Set minimum and maximum order quantities in WooCommerce

Wholesale items sell by the case. A fragile product should not leave the shop in lots of fifty. Here is how to put limits on what a customer can order, starting with what WooCommerce does itself.

What WooCommerce does itself

• Sold individually. On a product's Inventory tab, tick "Sold individually" to allow only one per order. This is a maximum of one.
• Stock. With stock management on, a customer cannot buy more than you have, unless you allow backorders.

That is all. WooCommerce has no setting for a minimum or maximum quantity per product, for selling in packs of six, or for a minimum order amount. These are common requests, and the standard answer is a plugin or a code snippet on the quantity input.

Three kinds of limit

1. Per product or category: "At least 6 of this product", "no more than 20".
2. Pack size: "Only in multiples of 6".
3. Whole order: "Orders start at $50", or a ceiling for orders you cannot take.

Quantity rules with Tadrik Checkout Rules

This is a Checkout Rules Pro feature ($49/year, 14-day trial without a card). Quantity rules (packs of N, minimum, maximum per product or category) are Pro. The minimum order amount below is in the free plugin.

Tadrik Checkout Rules has quantity rules under WooCommerce > Checkout Rules. You can sell in packs of 6 (Pro), or set a minimum or maximum per product or category (Pro).

A minimum order amount (free)

For the whole cart, add a rule that stops the order with a message, with the condition "cart total is less than 50". The message can show how much is missing: "Orders start at {threshold}. Add {missing} more to check out." There is also a ready-made "A minimum order" rule that is set up this way. The same rule type works for a maximum, or for any order you cannot take.

Test it first

The Test a cart tab shows what a given customer would see for a given cart, before the rule goes live. Each rule can be switched on or off, and the list of recent orders your rules changed shows what the rule did in practice.

Good to know

• The minimum order rule works with the block checkout and the classic one.
• Set a clear message, because a customer who is stopped needs to know what to do next.
• If a rule is too strict, switch it off and the checkout goes back to normal.

Common questions

Can I set a minimum for wholesale customers only? Rules can use conditions such as the customer role, so a minimum can apply to retail customers and not to trade accounts, or the other way round.

What does the customer see? For the order-level rule, the message you wrote, at checkout. Keep it short and say the exact number that is missing.

Why not just write it in the product description? A note is easy to miss. A rule is applied for you, and it keeps your team from hand-fixing orders that arrive below the minimum.

Do these limits replace stock settings? No. Stock still decides what you can sell. Quantity rules decide how it may be bought.