CNC Has No Mold — So No Real Minimum
The reason injection molding and die casting demand high minimums is the tooling: a steel mold costs thousands and only pays off over thousands of parts. CNC machining has no such mold. It cuts directly from solid stock, so making one part is technically no different from making the first of a thousand. That's why our MOQ is 1 piece, with no setup fee.
When a shop quotes you a minimum of 50 or 100 for a machined part, that's a scheduling and economics choice on their end — not a law of CNC.
So Why Do Some Shops Set an MOQ?
- Setup economics — programming and fixturing are paid once; for a high-volume shop, a single piece may not be worth the scheduling slot.
- Production focus — shops tooled for runs of thousands aren't set up to handle one-offs efficiently.
- Material minimums — exotic stock sometimes sells in set lengths.
None of these stop a prototyping-friendly shop. EKINSUN is geared for low-MOQ and one-off work, so single pieces and small batches are normal here.
Quantity Still Drives Unit Price
No minimum doesn't mean quantity is irrelevant — it strongly affects the per-piece price, because setup is spread across the batch:
| Order size | What it's good for | Unit price |
|---|---|---|
| 1 piece | Prototype, fit check, one repair part | Highest per piece |
| 5–20 | Small batch, test market, spares | Setup starts to spread |
| 50–200 | Low-volume production | Much lower per piece |
| 500+ | Ongoing production | Lowest per piece |
This is the same mechanism behind quote sticker-shock — see how to read a CNC quote. The useful question isn't "is there an MOQ?" but "what quantity reaches the unit price I need?"
The smart play: order one piece first to confirm fit and finish, then come back for the production batch at a lower unit price. No drawing? Start through no-CAD ordering — single prototypes from a photo or sketch are routine.
Frequently Asked Questions
Often not — there's no mold to amortise, so one piece is feasible. EKINSUN's MOQ is 1 with no setup fee. Some shops set a minimum by choice, not by technical need.
Fixed setup per job is uneconomic to repeat for tiny orders, and production-focused shops may decline one-offs. Prototyping-friendly shops welcome single pieces.
Yes — setup spreads across the batch, so unit price falls with quantity. A prototype is dearest per piece; production runs are cheapest.
Yes. We make single prototypes from a drawing, sketch, photo or sample with no minimum and no setup fee.
Order 1 or 1,000
MOQ 1, no setup fee. Tell us the quantity and we'll show the unit price at each. Reply in 24h.
MOQ 1 · No setup fee · Files confidential