Frequently Asked Questions

A physical product manufactured by a factory and sold under your brand. At the simple end you put your logo on something the factory already makes. At the serious end you specify the materials, the function, the tooling and the packaging, and the result exists only because you asked for it. Both are private label; they are very different amounts of work and very different margins.

No. Every term is explained where it first appears, and the guide is written in the order you'll actually need it. If you've never spoken to a factory, start at stage one and read forward.

The sourcing, negotiation, sampling and branding parts are universal. The compliance material is EU and UK focused — CE marking, REACH and GPSR — because that's where my certification experience is, and it's the part most English-language guides skip entirely.

Not today — every guide, article and tool on this site is free to read. A paid course is in development. You can join the email list to hear when it opens and when new guides go up, but nothing on the site is locked behind it.

My own first product took six months from idea to shelf, and a good part of that was fear and indecision rather than manufacturing. Timelines depend on your category, your factory and your compliance requirements. The guide gives you the roadmap; the pace is yours.

Private label is the commercial arrangement: the product is sold under your brand. OEM and ODM describe who did the design work — with OEM the design is yours and the factory manufactures it, with ODM the factory's existing design is adapted for you. In practice there are levels in between, and the level you choose is mostly a question of how much of the factory's tooling you replace.

For anything beyond samples, effectively yes. You will need to sign contracts, pay international invoices, clear customs and be the legal entity responsible for the product's compliance in the EU. That last part is not optional — someone has to be the responsible person on the paperwork.

The sourcing, negotiation, sampling and branding material applies anywhere. The compliance material is written for people placing products on the EU or UK market. If you sell into the EU from outside it, the compliance obligations still reach you — they follow the product, not the seller.