Manufacturing price range of pressed shadows?

katefmakeupkatefmakeup Member
in Starting a cosmetic line
Hello everyone! I am starting a makeup line and would be super grateful for some information regarding the average price I can expect to pay per unit for pressed eyeshadows. Don’t worry I have more details to get a more specific answer :). First order will be at least 5,000 units per shade, and I only need to know the price ranges for the actual eyeshadow and the metal pan it’s pressed into (I already have the packaging and other business expenses worked out.) I’m looking at manufacturing in one of the factories on the East coast (I’m a makeup artist in NYC with a sizeable online following) and I’m asking this because I want to have some gauge for my price negotiations with the factories I speak to. It’s incredibly difficult to find this information anywhere, and I’ve heard everything from $0.04 to $1.25. Here are some more details regarding the shadows themselves:

High quality custom formulas that are very pigmented and blendable (I have examples of similar products to show the factory-nothing revolutionary just solid formulations-think top luxury brands)

pan sizes approximately .75g (this is flexible depending on what tooling the factory has on hand, all that matters is that it is smaller than the average 1.5ish gram pans)

Some shimmers and some mattes, obviously the price will vary a bit between the two, initially all fairly neutral shades (will play with exotic colors later on but not for the first release)

I really just need a price range. Of course it’s impossible to say exactly how much something will cost but a ballpark would be SO helpful. Really just any information y’all feel inclined to share. Including recs for trustworthy consultants (so far my industry knowledge has made it so I haven’t felt the need to hire one, this is really the only big question I’ve had difficulty finding an answer to.) 

and just for funsies while we’re here, do any of you have first hand experience with the factories in the north east? I keep seeing Kolmar pop up. Anyway, thanks so much-this forum is so great and I super appreciate the community’s time and wisdom!

Comments

  • jrnbjrnb Member
    Hi, i am Europe based. But in general for our own standard good quality pressed powders i would say between 0,10 euro and 0,20 euro per pressed powder pan. depending on weight and if it needs custom formulation.
    But how are you going to pack the product? Is it in a multi shadow packaging?
  • BobzchemistBobzchemist Member, PCF student
    5,000 units per shade is actually a very low volume order. At 0.75g per unit, that's a 4 kilo batch, which is barely pilot plant size. Getting a custom formulation at that volume will be extremely difficult to impossible.

    I would strongly recommend using a private label manufacturer instead. For your quantities, I'd estimate your costs at between $1-3 per unit including pan. If you want to use your own pans, the costs actually go up due to the need for the manufacturer to buy custom tooling.

    Kolmar is a well-respected large contract manufacturer - but I'd be very surprised if they have a minimum volume per shade of less than 100,000 units.

    I consult in this area myself, so I'd feel reluctant to recommend any other consultants. However, as a favor to one of my other clients who recently started up a powder manufacturing operation, I'd be willing to put you in touch with them to see if there'd be any advantage for both of you to start doing business with each other. I think there may be a lot of potential synergy in several areas.
    Robert Zonis, Sr. Formulation Chemist, Beaumont Products "All opinions and comments expressed are my own, have no relation to Beaumont Products, are fully copyrighted, and may not be used without written permission."
  • katefmakeupkatefmakeup Member
    Thanks Bob! That’s incredibly helpful. One more question, would you mind giving a couple approximate price ranges for different more realistic order sizes? Basically my question is, what size orders would I see a lower price and what are those order sizes and prices? Thank you so much!
  • katefmakeupkatefmakeup Member
    Also yes I would absolutely love to get in contact with your friend that would be amazing! Thank you :) 
  • BobzchemistBobzchemist Member, PCF student
    Order size discounts depend on each individual manufacturer. 
    Robert Zonis, Sr. Formulation Chemist, Beaumont Products "All opinions and comments expressed are my own, have no relation to Beaumont Products, are fully copyrighted, and may not be used without written permission."
  • katefmakeupkatefmakeup Member
    Of course, I just mean that you said $1-$3 was typical for a 5,000 unit order, but that 100,000 was a more typical order size. Given the price that companies charge for makeup palettes etc I can’t imagine they are paying $1-$3 per shade. What’s a more typical price per unit that a brand would be paying for orders in the 50,000+ units per shade size? I’ve heard $0.04 per 1gram. What price range can I realistically expect if I’m placing big orders like that? Thanks!
  • BobzchemistBobzchemist Member, PCF student
    edited November 2017
    There are so very many variables that it's hard to say.

    In general, for a basic standard formula made in the US without any bells and whistles, I'd expect about $0.20 - $0.30/unit, depending on color and pearl content. At that price, I'd expect full QC, guaranteed batch-to-batch shade matching, micro testing, cGMP certificate, etc. This price would slide up or down a bit depending on the number of shades in your line - buying 50 shades of 50,000 units each would be much cheaper than buying 3 or 4. But getting down to $0.04/per gram seems unrealistically low for a finished pressed powder, even if that does not include the cost of the pan.

    But - at that (50,000+) level, contract negotiation comes into play. Are you willing to sign a multi-year contract with guaranteed minimum sales volumes? That could lower the price quite a bit. Would you be willing to allow the manufacturer to sub-contract out some/all of the manufacturing process to overseas manufacturers? That could also lower the price. Using a non-U.S. manufacturer entirely could also drop the price considerably (but QC then becomes a nightmare).

    This is about as far as I can go without charging money for consulting, sorry.
    Robert Zonis, Sr. Formulation Chemist, Beaumont Products "All opinions and comments expressed are my own, have no relation to Beaumont Products, are fully copyrighted, and may not be used without written permission."
  • BobzchemistBobzchemist Member, PCF student
    Oh, and to correct a misapprehension - I said I thought 100,000 units would be a minimum order size for a large-scale contract manufacturer like Kolmar. Typical order sizes vary widely.
    Robert Zonis, Sr. Formulation Chemist, Beaumont Products "All opinions and comments expressed are my own, have no relation to Beaumont Products, are fully copyrighted, and may not be used without written permission."
  • katefmakeupkatefmakeup Member
    Thanks Bob this is EXACTLY the information I was looking for. THANK YOU! And I would love to get in contact with your friend that started a powder manufacturing company :). 
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