the smallest order a supplier will accept, and it can be set in pieces, kilograms, metres or value. Its purpose is to cover set-up, handling and invoicing work. This tool works with a MOQ expressed in pieces; if yours is a minimum order value, divide it by the unit price to convert it. What it means for you is that when your requirement falls below the MOQ you have bought the surplus as well — a difference that never looks like a price increase on the invoice but raises your unit cost all the same.
Does moving up a price tier always pay?
No. The unit price of the higher tier is always lower; whether it pays depends on how long the surplus sits on the shelf. The comparison must be made on total cost divided by the quantity you actually need, with the carrying cost of the surplus included — not on unit price. On a slow-moving item the discount is often smaller than the carrying cost.
What does surplus stock cost me per year?
The sum of tied-up capital, warehouse space, handling, shrinkage, damage and obsolescence. It is calculated as a rate: the value of the surplus × the annual carrying rate × the time it will sit. If you do not know the rate, start with your own cost of finance — the true rate is higher, because that covers only the cost of the money. On items with a shelf life, obsolescence alone can decide it.
How does the pack unit distort a quote comparison?
Comparing two quotes on unit price assumes both come in the same pack unit. If one supplier packs in 12s and the other in 48s, the same requirement rounds to different quantities, and the cheaper-looking quote can end up more expensive because it leaves more surplus behind. The right basis is always total cost divided by the quantity you will use.
With a freight charge per order, should I order often or rarely?
Two costs pull in opposite directions: ordering often multiplies the freight, ordering rarely raises the inventory carrying cost. The right frequency is the point where the two together are smallest. In practice, first find the smallest quantity that satisfies both the pack multiple and the MOQ, then look at how many months it covers and what it costs to carry for that long — the calculator shows both together. The tool does not search for the optimum frequency itself; run it two or three times at different quantities and take the point with the lowest true unit cost.
Why does the tool ask what I will do with the surplus?
Because it changes the answer by a factor of several. Surplus that goes into stock has not been wasted: only the carrying cost of the months it waits is charged to this order. Surplus that is left over has its whole invoice charged here, and no carrying cost is added on top — charging both would mean writing the same pieces off as scrap and holding them in stock at the same time. The price-tier comparison uses whichever mode you chose, so that both sides are measured the same way.
Sources
- Method note — the calculator on this page contains no market values of any kind: outage probability, the cost of a day of downtime, freight unit rates and inventory carrying rates vary from company to company, from item to item and from month to month. The figures preset in the fields are examples chosen so the tool does not open empty; they are not benchmarks and they make no claim to be an industry average
How we choose sources, verify figures and date our pages is set out in how we source and verify what we publish. Spotted an error? Write to info@aksco.com.tr — verified errors are corrected.
Related guides
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What the pack unit does on the transport side.
Read moreSpare Parts Min/Max and Reorder Point Calculator
Setting the right stock level instead of a surplus.
Read moreSupplier Consolidation Transaction Cost Calculator
The arithmetic of splitting the flat charges per order.
Read moreRequest a Quote
Send your item list and get pack size and MOQ stated on every line.
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