automotive aftermarket parts / Buying guide
Auto parts minimum order quantity
Stock aftermarket parts are sold in small quantities domestically because Chinese workshops buy that way. Ten to fifty pieces is a normal listing minimum and single pieces are often available at a higher unit price.
The number jumps once you want your own box, your own brand, or a part that is not already in production. That is tooling and a production run, and it is measured in hundreds or thousands.
In this guide
Three different minimums
- Stock pick from a warehouse: 10–50 pieces, negotiable, sometimes one.
- Private label — your brand on an existing part and box: usually 500–1,000 per part number, because it is a print run and a packing run.
- New tooling — a part not currently produced, or a modified one: thousands, plus a mould charge in the thousands of renminbi.
What makes a seller flexible
- Goods physically in stock, because nothing is being produced for you.
- A first order openly framed as a trial before a standing arrangement.
- Slow-moving stock for older vehicle platforms.
- Ordering several part numbers from the same seller, which lets them hit their own total rather than a per-line floor.
What makes them inflexible
Anything requiring a mould, a die or a print plate. That cost exists whether you order 100 or 10,000, so the seller needs the run to carry it.
Certified parts produced in batches against a test report, where a partial batch breaks the certification chain.
Questions & answers
Common questions
- Can I buy one of something to test fit?
- Usually yes, at a higher unit price, and it is the cheapest due diligence available in this category.
- Does the minimum apply per part number or per order?
- Per part number, almost always. Ask whether a mixed order can meet a combined total — many sellers will agree.
- What does private label actually cost?
- The print and packing setup, plus a higher per-unit price, plus the minimum. Worth it when you have repeat volume, rarely worth it on a first order.
Your next step
Have a link you want checked?
Send a 1688 or Taobao product link and you get back the specification in English, the supplier check, and the landed cost to your country before you commit to anything.
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