How to Restrict Customers to a Single Product Purchase

To restrict WooCommerce customers to buying one unit of a product, tick Sold individually at WPFactory > Quantity Manager > General in Min Max Step Quantity Limits Manager for WooCommerce, or set a maximum quantity of 1. Both are free and suit limited editions and samples. A cart total maximum of 1 allows one item per order.

Option A: Sold individually (removes the quantity box) #

1. Go to WPFactory > Quantity Manager (also reachable at WooCommerce > Settings > Product Quantity).
2. Open the General section.
3. Tick Sold individually (wpfmmsq_all_sold_individually_enabled) to enable it for all products.
4. Click Save changes.

The quantity input disappears and customers can add exactly one unit. For just a few products, use WooCommerce’s own Sold individually checkbox in the product’s Inventory tab instead.

Option B: Maximum quantity of 1 (keeps the box, capped at 1) #

1. Open the Maximum Quantity section and tick Maximum quantity.
2. Set All products (wpfmmsq_max_per_item_quantity) to 1.
3. Click Save changes.

To cap only some products, tick Per product in the same section (free) and set Maximum quantity to 1 in the product’s Product Quantity box. For a whole category, use the Pro per-category maximum.

Option C: One item per order #

To let customers buy only one item in total per order, whatever the product, set Maximum Quantity > Cart Total Maximum Quantity Options > Cart total quantity to 1. The cart then accepts a single unit across all products.

Note: the General Enable plugin toggle only switches the plugin on; it does not by itself restrict quantities to 1. Use one of the methods above.

Options reference #

What the customer sees #

• Sold individually: no quantity box. Trying to add the product a second time gives WooCommerce’s standard “cannot add another” notice.
• Maximum of 1: the box cannot go above 1. If a larger quantity reaches checkout, the order is stopped with the Maximum Quantity Message, by default “Maximum allowed quantity for %product_title% is %max_per_item_quantity%…”.
• Cart total of 1: checkout is stopped with “Maximum allowed order quantity is 1…” when the cart holds more.

To warn on the cart page as well, tick General > Cart notices.

If it does not work #

• Customers still add 2 or more: the Maximum Quantity section is not enabled, only the value was entered.
• A product ignores the limit: it has its own per-product maximum, or -1 in its Maximum quantity field, which disables the maximum for that product.
• Customers buy again in a new order: these limits apply per cart and order, not per customer over time.

FAQ #

How do I stop a customer buying the same product again in a later order? #

Quantity Manager limits each order. For limits per customer across orders, use the sibling plugin Maximum Products per User for WooCommerce.

Which option should I choose? #

Choose Sold individually to hide the box, a maximum of 1 to keep it visible, or a cart total of 1 to allow one item per order.

Can I restrict purchases by user role? #

In Pro, Advanced > Role specific applies Quantity Manager’s rules only to the roles you choose. To exempt roles instead, tick Enable Exclude Role Specific and pick them in Exclude Role specific.

Related: How to set a maximum order quantity.

Get more control #

These global controls are free. To restrict just some products to a single unit, set a per-product maximum of 1, which is also free. Min Max Step Quantity Limits Manager for WooCommerce Pro adds per-category limits. See what Pro unlocks.

Need a hand? Our team answers every ticket on the Quantity Manager support forum.