Three words get used interchangeably in almost every supplier conversation we have: white label, private label and OEM. They describe genuinely different products, with different costs, different lead times and different levels of legal exposure for you. Buying "private label" and receiving "white label with a sticker" is one of the most common disappointments in this category.
White label: the same kit, your sticker
You buy a design and kit configuration that already exists — one we have made many times — and we apply your label, sticker or branded band. Nothing else changes.
- Speed: 7–10 days, because there is no design cycle.
- Cost: the lowest per-unit price available.
- Differentiation: almost none. The same design may be sold by three other shops.
White label is a legitimate choice for market tests and for a low-price entry SKU. It is a poor choice for a brand you intend to build, because you are renting someone else's product decisions.
Private label: your artwork, your packaging, our platform
Private label is the middle and — for most new brands — correct option. You bring artwork and a brand direction; we manufacture it on our standard kit platform: our canvas stock, our paint volumes, our brush specifications, our box construction. What changes is everything the customer sees: the design, the box print, the canvas logo, the reference card, the thank-you card and the language of the instructions.
- Speed: 8–15 days after artwork approval, plus 3–5 days for a pre-production sample.
- Cost: a modest uplift over white label, mainly from short-run packaging print.
- Differentiation: total, for the customer. The product is yours.
Two things to confirm in writing before you sign: that your artwork is exclusive to you (we never resell a private label design), and that the design files become your property or are licensed to you for continued production. Ask for both in the quotation, not in a separate e-mail.
OEM / ODM: the product itself is new
Full OEM means we engineer something that did not exist in our catalogue: a new canvas size outside the standard range, a new box construction, a custom brush set, a different paint volume, a shaped insert, a children's version with blunt tips and larger sections. ODM is the same thing with the design work done by us under your brief.
- Speed: 15–25 days, plus sampling and any tooling.
- Cost: tooling or plate charges where construction changes, and higher minimums — usually 500 to 1,000 units.
- Differentiation: structural. Competitors can copy your artwork; copying your box construction takes them a tooling cycle.
OEM is worth it when your price point depends on the unboxing experience, when you are selling into retail chains that expect a specific shelf format, or when you are matching a frame size that no standard kit fits.
Which one should you buy?
| Your situation | Buy this | Typical MOQ |
|---|---|---|
| Testing whether the category works at all | White label | 100 |
| Building a brand with your own designs | Private label | 100 |
| Selling into gift retail or subscription boxes | Private label, rigid box | 500 |
| A price point that depends on the box itself | OEM | 500–1,000 |
| No stock, market-by-market testing | Dropship + private label later | None |
A sensible progression for a new brand is white label or a small private label run to validate demand, then private label at 300–500 units once one design proves itself, then OEM for the packaging once you are selling into retail. Full details of the three options, with specifications, are on our OEM and private label page.
What we ask for before production
- Final artwork at 2,000 px or more on the long edge, or an approval of our redraw.
- Logo files in vector (AI, EPS, SVG or PDF) — a PNG logo will print soft on a box.
- Barcode / EAN and the importer address for the destination market.
- The age grading you intend to print, and confirmation of the market's labelling rules.
- Written confirmation of who owns the artwork.
Ready to compare costs on your own design? Send us a brief and we will quote white label, private label and OEM side by side, so the trade-off is visible instead of theoretical.
Quote all three, side by side
One brief, three configurations, one table. That is usually the fastest way to decide where your money should go.