Print run / MOQ
The run is how many copies get produced together; the MOQ is the fewest the printer will accept before setup stops making economic sense.
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What it is
A print run is the quantity produced together from one setup. MOQ means minimum order quantity: the smallest run a printer is willing to sell for that process, stock, size, and finish. A digital shop may accept a handful of booklets, while a custom offset carton can require hundreds or thousands before setup and material ordering make sense.
Ask for price breaks, not one lonely quantity. The unit price often drops sharply when the fixed plate, die, and makeready costs spread across more pieces, but the cheapest unit is not the cheapest decision if half the run becomes obsolete in storage. Versioned artwork can also trigger a separate MOQ for every language, flavor, or size.
Gotcha: quoted quantity may mean ordered pieces, press sheets, or acceptable finished units, and industry terms can allow an agreed overrun or underrun. Put the delivered-good quantity and tolerance in writing. Also ask whether cartons must be ordered in full packs, because a 500-piece MOQ can quietly become 528 pieces at checkout.
Ask AI for it
Write a printer quote request that compares runs of 100, 250, 500, 1,000, 2,500, and 5,000 finished pieces on HP Indigo digital and sheet-fed offset lithography. Require each quote to state MOQ, delivered good quantity, allowed overrun or underrun percentage, setup charges, unit price, total price, carton pack size, lead time, and whether each artwork version must meet the MOQ separately. Return a comparison table and flag the lowest total cost, not merely the lowest unit cost.