The smallest production run a factory will accept for an order. MOQs are where manufacturing reality collides with cash reality: overseas factories typically want 500-5,000+ units while domestic ones often accept 100-500, and every unit beyond what you can sell is cash converted into risk. The mistake is treating the stated MOQ as fixed - it is an opening position. Offer a higher unit price for a smaller run (some factories will do 50% of the stated MOQ at a 10-20% premium), frame it as a trial order for quality validation, commit to projected annual volume, or pay tooling upfront to de-risk the factory.
Benchmark. Negotiate rather than accept: 50% of the stated MOQ at a 10-20% unit-price premium is a common trade, and a 200-500 unit 'trial order' framing works. A smaller, dearer first run beats a big MOQ bet on an unvalidated product.