Buy the mechanism, tube and shell from stock (public) moulds and put the brand into decoration, colour and the carton. Working floors: a custom-decorated stock gloss tube from ~1,000, decorated shells ~2,000, moulded-in colour ~3,000, sprayed colour 2,000–5,000 per shape, electroplating ~10,000. Stock parts with decoration ship in 30–45 days at factory gate. A private mould costs RMB 25,000–70,000 (≈USD 3,500–9,700) per component tool, is paid 30/40/30, takes 90–120 days and needs 3,000–10,000 pieces to amortise — justified only for a hero shape decoration cannot deliver.
Stock mould or private mould: the table that decides it
A stock, or public, mould belongs to the factory; your design lives in the decoration. A private mould belongs to you and costs steel, time and a minimum run. The numbers below are indicative partner-factory practice; the underlying tooling figures are on the mould cost and ownership reference.
| Question | Stock (public) mould + decoration | Private mould |
|---|---|---|
| Tooling cost | None. Screen or hot-stamp plate only; spray colour-matching per shape | RMB 25,000–70,000 (≈USD 3,500–9,700) per component tool; worked mid-size tool ≈RMB 76,500 (≈USD 10,600) |
| Payment | Order deposit and balance only | 30/40/30: 30% on signing, 40% after DFM and mould-flow sign-off, 30% within a week of acceptance |
| Lead time, factory gate | Stock 7–25 days; +5–7 print or hot stamp; sprayed 30–40; stock mechanism with decoration 30–45 days | Tool 45–60 days; custom mechanism 80–90 days; full programme 90–120 days including the 48°C / 30-day compatibility test |
| Working minimum | Gloss tube from ~1,000; shells ~2,000; moulded-in colour ~3,000; sprayed 2,000–5,000 per shape; plated ~10,000 | 3,000–10,000 pieces to amortise the tool; custom lipstick shapes from ~3,000 plus tooling |
| Ownership and life | Factory owns the public mould | Brand owns the mould; factory holds it in custody for the brand's orders only; rated ~800,000 cycles |
| Choose it when | First launch; a range of shades on one shell; volume under ~10,000 per component; date fixed | A hero product with a proprietary shape and volume that amortises the tool inside 12–18 months |
Ask for the tool and the unit price on separate lines, and ask who owns the tool.
The stock components, format by format
Every format below exists in standard sizes at partner factories with no tooling; specification detail is on lip packaging.
| Format | Stock options | Key dimensions to fix | Working minimum (decorated) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lipstick mechanism (twist-up) | Stock mechanisms for 3.5–4.5 g bullets; cap in aluminium, ABS, PMMA or PETG; magnetic caps as a stock option | Cup ID 8.5 / 8.6 / 9 / 9.8 / 10 / 11 / 11.8 / 12 mm; 4, 6 or 8 ribs; bottom- or top-fill | ~2,000 shells with print or hot stamp |
| Lip gloss tube + wand | Tubes in PP, PETG or AS, 3.5–15 ml (4.5 ml typical); doe-foot, flat, plumping, cushion or brush applicators | Wiper bore to the wand stem; cap stays closed under 1 kg compression | ~1,000 custom-decorated; ~3,000 moulded-in colour |
| Click / mechanical pencil (crayon, liner) | Stock cartridges in standard diameters; brush or sharpener cap | Advance per press; cartridge retention; cap retention under 1 kg | Standard diameters; custom only for hero products |
| Lip balm tube / tint pot | Oval or round PP twist tubes 4–5 g (typical partner-factory range); pots 5–15 ml in PP, glass or aluminium, Ø33–Ø38 | Disc liner on pots; twist torque on tubes | Low thousands on stock shapes; PCR-PP and aluminium shells available |
Where the brand goes: decoration on a stock shell
With the shape fixed, the brand is carried by the finish on the shell, the printed mark, the colour of one component, and the carton. Printing is cheap, colour is expensive, and metal is expensive and immovable.
- Screen print and hot stamp — ~1,000–2,000 from the decorating line; ≤2 passes per part. The lowest-MOQ way to own a stock shell.
- Sprayed colour — 2,000–5,000 per component shape; spend it on the cap and keep the base stock.
- Moulded-in colour — ~3,000 on a gloss tube via partner lines, 5,000–10,000 industry floor.
- Anodised aluminium — batch-based; keep a control sample.
- Electroplating — ~10,000 and it does not move; leave it for a hero SKU, or reach a metallic look with vacuum metallising.
- The carton — often the strongest brand surface and among the cheapest to make bespoke.
The process-by-process comparison with set-up costs is in which lipstick decoration forces a high MOQ, and the parameters on the decoration process reference.
The calendar for a stock-only launch
Stock mechanisms and tubes are 7–25 days; print or hot stamp adds 5–7; sprayed colour is 30–40 days after sample approval; the decorated set comes together at about 30–45 days factory gate. Multiply by 1.3 for buffer, add 15 days across Chinese New Year (6 February 2027), then add freight: 18–25 days by sea to the US West Coast, 30–35 to Northern Europe, 3–7 days by air. A private-mould programme is 90–120 days before any of that. The ten nodes are on the production calendar; category cycles on the lead-time index.
QC: what a stock-part launch is signed against
Stock does not mean unchecked. Production starts only after both sides sign a physical golden sample, and every inspection report is signed against these thresholds.
| Test | Method | Pass threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Lipstick mechanism | Full up–down cycle with bullet after a 45°C hold; torque meter; pull tester | Rotation torque 0.1–0.5 N·m; no wobble or dead travel; cap opening 0.2–2 kgf; core pull-out ≥4 kgf; cup ID to drawing |
| Gloss cap torque and security | Torque meter; 1 kg bag compression; 50 open/close cycles | Opening torque 0.2–0.7 N·m; no product on the thread; wand returns without dripping |
| Decoration adhesion | 3M 600 over print and hot stamp; 3M 810 over 2 mm cross-hatch on spray, metallising and plating | No lift; hot-stamp loss ≤0.5 mm²; cross-hatch grade 1 or better; pencil hardness ≥2H sprayed |
| Colour fastness on the mechanism | 24 h soak in the actual formula | No transfer to formula or hands; no lifting |
| Formula compatibility | Cup, wiper, wand and tube with your actual bulk, 48°C for 30 days plus ambient and cold controls | No discolouration, swelling, odour or dose drift |
| Thermal cycling | 48°C and −15°C, 24–48 h each, filled | No cracking, warping, leakage or colour change after 2 h recovery |
| Drop | Filled, onto concrete | Sticks 76 cm × 3; bottles with closure 1.5 m at 45° |
| Colour | Against the signed golden sample, D65 light | ΔE within the tolerance agreed per material; shell, cap and carton judged side by side |
The full published battery, including the four inspection gates, is on the QC standards page. For the mechanism decision in detail read lipstick mechanism: click vs twist; for gloss minimums lip gloss tube and wand MOQ from China. The makeup category as a complete system — lipstick, gloss, compacts, foundation — is on the makeup packaging solution, the launch view for a first brand on indie brand launch, and the questions to ask a supplier before any of it on how to evaluate a China packaging supplier.
Vella is a Guangzhou-based beauty packaging solutions provider — a sourcing partner, not a factory. We route stock mechanisms, tubes, applicators and cartons to vetted partner factories operating to ISO 22716 / GMP, quote the minimum per part, run the decoration where the line is already set up for it, and sign every order against the thresholds above. Range detail: lip packaging.
Common questions
Building a lip range without cutting steel?
Start from the parts that already exist.
Send the formats, the shade count and your year-one volume. We reply within 24 hours with stock mechanisms and tubes that fit, the decoration your quantity supports and the test plan we sign against.
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