What a mould quote is made of.
Toolmakers in the cosmetics packaging belts (Guangzhou, Shantou, Yuyao, Shangyu) build a quote from the same eight items. The proportions below are the working ranges we see; the sum is what you should be able to reconcile line by line before you pay a deposit.
| Cost item | Typical share of total | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Material | 15-30% | Mould base, cavity and core steel (P20, 718, S136, 2738 by finish and life), standard parts |
| Machining + toolmaker's margin | 30-50% | CNC, EDM, wire-cut, grinding, polishing, fitting, assembly; the toolmaker's profit sits here |
| Design | 10-15% (often 6-10%) | 3D data, DFM, mould-flow analysis, assembly and part drawings, process card |
| Trial moulding | ≤3% medium/large, ≤5% small precision | Usually 3 trials included; extra trials billed at around RMB 500 (approx. USD 70) each |
| Packing & freight | ~3% | Crating, delivery of the tool and sample shipments; often charged to the buyer |
| Management overhead | up to 20% | Project management, QA, documentation, tool-shop overhead |
| Risk allowance | ~10% | Engineering changes, rework, steel price movement |
| Labour, outsourcing, consumables | 5-15% combined | Hand finishing, texturing or heat-treatment sub-contracted, cutting tools |
The material-coefficient cross-check. If you do not want to audit eight lines, use the rule of thumb toolmakers use on each other: a plastic injection mould prices at about 6 × its material cost (forging dies likewise; die-casting moulds nearer 10 ×). A quote whose material line is RMB 25,000 and whose total is RMB 150,000 is either an unusually complex tool or an unusually optimistic margin, and either way deserves a question.
A plan-cost sheet for a mid-size single-component tool.
This is the shape of a toolmaker's internal cost sheet for a typical cosmetic component mould (a cap or a jar body in the 50-100 g range). The percentages are the toolmaker's own targets; the total is about RMB 76,500, approximately USD 10,600 at 7.2.
| Line | RMB | Share | USD (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design | 8,000 | 5-9% | 1,110 |
| Material (base, steel, standard parts) | 25,000 | 20-33% | 3,470 |
| Machining | 10,000 | 10-12% | 1,390 |
| Labour (fitting, polishing) | 10,000 | 8-11% | 1,390 |
| Modification allowance | 5,000 | 5% | 695 |
| Outsourced processes | 2,500 | 3% | 350 |
| Trial moulding (3 trials; extra at RMB 500 each) | 1,500 | 1.5-3% | 210 |
| Freight and sample shipping (buyer's account) | 3,000 | 3% | 415 |
| Cutting tools and consumables | 1,500 | 1.5% | 210 |
| Management overhead | 10,000 | 5-10% | 1,390 |
| Total | ≈76,500 | 100% | ≈10,600 |
Toolmakers normally add 10-30% to the plan cost for the first quote. The number that matters to you is the re-review line: a negotiated price more than 10% below the toolmaker's own estimate sends the job back for re-costing, and in practice that re-costing comes out of steel grade, hardening or the number of trial shots. Bargain on scope and payment terms, not below that line.
Cavity count, unit cost and how long the tool lasts.
A mould's price is paid once; its cavity count is paid on every shot. More cavities raise the tool price and lower the cycle cost per piece, so the right count depends on annual volume and tolerance, not on the lowest quote.
| Part | Typical cavities | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Precision parts (grade 3-3a, ~5 g: dispenser internals, valve seats) | 4-6 | Tighter tolerances need fewer, better-balanced cavities; often a hot-runner system |
| Small parts 12-16 g (caps, discs, inner plugs) | 8-12 | Volume parts at normal tolerance (grade 4-5) |
| Medium parts 50-100 g (jar bodies, thick-wall caps) | 4-8 | Cooling time and platen size limit the count |
| Standard-tolerance semi-crystalline parts (PP, PE closures) | 16-20 | Where volume justifies it; grade 7-9 tolerance can take up to 50% more cavities than grade 4-5 |
Rated life is about 800,000 cycles for a hardened steel injection mould. Use and maintenance account for 15-20% of the variation in real life; with first-line daily care (clean, lubricate, inspect) and second-line fitter maintenance (polish and weld-repair forming faces, stone the guides, replace springs only with matching colour, outer diameter and length, use standard punches and bushes) the same tool runs 2-3 times that. Neglected tools reach one-fifth to one-third of rated life. Acceptance is checked against hard numbers, not a hand-shake: forming steel ≥50 HRC (surface-hardened ≥600 HV), cooling circuit leak-free at 0.5 MPa, temperature spread across each water line <3°C, flatness on small parts <0.3 mm, weld-line at round through-holes ≤5 mm, mating-surface mismatch <0.1 mm.
Trial moulding is where irreversible decisions get made. A proper T1 runs the new settings for at least 30 minutes before a full set of samples is shot, with hold pressure at 90-95% and a screw cushion of about 10%. Problems are solved by changing process conditions first; the mould is only cut when process cannot solve it, because once steel is removed it cannot be put back. Every mould change must be notified to and approved by the buyer before it is made — a rule we write into the agreement.
Glass moulds cost less; the MOQ is the real gate.
| Glass mould type | RMB per set | USD (approx.) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand-blown (manual) mould | ~2,500 | ~350 | Low-volume, artisanal shapes; slower and less consistent |
| Automatic-line mould, single cavity | ~4,000 | ~555 | Standard for dropper, serum and perfume bottles |
| Automatic-line set, 4-8 cavities | 16,000-32,000 | 2,200-4,450 | Depends on the glassworks; needed for economic runs |
Custom glass carries a 30,000-200,000 piece minimum and a 30-60 day lead time; decoration adds roughly RMB 0.5-1.1 per piece for spray coating, RMB 0.1 per colour for screen print and about RMB 0.4 per design for hot-stamping. If your first order is under the glassworks' minimum, a stock bottle from our glass bottle range with private decoration is usually the better use of the mould budget. See real MOQs by route.
Who owns the mould, and the six clauses that go with it.
A private mould belongs to the brand that paid for it. The factory holds it in custody and may use it only for that brand's orders. The agreement should say so in one paragraph: ownership with the brand; custody, maintenance and insurance duty with the factory; no use for any third party; and the brand's right to transfer the tool to another factory at any time on written notice, once any outstanding balance is settled. At the end of a programme the usual options are buy-back at an agreed depreciated value, scrapping, or transfer — and the agreement should fix the method and the pricing basis before the first shot, not at the exit. Our sourcing-agent service writes this into every private-mould project.
| Clause | Working threshold | What it prevents |
|---|---|---|
| Capacity reservation | Reserved capacity ≥ 120% of forecast order volume | Peak-season stock-outs when the factory takes a bigger customer |
| Price adjustment | Renegotiation triggered when resin/raw-material price moves ±10% | Absorbing a 30% PET spike with no mechanism, or paying 2025 prices in a falling market |
| Mould ownership | Brand owns; factory has use rights for brand orders only; transferable on notice | Your bottle appearing under another label |
| Anti-counterfeit | Factory co-operates on security codes; cost-sharing scheme agreed | Grey-market fakes (one programme cut counterfeit share from 15% to 0.3%) |
| MOQ flexibility | Surplus above 20% of the order can be cancelled | Dead stock financed by you |
| Second-source switch | If primary fails to supply for ≥5 days, the qualified second source starts automatically | Legal delays while your line is down |
One honest boundary: we are a sourcing partner working with vetted partner factories, not the toolmaker. That is exactly why the ownership clause matters to us — it is the document that lets us move your tool if a factory stops performing. Partner factories operate to ISO 22716 / GMP; the mould agreement sits alongside the QC standards applied to every order.
Frequently asked
Get the mould quote itemised before you pay a deposit.
Send us the component and the annual volume. Your quote comes with the eight cost lines, the cavity recommendation, the 30/40/30 schedule and the ownership clause already in it.
Related reading.
- Real minimum order quantities, by route — when a private mould pays back, and when stock plus decoration is the better route.
- Our QC standards, with the numbers — the acceptance tests every mould-made component passes before shipment.
- Factory audit checklist — the ten-section audit a factory passes before it is trusted with your tool.
- How we work — from brief to delivery, including where mould sign-off sits.