Choosing sizes before you ask for a quote

A lot of what we sell comes in more than one size. Cartridges come in different tank capacities, bags in fill sizes from a gram up, jars in several volumes. When a request comes in for 10,000 of a cart with no size on it, our first reply has to be a question, and that usually costs a day. Picking the size before you send saves the round trip.

Why each size has its own price

It's easy to assume a bigger size is the same thing with a little more material. Sometimes it roughly is. More often the sizes run on different molds, use different glass or film, or get made in separate runs, and the unit price reflects all of that. A 1ml tank usually costs more than a 0.5ml one, but you can't get one price by scaling the other.

Minimums work the same way. A factory sets up a run for each size, so the smallest run is set per size too, and a size that sells less can carry a higher minimum than the popular one. You can plan around the minimum shown for a product and then find out your size starts higher. The size table on the product page is there to catch that early.

What the product page shows

On a product with sizes, the pricing card has a dropdown for each kind of size. Required ones are marked, and if a required choice only has one option, it's picked for you. Where a size carries a flat surcharge, the list shows it next to the size, like +$0.02. Sizes with their own price breaks show their prices in the size table under the price instead, which we get to below.

Pick a size and the page redraws around it. The headline becomes that size's price at its own minimum, the volume table switches to that size's bands, the minimum line names the size when it raises the minimum, and the quantity box prices your number for that size. Clear the choice and the page goes back to how it started.

Before you pick, a product priced by size shows a From price. That's the cheapest size at its own minimum, which may well not be the one you need. Just under it is a plain table of every size with its starting price and its minimum, so you can compare them side by side. A size marked priced on the quote has no published price, and we'll price it for your quantity. On products without public prices, the table still shows the minimum for any size that raises it, because the minimum is often what decides whether it's worth asking at all.

Sizes in the cart

The size you pick goes with the product when you add it to your cart, and each cart line has the same dropdowns if you want to change it there. A line whose price depends on a size you haven't chosen yet stays out of the estimated total until you pick one. If you send a line without a size, it still goes through, and we'll ask which one you meant. The one limit: each product sits on one line with one size. If you need two sizes of the same jar, put one on the line and write the other in the note. Sending the whole order walks through the rest of the cart.

Picking the right size in the first place

The picker tells you what each size costs. It can't tell you which size suits your product, and that's worth settling before you worry about quantity. Some earlier posts that help:

• For bags, buy the size named for the weight you sell, not one up. A bag sized for more leaves air around the product and space on the shelf you pay for. The bag category lists every size by the weight it holds.
• For carts, the tank and intake have to suit your oil and your filling setup. Order a few from the cartridge category and run your own oil through them first.
• For anything that takes a label, put your real label on the real size before a bulk order. Our post on ordering samples goes through it step by step.

Once you know the size, the quantity box and the volume table will tell you where the price breaks fall for it, which we cover in reading a volume price table.