Minimum orders and how you sell by unit

Every listing is sold one of two ways — by count or by weight — and the price you set is per that unit. A minimum order is the smallest amount of it somebody can buy.

Count or weight is a property of the listing

A listing sold by count is bought in whole units: three jars, two dozen eggs. A listing sold by weight is bought in that weight unit, and buyers can take half steps of it.

You choose this when you price the listing, and it does not change per buyer.

What a minimum order protects

A minimum order stops someone buying so little that the transaction costs you more than it earns. Packaging, holding the goods, and being there for the handoff cost roughly the same whether it is one pound or fifteen.

It matters most if you are selling in volume. A grower who wants to move a crop in large lots and a stand selling jars one at a time need very different minimums.

Minimums are in the listing's unit

The minimum is a number of units, in whatever unit the listing is sold by.

On a listing priced per pound at $2 with a minimum of 5, the smallest order is five pounds — $10. On a listing priced per jar with a minimum of 2, it is two jars.

Buyers see the minimum on the listing, and their first tap adds exactly that amount rather than one.

Price and minimum lock while an order is live

Once an order against a listing is live, its price and minimum are what a buyer already agreed to, so those fields freeze until the order closes out. Finish or cancel the order and they unlock again.