Private label means selling an existing or lightly modified product under your own brand and packaging. The three models you'll be quoted are white-label (a generic product, your label on it), ODM (the factory's design, tweaked and branded for you), and OEM (your design, built to your drawings). The more of the design that's yours, the higher the cost, the longer the lead time, the bigger the minimum order — and the more the product can command a premium and be defended as yours. Before you send a single drawing to a Chinese factory, two documents matter more than the sample: your trademark filing and an NNN agreement. Here's how the whole thing actually works.
You found the product at the Canton Fair or in the Yiwu market. It's good, but it's anonymous — the same item sits on ten booths. Turning it into your brand is a defined process with defined costs. Get the vocabulary right first, because factories use these terms loosely and the wrong assumption costs you money.
OEM vs ODM vs white-label vs private label
These four terms overlap and reps use them interchangeably, so pin down what you're actually buying.
- White-label. The factory makes one generic product and lets many brands put their label on the identical item (CMGM). You change nothing but the sticker. Cheapest, fastest, lowest minimum — and your competitor two aisles over is selling the same thing.
- Private label. A broader term for selling under your own brand. In practice it usually means white-label plus custom packaging and light branding (logo, box, colourway), not a re-engineered product (SourceToDoor).
- ODM (Original Design Manufacturer). The factory already owns a product design; you modify it — colour, material, minor function, packaging — and sell it as yours. The base IP stays the factory's, so they can and will sell variants to others (New Buying Agent).
- OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer). You bring the design and specifications; the factory builds to your drawings. The IP is yours (Hunter Sourcing). This is the only model that produces a genuinely proprietary product — and the only one where tooling and IP protection become central.
The ladder, from most differentiated to least, is OEM → ODM → private label → white-label. Move down it and everything gets cheaper, faster and lower-minimum — but your product looks more like everyone else's and commands less of a premium.
At a glance
| White-label | Private label | ODM | OEM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whose design | Factory's, generic | Factory's + your packaging | Factory's, modified | Yours |
| Your control | Label only | Branding & packaging | Cosmetic + minor function | Full spec & function |
| Typical MOQ | Lowest (100–300) | Low (300–500+) | Medium (500–1,000+) | Highest (often 1,000+) |
| Upfront cost | Minimal | Low (packaging setup) | Medium (mods, sometimes tooling) | High (tooling / moulds) |
| Speed to launch | Fastest | Fast | Medium | Slowest (design + sampling) |
| Differentiation | None | Packaging only | Moderate | High — genuinely yours |
| IP ownership | Factory | Factory (brand yours) | Factory | You |
MOQ (Minimum Order Quantity) figures are indicative: simple logo work runs 100–300 units, while custom packaging, colours, moulds or formulas push you to 500, 1,000 or more (China2West).
The process, step by step
1. Find a factory that fits your customization level
Not every supplier can do what you want. A white-label reseller can't cut a new mould; a real OEM factory can but won't bother for 300 units. Match the supplier to the model — and confirm you're talking to a factory, not a trading company, using the business-license and scope checks in our guide to vetting suppliers and avoiding scams. For OEM especially, the factory's engineering capability is the thing you're buying.
2. File your trademark before you disclose anything
China is a first-to-file trademark system: rights belong to whoever registers at CNIPA first, regardless of your reputation abroad or who used the name earlier (Shanghai Jungle). If you hand your brand name to a factory before filing, a squatter — sometimes the factory itself — can register it and block your own goods at the border. Registration takes roughly 8–12 months, so file 12–18 months before you disclose brand details to suppliers (Good Can Trading). It's cheap insurance: the CNIPA official fee is RMB 270 per class filed electronically, and a single-class filing with a clearance search typically lands between $300 and $600 all-in (Intepat).
3. Sign an NNN agreement before sharing designs
An NNN agreement — Non-use, Non-disclosure, Non-circumvention — is the China-specific contract that stops a factory from (a) using your design for anything but your order, (b) sharing it with third parties, and (c) going around you to sell to your customers directly (Cosmo Sourcing). It must be bilingual (English + Chinese) and governed by Chinese law in a Chinese court to be enforceable — a US-style NDA is close to worthless here (Harris Sliwoski). A qualified China IP attorney drafts one for roughly $800–2,500 (Relish Tech). China's 2025 Anti-Unfair Competition Law update raised minimum trade-secret fines to RMB 500,000, which strengthens your hand (Relish Tech).
4. Sample, then sample again with your branding
Approve a functional sample against your written spec, then a second sample with your actual logo and packaging before mass production. A misprinted logo or a colour that shifts in production is a costly mistake to discover on 1,000 units (King Sourcing). Sign off a "golden sample" both sides keep as the reference.
5. Nail down MOQ, tooling and mould ownership
For OEM (and some ODM) work, the factory cuts a mould or tool. Two facts to internalize. First, moulds are expensive: a production injection mould typically runs $10,000–$80,000 depending on cavity count, steel grade and complexity — though simple tooling can be negotiated far lower, sometimes a few thousand dollars with a pilot run (Zetar Mold). Second, paying for a mould does not make it yours by default. You need a separate mould-ownership agreement — buyers have lost their tooling despite a solid NNN because they never signed one (Zetar Mold). Whoever holds the mould holds your production hostage at reorder time, so get ownership, storage terms and a hand-back clause in writing.
6. Contract, produce, inspect
Wrap the deal in an OEM/manufacturing agreement that references your golden sample, spec, quantities, tiered pricing, mould ownership and the NNN terms. Then treat quality as a habit, not a one-off — book a pre-shipment inspection and tie your final payment to it, exactly as you would for any import from China.
Protecting your brand and design
Three layers, in order of when you deploy them:
- Trademark first, before any disclosure (first-to-file, above).
- NNN agreement before you share designs or specs.
- Mould-ownership agreement if any tooling is cut for you.
Skip step one and a squatter can seize your name. Skip step two and your unique design leaks to competitors. Skip step three and your reorders are hostage to the factory that holds the tool. None of the three is optional for a serious OEM product; for a simple white-label reorder, the trademark alone may be enough.
MOQ, tooling costs and the risks
Private label lives or dies on the numbers. A low white-label MOQ lets you test a market cheaply; an OEM tooling bill of $10k+ has to be amortized over your whole run, so the per-unit cost only makes sense at volume. Negotiate the minimum and the price tiers deliberately — see how to negotiate MOQ and decode price tiers — and never treat the tooling fee as separate from the deal: it's part of your true unit cost.
The main risks, and their antidotes:
| Risk | What happens | Antidote |
|---|---|---|
| Brand squatting | Someone registers your name in China; goods blocked | File your trademark first-to-file, early |
| Design leak / knock-off | Factory sells your "unique" product to others | Bilingual NNN under Chinese law |
| Mould held hostage | Factory won't release tooling at reorder | Separate mould-ownership agreement |
| ODM isn't exclusive | Rivals buy the same base product | Pay for exclusivity in writing, or go OEM |
| Bait-and-switch on quality | Great sample, worse bulk run | Golden sample + pre-shipment inspection tied to payment |
FAQ
What's the difference between OEM and ODM in China?
With OEM, you provide the design and specifications and the factory builds to your drawings — the intellectual property is yours, so the product is genuinely proprietary. With ODM, the factory already owns the design; you modify it (colour, material, minor function, packaging) and sell it under your brand, but the base IP stays theirs and they can sell variants to others. OEM costs more and takes longer; ODM is faster and cheaper.
Is private label the same as white-label?
Not quite. White-label is a generic product that many brands sell under their own label with no changes but the sticker. Private label is broader — selling under your own brand, usually with custom packaging and light branding on top of a factory product. In everyday sourcing talk the terms blur, so confirm exactly what customization is included: packaging only, or colours, materials and function too.
Do I need to register a trademark before manufacturing in China?
Yes, and early. China is first-to-file: rights go to whoever registers at CNIPA first, so a squatter — sometimes your own supplier — can grab your name and block your goods at the border. Registration takes about 8–12 months, so file 12–18 months before disclosing brand details to a factory. A single-class filing with a clearance search typically costs $300–600.
What is an NNN agreement and why not just an NDA?
An NNN agreement covers Non-use, Non-disclosure and Non-circumvention — it stops a Chinese factory using your design, leaking it, or selling around you to your customers. Unlike a Western NDA, it must be bilingual and governed by Chinese law in a Chinese court to be enforceable. A US-style NDA is close to worthless against a Chinese factory. Expect to pay a China IP attorney roughly $800–2,500 to draft one.
How much does a mould cost, and who owns it?
A production injection mould typically runs $10,000–$80,000 depending on complexity, cavities and steel grade, though simple tooling can be far cheaper. Critically, paying for the mould does not automatically make it yours — you need a separate mould-ownership agreement. Without one, buyers have lost their tooling and been held hostage on reorders. Get ownership, storage and a hand-back clause in writing.
Creating a brand starts on the show floor: you have to capture each candidate product with its price, MOQ and supplier before you can decide which one is worth a trademark and a tooling bill. Fairloop does exactly that — photograph the product and its numbers in seconds at the booth, offline, then compare and cost it back at the hotel before you commit to going private label.