In private label, a manufacturer makes the product to your brief and packs it under your label. In reselling, you sell goods that someone else has already specified and branded. Private label asks more of you, a brief and an approved sample, but gives you control of size, material, colour and packaging.
Buyer guide
Private label vs reselling: what changes when your name is on the product
In private label, a manufacturer makes the product to your brief and packs it under your label. In reselling, you sell goods that someone else has already specified and branded. The difference is who decides what the product is, and whose name the customer sees.
Have a brief? Send it.
Tell us the product, a rough quantity and whether it carries your brand. We reply within 1 business day, with questions or a quote.
Short answer
The short answer
Compared
Side by side
| Private label | Reselling | |
|---|---|---|
| Whose name is on the product and pack | Yours. | The brand or wholesaler that made or sourced it. |
| Who sets size, material and colour | You, from the maker's range or your own brief. | The supplier. You choose from what is in stock. |
| Where the design comes from | Your artwork, or a design the manufacturer develops from your brief. | The supplier's catalogue. |
| Samples | Made to your brief and approved before the run. | Usually a finished item from stock. |
| Reorders | Repeat the written specification and the approved sample. | Depends on what the supplier still stocks. |
| Effort on your side | Higher: a brief, an approved sample, a pack plan. | Lower: choose, buy, list. |
| Distinctiveness | Yours through finish, branding and packaging, and fully yours if the design is yours. | Others can list the same item. |
General description of the two models. How ArtzFolio works is on how it works.
Private label
When private label is the better fit
Private label suits a brand that wants its own range, its own packaging and a product that matches its listing photos on every order. It also suits a hospitality or interior project that buys to a room plan and needs sizes that no stock list carries.
At ArtzFolio the product is made for you; we do not describe any of it as a ready-to-ship stock catalogue. You send a brief, the quote states the price, the sample plan, the minimum order and the lead time, you approve a sample, and then the run is made and packed under your label.
Reselling
When reselling is the better fit
Reselling is simpler when you want to test demand with no design work and no sample step, and you are happy for the product to look like what others sell. It carries less set-up, and it gives you less say over the product.
Many brands start by reselling and move to private label once a product proves itself. That is a business decision for you; this page only sets out what changes.
Making the move
What you need to move from reselling to private label
- A product idea, or a bestseller you want to make your own.
- Artwork, a photo of something close, or a short description of what you sell.
- A rough quantity band, and whether the product carries your brand.
- A pack plan: label, inserts and packaging.
The checklist for a frame or board order is on how to brief a frame or board order. Questions to put to any factory are on how to choose a private label manufacturer.
Questions
Questions, answered
What is the difference between private label and reselling?
In private label, a manufacturer makes a product to your brief and packs it under your label. In reselling, you buy finished goods that carry someone else's brand, or are sold as standard stock, and sell them on.
Is private label the same as OEM or ODM?
Private label describes the result: products sold under your brand rather than the maker's. OEM and ODM describe how the design is created. ArtzFolio offers private label through both routes.
Do I have to design the product myself?
No. You can bring finished artwork, or describe the product you want to sell, and we turn the brief into a design and make prototypes for you to check.
Can I try private label with a small order?
ArtzFolio's minimum order varies by category, with the exact figure in your quote. Samples are paid, and the sample cost can by agreement be reimbursed or adjusted in the final order.
Next step
Send the brief. We send a sample plan and a price.
Tell us what you want to make. We reply with questions or a quote.