Most first-time phone case buyers lose money on the same three things: choosing a trading company that claims to be a factory, ordering a colour that turns out to be a different Pantone batch, and discovering the tooling only fits one chassis. None of these problems is hard to avoid if you know what to ask before you send a deposit.
This guide is written from the factory side of the table. It covers how to verify a supplier, what documentation to demand, how tooling and MOQ actually work, and where the hidden costs sit.
A trading company is not automatically a bad choice — some are excellent sourcers — but you should know which one you are paying. The difference shows up when something goes wrong: a factory can adjust a mould, a trader can only relay messages.
Three checks that are hard to fake:
Also check the business licence scope. In Dongguan and Shenzhen, a manufacturer's licence usually lists plastic products, moulds or hardware; a pure trading entity often lists only import/export or "sales of".
Price per unit is the least interesting number in a quote. What matters is landed cost per sellable unit, and that depends on yield, packaging and freight weight.
| Question | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Is the quoted price FOB, EXW or DDP? | EXW hides inland freight and export clearance. DDP hides duty inside the unit price, which is convenient but makes comparison harder. |
| What is the defect rate you accept internally? | A 5% reject rate at inspection is a 5% cost you pay later. Ask what they do with rejects. |
| Is the price for one colour or mixed colours? | Mixed-colour runs often carry a per-colour set-up charge that is not in the headline price. |
| What is the carton dimension and weight? | For air and express shipments, volumetric weight can exceed actual weight. A flat case in a thick box can double your freight. |
| Which parts are in-house? | Printing, plating and magnet bonding are commonly outsourced. Outsourced steps add 2–5 days and reduce your ability to fix a problem fast. |
Tooling is a one-time cost to cut a mould for a specific chassis. Two things surprise buyers:
Tooling is per chassis, not per design. An iPhone 17 and an iPhone 17 Pro have different camera cut-outs and dimensions, so they need separate moulds even if the case looks identical. A supplier quoting "one tooling fee, all models" is either reusing a generic soft mould or planning to charge you later.
Tooling ownership should be written down. Ask explicitly: if we stop ordering, do we own the mould and can we have it? Factories vary. Getting a one-line answer in the quotation document protects you for years.
For reference, a new chassis mould for a hard-shell case typically takes 12–18 days at a mid-size factory. Simple soft TPU moulds can be faster; complex multi-part foldable cases with hinges and magnet pockets take longer.
Published minimum order quantities are usually set by the cost of setting up a production run: colour changes, printing plates, plating batches. That means MOQ is negotiable in specific directions:
If a supplier offers an extremely low MOQ with custom Pantone colours and custom packaging, expect either a higher unit price or a longer, batching-dependent lead time. Both are fine — just make sure it is stated up front.
A sample is not a colour reference, it is a process check. Ask for a production sample, not a golden sample, and test:
The brands that scale smoothly with Chinese factories are rarely the ones that negotiated hardest on the first order. They are the ones that specified clearly, tested honestly and stayed with a supplier long enough for the tooling to pay for itself.
Once the supplier question is settled, the next decisions are material and construction. Our guides on case materials, MOQ and lead times and magnet specification cover those in detail.
For stock moulds and stock colours, 7–15 days of production plus shipping. A new chassis adds 12–18 days of tooling, and custom plating or leather lamination adds another 3–5 days.
Yes, if the chassis is new. Some factories waive tooling against a committed volume — that is a commercial decision, not a technical one. Get the ownership terms in writing either way.
Usually yes. Most factories accept a mixed-model order as long as the total volume clears the MOQ threshold and each model's colour count stays manageable.
