Private Label Transformers: OEM Branding from a Factory

A lot of buyers assume that putting their own brand on a transformer means committing to a container load and a year of paperwork. Usually it does not. The label that goes on the case carries no minimum order at all. Nor does the power cord, or the plug you need for your market. The one item that genuinely has a floor under it is the printed colour box, and that floor exists because of printing plates and die-cut tooling rather than because anyone is trying to inflate your order. Everything else is negotiable.

We are a transformer factory in Yueqing, China, and private label work is a large part of what we do. Our buyers are importers, distributors, contractors, online sellers and appliance retailers who want their own name on the product instead of ours. This piece explains what you can change, what it costs in terms of minimum quantity, how the process runs, and how to protect your artwork and your design while all of it is happening.

Private Label When the Factory Is the Manufacturer

There is a real difference between buying private label from a trading company and buying it from the factory that actually winds the transformers. A trading company collects your requirements, forwards them somewhere, and forwards the answers back. When something needs changing at the bench, and something almost always does, that loop costs days. Here the winding, assembly, testing and packing all happen in our own building, so if your label needs to move two millimetres to clear a vent, we can change the drawing and print a new sample the same week.

The transformer itself stays the same, and that is the point. Whatever is inside a standard ST-2000 is what goes inside your branded ST-2000, because it is the same copper winding, the same laminated core and the same 100 percent test in our own facility. What changes is everything the customer sees: the rating label, the power cord and plug, the case finish, the instruction manual, the retail box, the master carton, and the model numbering that appears in your catalogue and on your invoices.

Buyers usually tell me the label matters most to them, and I understand why. It carries your brand, your model reference, your electrical ratings, your warning text and your contact details, and it is the part a customs officer, a retailer and an end user will all read. It is also the cheapest thing on the list to change, which is fortunate, because it is the part most people want to get right first.

What You Can Brand, and the Minimum Behind Each Item

Here is the honest picture on minimum quantities. Read it before you plan your first order, because it will change how you split the quantities across models.

Private label item	Minimum order	What we need from you
Rating label on the case	No minimum	Artwork in vector format, your model reference, electrical ratings and warning text in your chosen language.
Power cord and plug type	No minimum	Which plug your market uses. We fit it at assembly, so there is nothing extra to source later.
Silk screen on the case	No minimum on the print	A one-off screen setup applies. Send your logotype as vector art, not a photograph.
Instruction manual	Print run applies	Text in your language, or a translation for us to lay out. Ask us for the minimum on your language.
Printed colour box	1000 pcs	Artwork on our dieline or your own, plus a colour proof. The minimum covers printing plates and die-cut tooling.
Master carton printing	Depends on the carton	Shipping marks, barcode and handling symbols. We will confirm the figure for your specification.
Model numbering	No minimum	Your model codes so our nameplate, manual and carton all match your catalogue.
Barcode and retail labelling	No minimum	Barcode data and the placement rules your retail channel requires, including country of origin marking.
Certification in your name	Depends on the scheme	Company details, and in some cases your own registration. We support the factory audit and supply the test samples.

Why does the colour box carry a floor of 1000 pieces while the label does not? Printing a folding carton needs a plate per colour and a die for the shape. Those are one-off costs that get divided across the run, and below a thousand units the cost per box climbs fast enough that you would be better off with a plain box and a good label. If your first order is smaller than that, and plenty of them are, start with the label, the cord and the silk screen. Add the printed box on the second order once you know which model sells.

The Private Label Process, Step by Step

Here is how an OEM order actually runs from the first message to the loaded container.

1. You send us the models you want, the markets you sell into, your quantity plan and your artwork if you already have it.
2. We come back with a quotation that breaks out the unit price, the plug and cord, the label, the packaging and any one-off setup charges. You should be able to see exactly what the box costs you.
3. We prepare a label proof and, for a printed carton, a dieline drawing with your artwork placed on it. You check the spelling, the ratings and the model codes at this stage rather than later.
4. For a first order we build a sample with your label fitted and send it, with photographs of the finished unit from several angles before it leaves us. Allow 7 to 10 days.
5. You approve the sample and the artwork in writing. This is the point of no return for tooling, so it is worth one extra careful read.
6. Production runs 15 to 25 days depending on quantity and how much of the order is bespoke.
7. Final inspection, a batch test record for the order, photos of your cartons with their shipping marks, and loading.
8. Shipment, FOB Ningbo or Shanghai, with a 12-month warranty on the units.

The sample stage is where I would spend your time if you only have one day to spare on this project. Print a label with a wrong voltage rating and it is scrap. Print a carton with a spelling mistake in your own brand name and you will be looking at it for two years. We will send a PDF proof, and we will send a physical sample box on the first order if you ask for one, because a screen is not a printing press.

One practical note on timing. If your order combines a brand new custom voltage with a private label, the sample clock runs from the point where the electrical design is settled, not from the first email. Sorting out the custom winding and the branding in parallel is fine, and we do it often, but do not plan a launch date around the idea that both will finish early.

Protecting Your Design and Your Artwork

This is the question I get asked most by importers, and it deserves a direct answer. Yes, we will sign a non-disclosure agreement before you send artwork, drawings or customer lists. Send us your own document, or ask us for ours, whichever is quicker for your legal team. Many of our long-term private label customers work on an NDA from the first conversation, and it has never slowed an order down.

Inside the factory, your artwork lives in a folder that only the people who need it can open, and it does not go into the general design library. We do not put your brand on stock units and we do not sell your branded product to anyone else. We do not photograph your packaging for our own marketing, and if we would like to reference you as a customer, we will ask you first and accept a no without arguing about it.

What about the tooling you paid for? If you fund a silk screen, a carton die or a custom label plate for your brand, that tooling belongs to you and we hold it for your orders only. If you later move your production elsewhere, ask us in writing and we will send it to you or dispose of it, whichever you prefer. We would rather have that conversation early than have it while someone is upset.

The one thing I would ask from your side is a realistic view of volume. Exclusivity on a standard model that any buyer can order is not something we can give away, because that would mean turning away other business for a product that was never designed for you. Exclusivity on a custom-wound model, a custom case or your own packaging artwork is entirely reasonable, and we are happy to agree it in writing with a sensible annual volume behind it. Tell us what you actually expect to sell and we will find terms that work for both of us.

Certification, Documents and What Goes in the Box

Most private label buyers need documents as much as they need product, so here is what we can supply. Every order ships with a batch test record covering input voltage, output voltage under load and no-load current for the units in that batch. For European markets we can supply the declaration of conformity and the supporting test reports for the relevant standards, and for other markets we will tell you honestly what we hold and what has to be arranged in your own country.

Where a listing must be issued in your company name rather than ours, the certification body issues it to you, and our role is to support the factory audit, provide test samples and answer the technical questions the auditor raises. That route takes longer than using documents we already hold, so build it into your timeline. If you tell us the destination market and the sales channel in the first email, we will tell you which route applies before you have spent anything.

Inside the box, the manual is the piece buyers underestimate. A manual in your own language, with your brand on the cover, your support email and the correct safety warnings for your market, does real work for you in both customer service and liability. We can lay out a manual to the text you provide, and if you need help with the wording for the warnings, ask, because we have written the same paragraphs many times for other markets. Spare fuses, a wiring note and a warranty card are all things we can add if they suit your retail channel.

Mixing Brands, Models and Markets in One Order

You do not have to order one model to get a private label run. A mixed container is normal for us, and it is often the smartest way for a distributor to start. Take a first order with three models, two hundred pieces each, and labels printed for the whole run. The packaging stays plain on the first order, the labels carry your brand, and you learn which model moves before you commit to printed cartons for all three.

If you sell into two markets with different plugs, that is handled at assembly, and it mixes fine within a single order as long as the quantity per configuration is clear on the purchase order. Where people get caught is on the label, because a bilingual label for two markets suits some buyers and creates confusion for others. Decide early whether you want one label that covers both, or two separate part numbers. Two part numbers cost a little more on the plate and save a lot of warehouse mistakes.

MOQ, Lead Time and Shipping for OEM Orders

On the commercial side, standard models start at 10 pieces, and a custom voltage starts at 10 pieces as well. That is per model and per configuration, not per order, so a mixed container does not need a large run behind each part number. Production takes 15 to 25 days depending on quantity and how much of the order involves new tooling. We ship FOB Ningbo or Shanghai, and every unit carries a 12-month warranty.

For a first order that is too small for a container, air freight or a consolidated LCL shipment works well, and it gets your branded stock onto a shelf while you test the market. Once you know which models sell, move to full container orders and the freight cost per unit drops sharply. The booking is always in your name so you keep control of the routing and the cost, and if you do not have a forwarder, we will share the names our other buyers use.

If you want the wider picture on how OEM work runs from a Chinese factory, our page for an OEM Transformer Manufacturer in China covers the factory side in more depth. The units themselves are described across our step up & down transformers range, and there are more transformer buying guides on the site covering sizing, packaging and shipping decisions.

What to Send Us to Start a Private Label Order

Send the models you are interested in, the markets you sell into, your annual volume expectation, and your artwork if you have it. Add the plug type for each market, whether you want a printed colour box on this order or a later one, and whether you need documents in your own company name. If you already have a brand style guide, send that too, because it saves a round of proofs on the label.

If your artwork is not ready, start anyway. We can quote the unit and the label separately so you know what the branding adds, and you can decide about packaging once you have seen the number. That is a much calmer way to plan a first private label order than trying to finalise everything at once.

Private Label Questions Buyers Ask

These are the questions we field most often from importers starting their own brand, answered the way I would answer them on a call.