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If you are a small parts store or just starting out, I strongly suggest that you reduce or even remove your minimum order. Here’s why
Note: This post applies mainly to stores selling parts and small-value minifigs. Large item and set sellers have slightly different situations.
Even with the size of store I have, many of my first time customers are ordering less than $10. If you are worried about it costing you more than the order is worth, have a minimum order CHARGE but not a minimum order restriction.
On BrickLink, you can automate this with a minimum order bypass password. (Under My Store, settings, management, checkout) When our store started, we had a minimum order of $2.50 if I remember correctly. So the bypass password was “AddUpTo250” and a customer could order a $0.25 part if that is all they needed. We then added $2.25 to meet the minimum order. I was surprised at how many people chose that option. And yes, they were small orders, but that is how you build your feedback, and how you earn repeat customers. If someone needs just that missing part for a MOC that is getting displayed next week, they will value your speedy service saving the day.
On BrickOwl, there isn’t an automatic way to do this at the time of this writing.
Figure out what your cost per order is, aside from the cost of parts, to process a small order. Factor in your packing supplies, order fee from Paypal, gas to get to the post office, paper for the printer, and a little bit for your time. This is a good starting place for your minimum order. You don’t want to lose money with each order, but many of your first customers will be small orders until you build up your selection. This is your time to get your feet wet, build your feedback, and earn yourself some repeat customers.
As Pretty_Pieces has grown, we’ve increased our minimum in stages. We use it as a way to slow down the flow of orders. Too many orders is a GREAT problem to have. The consideration is that it takes pretty close to the same time to process a $10 order as it does a five dollar one, but the profit per time spent is usually higher on the $10 order. When there are more orders than we can comfortably process in the time we have, the minimum is raised, and our bottom line improves.
Why not have a high minimum to start with? Your initial goals are to just get orders, fill them well, get feedback, and build a happy (repeat) customer base. If you are just starting out your customer may not be able to find enough in your limited selection to buy to get to the minimum. You might think that it will encourage them to place a bigger order. It is more likely that they will buy the same parts from someone else.
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