Why is the minimum order for stone 100 square metres?
The minimum order is not a rule of the trade, it is where fixed costs stop being spread too thin. Understanding what 100 square metres weighs, why small orders cost more and what to do below the threshold beats arguing the number down.
Where does 100 square metres come from?
It is roughly the smallest batch that justifies starting the line: enough to fill a saw run, set the polisher once, and make up one or two pallets of packing. Below that, the fixed cost of blade changes, machine setting and trial cutting is spread over too little area, so the unit price rises. The minimum is not a gate, it is a bend in the cost curve.
How many tonnes is 100 square metres?
At a granite density of about 2700 kg/m³, 30mm slabs weigh roughly 81 kg per square metre, so 100 square metres is about 8.1 tonnes. That conversion matters for both price and freight, because ocean and inland transport are charged on weight or volume, and a few dollars on the slab can be smaller than the freight difference.
Why is the unit price clearly higher on small orders?
Four reasons: fixed preparation cost cannot be spread; block has to be bought whole and the remainder sits in stock; packing materials are ordered by the batch; and small orders can only fill gaps in the schedule. None of these is a supplier punishing small buyers — they are the real cost structure.
What can you do below the minimum?
Four routes. Choose an in-stock specification the supplier already produces, so no new run is needed. Accept a consolidated container, sharing space with other cargo, which saves freight but ties your date to the consolidation. Accept a surcharge and treat it as a sample order. Or sample small first, then place the full quantity once confirmed. The last suits a first cooperation best: validate the supplier at low volume, then commit.
How does the minimum relate to a full container?
Two different ideas. The minimum is the smallest batch that justifies starting production; a full container is the economic unit of transport. 100 square metres often does not fill a 20ft container, and filling one is usually better value than shipping loose — you save loading, declaration and inland freight, not only unit price. That is where the advice to fill a container comes from.
What should you ask instead of can you lower it?
Four things: what minimum quantity this price assumes; how much more below that quantity; whether an in-stock item of the same specification can ship now; and if ordered in two lots, whether the second keeps the first lot's price. Those answers are far more useful than asking to cut 100 to 50, because they turn a no into a how.