Logo, Color, and Packaging: What “Low MOQ” Actually Covers

Private label, for the work I take, means your name on a product the cluster already knows how to make. Logo, color, and packaging are that work. A new mechanism, a new mold, or a new electronics layout is a different project, with a different minimum and a different risk.

Changes that stay small

• A logo by print, laser, or a simple label on a product that already exists.
• A color the factory already runs, or one new color in a material they dye or mold every week.
• A hangtag, a barcode you supply, an insert, and a carton mark. You send the artwork. I do not invent a brand for you.
• An assortment ratio, if the pieces themselves are stock.

Changes that raise the minimum

A new plastic mold, a new die, a custom box with a high print minimum, and a retail carton that is not the factory’s standard shipper all sit outside a “low MOQ” sentence. Packaging factories have their own minimums. A pretty box of 200 units is often more expensive, per piece, than the product inside it. I price the product and the packing as two lines so that surprise shows up before the deposit.

If the goods are going to a fulfillment warehouse, the barcode, the polybag warning, and the carton weight limit have to be in the packing spec. The factory can apply a barcode you provide. They cannot guess your warehouse rules. Tell me the destination and the pack you need, and I will say whether this is a light-custom order or a tooling order.

Keep reading

• Samples, the Deposit, and When the Balance Moves
• Phone Cases and Cables from Dongguan
• China Export Documents a Buyer Should Actually Read