What Does “No Minimums” Mean?

The benefits of “no minimum” factories

Just starting off, chances are you are not looking to fulfill a huge order. Often, a small inventory makes it more manageable. While there are ways to pay for inventory, it is best to start off by growing your business slowly rather than taking on a large inventory and not being able to move it.

What these factories offer small brands is the chance to scale slowly. By offering no minimums, small brands are able to have small runs of their product to help either find the kinks in the production process, fulfill a small order, or help ratchet up buzz and sales for a larger run.

What does “no minimums” mean?

What new brands have to wary of is the fact that “no minimums” is not a standardized phrase. It means different things to different factories. So, we asked our community what “no minimums” means. Here are some of their responses:

1. ““No Minimums” means that we can make as little as one unit for a production run with no added surcharges.”
2. “For us, “no minimums” means we work with inventors to bring their ideas to life. That usually means making about 3 prototypes until we work the bugs out until we get it right so the inventor can raise money or get their first big distribution deal. Then we’re there to help them scale up.”
3. “The term “no minimums” means minimum of 1 unit. “Low minimums” is an ambiguous term. It usually means any amount a manufacturer is willing to commit to produce at any given time. It can be anything less than 1000 units per style or one dozen. But most manufactures will list an order below 360 units as a low minimum.”

What to expect from a “no minimums” order

Of the factories we talked to, most did not expect a difference in turnaround time based on the size of an order. However, some did say that smaller order sometimes take longer because of set-up times.

In terms of price, naturally the smaller the run the more expensive it tends to be per piece. A few factories, however, pointed out that “no minimums” also means that there is no fee for a smaller order.

Get your product off the ground!

Ready to get your project to production? Find a No Minimums factory and start messaging today! Use the code  “NOMINIMUMS” for 25% any plan of your choice.