Par Dylan Blankenship

« Les produits ou les services d'étiquette privée sont typiquement ceux construits ou fournis par une compagnie pour l'offre sous la marque d'une autre compagnie. » - Wikipedia. C'est le nom du jeu pour la Chine et pour la plupart, les produits que vous achetez ici aux Etats-Unis ne sont pas vraiment fabriqués par le nom sur l'étiquette. Parfois la plupart des grands magasins de boîte ou d'habillement vous fréquent avez un inventaire presque entièrement composé de leurs propres produits sous leur propre marque ou le multiple unaffiliated des marques. Ce n'est pas simplement un jeu pour les grands garçons, ceci peut être accompli avec les mêmes produits journaliers sous l'étiquette de votre propre compagnie. Bienvenue au club, nous sommes sur le point de retirer le rideau pour indiquer ce que vous devez savoir en développant votre propre ligne marquée privée des produits.

Prenez la notification que chaque fabricant a ses propres directives, conditions et procédures pour produire un produit d'étiquette privée. Non tous les fabricants offrent ce service ou ont les possibilités laser-gravent à l'eau-forte/découpent les logos etc. La première étape est à la source le produit que vous aimez et puis suivi avec le fabricant ouvrant un dialogue au sujet des occasions d'étiquette privée.

Lets get off on the right foot by stating that selecting the right manufacturer to work with may be the quintessential most important decision to make. Over the next few paragraphs we will detail some choice areas for consideration so that you can ask the key questions that will determine your success. You may find that this article is just as much of a primer for selecting the right manufacturer to work with as it is about developing a private labeled product.

Quality Assurance Testing
When you evaluate a brand you think most importantly about quality. It is important to court your prospective manufacturer inquiring about any quality assurance or rigorous testing that may be performed prior to shipping the products to you. You don’t want to damage the brand’s integrity with poor workmanship. Find out if your manufacturer implements or maintains any manufacturing certifications, process controls, quality management or assurance systems. Depending on the manufacturer this might be a free service that might put one manufacturer above all the rest. In my experience with private labeling kitchen and bath faucets, Globe Union offered unparalleled testing measures while keeping the price competitive. What else do you expect from the largest faucet manufacturer in the world. Are you familiar with the “Premier” faucets at Home Depot? They are made by Globe Union and if you only knew that Home Depot was making over 80% profit margins on them…

Designs, Legal Issues, Copyright & US Umbrellas
Most of the smart private labelers have already submitted for legal protection for their products under US copyright or other umbrellas. The manufacturer may have other customers, which may have invested large amounts of time and development monies into a particular design. Though some manufacturers will allow it, it is not a good idea to use someone else’s design. Fear not, in some cases this leaves an opportunity to design your own product. If there isn’t much of an artisan in you, then many times there will be some kind of stock/standard item that you can just slightly modify. This is all industry specific information, but it is something you should inquire about. Just because there aren’t any laws to prevent the manufacture of a protected product in China, there are in the US when you try to sell it.

Retail Packaging
One of the main selling points to a private labeled product is the opportunity for premium packaging. Obviously it is nice to have the logo on the product, but the packaging is where the consumer will first identify with the brand. Typical packaging for products that come out of China will come in a standard white/brown box or packaging with a marketing scheme that makes it obvious that it came from another country. This is one of the first places to incur an additional landed cost for your item. This amount can vary depending on the packaging material and the number of colors printed on the retail box. Remember that in the eye of the consumer, the better the packaging the more solid the brand.

Support/Defective Products/Warranty
Be prepared for defective products, this is inevitable, but less likely depending on the amount of quality assurance measures your factory implements. It is too costly to ship your product back to China for a refund, but you need to be able to accept returns, as this would hurt your brand’s reputation if you did not. You should combat this problem by building in an additional 3% of extra product into your order. You should handle warranty issues in the same way. Confirm this is the case, but the manufacturer will likely give you a credit on the backend transaction of your next order. Unless you have invested more money into a AAAA+ rated product, it is best to offer a short or limited warranty. Do not expect a lot of support from the manufacturer. It is a good idea to do your due diligence in the beginning, learning as much as you possibly can about the product before launching your line.

The Cost Comparison for Private Label
This is an area you will have to explore for yourself as it can vary entirely on the product category, quantity of order and manufacturer. In the case of Globe Union’s private label plan for kitchen and bath faucets, all the costs for the private label were built into their pricing schedule, which was very competitive with non-private labeled products. In terms of having logos laser-etched onto stainless steel kitchen sinks I have seen this raise the price $5-$10 per sink depending on the order size and use of premium packaging.

Branding Development Ramp-Up Time
There are two main elements that can determine ramp up time for having your private labeled product produced: manufacturer preparation and your own preparation. From your end, you may outsource the design of your retail packaging, which may take several weeks. In addition, if you have any design changes to the product other than imprinting logos, this is also on you. The manufacturer will have to prepare to source the required materials, create moulds, implement changes to their production line, QA, etc. It is important to inquire about the ramp-up time as it will vary depending on the factory, its staff and the specifics of your order. After everything has been decided, pricing agreed upon and detailed to the manufacturer, you will want to receive a sample of the final product before authorizing production. Remember, you will of course need to make changes to your own schedules for completing work to meet deadline/timelines. Get started early, I have seen manufacturing ramp-up timelines requiring up to 6 months!

Minimum Orders
Minimum orders should not be an issue if you are already importing. It is standard to purchase at-least a container of goods while importing from China, but many times you must commit to purchasing a certain quantity of containers annually to obtain a private label item.

Certifications, Licenses and Incorporating
Many times licenses and certifications must be registered, applied and obtained by the branding company and not the manufacturer. It is best to do your due diligence to find out what if any requirements that your brand should have. Do not take the manufacturer’s word on it, check into it yourself as it will not be them who will have to deal with the ramifications. This will also affect some decisions you may have to make during the pre-manufacturing and deal-making phase of your import venture. Try locating similar already imported products in the US and reviewing the packaging for identifying marks of their certifications. Depending on your product and scale for distribution, you should also consider incorporating.

Expanding the Product Line
Leave room for expansion; make sure that the manufacturer you select has accessory items or a variety of other styles to incorporate into your line. If you purchase the various products for your line from different vendors you will have to start from scratch with each one. This way all your packaging and logos retain their continuity throughout the line.

SourceJuice is here to provide you with on the ground information from China, relevant to your sourcing and product development needs. Please visit our website and join our RSS feed or mailing list to keep updated with the latest trends in sourcing.