How MOQ works in olive wood wholesale, and why the price does not move with volume

BY THE ARTISRAW EDITORIAL TEAM · AUGUST 11, 2026 · UPDATED OCTOBER 6, 2026 · 9 MIN READ

One SKU, one batch: the pieces in a run share blanks, a bench and a finishing lot. That is what a minimum pays for.

Minimum order quantities here run from 5 to 100 pieces depending on the category, they apply per SKU rather than per order, and the wholesale price per piece does not change with volume. So the question “what do I have to order to get the good price?” has an unusual answer: the good price is the only price. What the minimum decides is whether a production run is worth setting up — which is why twelve references at their minimums is a harder order to make than four references taken deeper.

This guide gives the minimums by category, shows the arithmetic on two real orders of the same size, and sets out what actually moves your landed cost, since the unit price will not.

Why a handmade line prices flat

A moulded product gets cheaper per unit as the run lengthens, because the expensive part is the tooling and it is already paid for. A carved product does not work that way. Every piece is shaped, sanded and finished by an artisan, and the tenth is the same amount of work as the ten-thousandth. There is no tooling to amortise, so there is no volume curve to pass on. Quoting one anyway would mean either overcharging the small order or underpricing the large one.

The minimum is what makes a run worth setting up: preparing blanks, dedicating a bench, running the batch through finishing and quality control as one lot. Below it the setup dominates; at or above it, the economics work at the standard price.

The minimum is per SKU, not per order

This is the part that most often surprises a first-time buyer. A minimum of 50 on a cooking spoon means fifty of that spoon in that size — not fifty pieces spread across the range. Each size carries its own SKU and its own minimum, because each size is its own production run.

Three sizes of one model are therefore three minimums. They do schedule better than three unrelated products, because they share preparation and the same bench setup, but each size still has to reach its own number.

The minimums, by category

These are the ranges across each family’s SKUs, taken from catalogue v64. The figure that applies to your order is the one printed on the individual SKU, on its product page, in pieces.

One category is deliberately not in that table. The minimum for personalised gifts is under review internally — our own records and our Private Label page do not currently agree on it — so rather than print a number we would have to correct, we would rather you asked. Talk to us about a private-label or engraved programme → and we will confirm the current figure in writing with your quotation.

Worked example: the same 320 pieces, two ways

Both orders below are 320 pieces. Both are priced identically per SKU, because the price does not move with volume. The difference is twelve production runs against four — and what arrives on your shelf.

Order A — one carton of everything

What this order puts on a shelf: five of each board size, ten of two bowl sizes, twenty trays. A customer who likes the 25 cm board buys it, and the facing is empty until the reorder lands. Nine of the twelve lines are at their floor, so nothing can be reordered in a hurry without starting the same twelve setups again.

Order B — four references, taken deeper

Same 320 pieces, same price per piece, a third of the setups. And a shelf that can actually trade: a hundred of one board is a facing that survives a good weekend, and the sell-through tells you something. Order A tells you only that one of everything sold.

The reorder is where this compounds. Order B’s four lines can be repeated as four runs. Order A’s twelve lines, nine of them at their floor, cannot be topped up selectively without re-running the whole spread.

The middle path: one model, three sizes

If you want range rather than depth, take it within a model instead of across the catalogue. CB001 at 20, 25 and 30 cm is three SKUs at 5 each, so fifteen pieces opens three price points of the same board — and because the three share blanks, preparation and bench setup, they are a far easier lot for us than three unrelated references. That is the cheapest honest way to find out which size your customers reach for.

Reading the minimums before you build the order

• Every product page lists the minimum for each size, taken from the catalogue, in pieces.
• The category pages show the range for the family, so you can see at a glance where the low-minimum lines are.
• Boards, chess sets and the larger bowls start low. Spoons and small turned items start higher, because they are made in batches.
• Browse the twelve categories → or request the catalogue →

How to build a first order that behaves

• Pick four or five references you believe in and take them at or above the minimum, rather than one carton of everything.
• Start with a low-minimum family to learn the market. A cutting board line at 5 per size is a cheap way to find out what your customers reach for.
• Range within a model, not across the catalogue, when you want more than one price point.
• Ask about a smaller first run if you need one. We can often accommodate it for a new partner; it is a judgement about the relationship, not a discount, and the price per piece is the same either way.
• Settle the grading tolerance with the order. Olive wood varies piece to piece, and the time to agree what is acceptable is before the batch is cut, not after it lands. Why natural variation is the specification that matters most →

What actually changes your landed cost

Since the unit price is fixed, the levers that matter are elsewhere: how well the cartons fill a pallet, which incoterm you buy on, and whether the shipment moves by sea, air or courier. Wooden kitchenware is light and bulky, so freight is charged on volume rather than weight — which means packing discipline is worth more than the discount that does not exist. The landed-cost arithmetic, mode by mode →

Two more things belong in the same calculation, and both are documents rather than costs: the export set that travels with the goods, and the compliance data your side needs. EUDR for EU importers → · Lacey Act basics for US importers →

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. ArtisRaw catalogue v64 — per-SKU minimums and the category ranges in the table above, as held in the site’s product data and checked against every SKU on each build.
2. The SKUs in both worked examples are live catalogue references: CB001-20/25/30, CB002-25, BS004-20/22, TP029-D1, MP001-10, MP002-12, DT001, DT003, SS001-30, CB001-25, BS004-22, MP001-10, SS001-30. Each one’s minimum is the figure on its own product page.
3. Pricing policy: one wholesale price per SKU, no volume curve — ArtisRaw production policy, as stated on the wholesale page.

About ArtisRaw. ArtisRaw (STE ART IS RAW) manufactures handmade Chemlali olive wood kitchenware, tableware and décor in Sfax, Tunisia, for retailers, distributors, hospitality groups and private-label brands. Its quality management system is certified ISO 9001:2015 by Bureau Veritas, certificate n° 45.2025.0143, valid November 2025 to November 2028. Route Saltnia Km 4.5, Sfax, Tunisia.