Planning Your Wholesale Orders: Lead Times, Minimums and Peak Season

Handmade boards are not produced in a day. A store that orders at the right time has full shelves when customers come; one that orders late watches them leave empty-handed.

1. Start with your sales
Look at the last 12 months by item and by month. Mark your bestsellers, your slow movers and your peaks, which for most stores fall in the last quarter.

2. Know the full lead time
Production, transport and your own receiving time together. Handmade goods often take longer than mass-market items, and engraved orders longer still. Ask your supplier for current lead times and add a buffer.

3. Work back from your peak
Decide when the boards must be on the shelf, then subtract the full lead time. Example: if the boards should be in store by mid-November and the total lead time is eight weeks, order by mid-September.

4. Check minimum quantities
Ask about minimums per item and per order. Often you can reach the minimum by mixing sizes or wood types.

5. Keep a safety stock
A simple rule: reorder point = average weekly sales × lead time in weeks + safety stock. If you sell 5 boards a week, the lead time is 6 weeks and you keep 10 as a buffer, reorder when stock drops to 40.

6. Split the season order
Place one main order for the season and plan a smaller top-up later. Ask whether your supplier can reserve capacity for the top-up.

7. Share your forecast
A supplier who knows your plans in advance can buy wood and schedule production in time. Ask about pre-season terms.

8. Review after the season
What sold out, what was left over, when did you reorder? These notes make next year’s plan easier.

Plan your Christmas and spring orders with Doshka Monte early. Ask us about current lead times and wholesale terms.