Economic Order Quantity Calculator
The order size that minimises total cost.
Labour, admin and any flat freight — not the goods themselves.
Economic order quantity
400
10.0 orders a year
Ordering and carrying cost are equal at the EOQ, and the total-cost curve is flat near the minimum — being roughly right matters far more than being precise.
How the Economic Order Quantity Calculator works
Order in small batches and you pay the ordering cost repeatedly. Order in large batches and you pay to hold stock you are not selling yet. EOQ is the quantity where those two costs are balanced, and the curve is flat near the minimum — being roughly right is worth far more than being precisely wrong.
Not financial advice. Marketplace fees change, and they vary by country, plan and seller status. Every rate here is an editable default, not a quoted price — check the platform's current fee schedule before you price a product against it. This is not tax or business advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is the EOQ formula?
√(2 × annual demand × cost per order ÷ annual carrying cost per unit). With 4,000 units of annual demand, £60 per order and £3 to hold a unit for a year, EOQ is √(2 × 4000 × 60 ÷ 3) = 400 units.
What counts as an ordering cost?
Everything spent placing and receiving an order regardless of size: purchasing time, inbound freight if it is flat-rate, receiving and inspection labour, and any per-order supplier charge. Not the cost of the goods themselves.
What are the assumptions behind EOQ?
Steady demand, constant lead time, a fixed price per unit and no quantity discounts. Real businesses violate all four. EOQ is still useful as a sanity check on order size, but it is not a rule to follow blindly.
How do quantity discounts change EOQ?
They can make a larger order cheaper overall even though it carries more stock. Compare total cost — purchase plus ordering plus carrying — at the EOQ and at each discount break, and pick whichever is lowest.