White Label Products

Looking for an easy route to market by selling a product that you don't make yourself? White label products could be the solution you are looking for. When you sell white label products, you're selling products that you don't manufacture yourself but are customised with your own logo and branding to make it seem like you do.

White label products can be a great way to start selling quickly and an easy option to start selling high demand products too, taking advantage of a new consumer trend.

In this article we'll cover the major topics and questions about selling white label products, along with some great ideas on where and how you can get started.

• Key takeaways
• What are white label products?
• What are the advantages and benefits of white labelling?
• The best white label products in 2022
• Where and how to sell white label products
• Shipping and packaging
• Pros and cons
• Your questions answered

Key takeaways

• White label products are manufactured by a single manufacturer but sold by multiple merchants under different brand names
• Thousands of products are white labelled successfully by huge retailers without consumers realising
• White labelling saves R&D costs, product development time and energy
• By selling white label products you can build a successful brand and instead focus all of your efforts on marketing

What are white label products?

White label products are manufactured by a third party manufacturer and are typically not sold by the manufacturer, although some manufacturers do sell products they manufacture as well.

Companies sell products manufactured under a white label because product research, development and creating manufacture processes require a big investment in time, money and energy. By selling a product that they haven't manufactured, merchants can spend more time focusing on areas that they specialise in such as marketing.

Once the manufacturer has created the product, the end-merchant's branding/logo is added and the product sold under that brand. Branding/labelling can be added by the manufacturer or some white label merchants prefer to handle this process themselves (on taking delivery of the product). White label products can be bulk ordered, drop shipped, or printed on demand.

The term "white label" is often used interchangeably with "private label" but private label products are slightly different. The term 'private label' usually refers to products that are manufactured under an exclusivity agreement with a brand. In this article we're specifically discussing white label products.

Common examples:

1. A YouTube content creator creates a website to sell merchandise associated with the brand they are creating on YouTube. They sell t-shirts with catchphrases they use on their channel. They use Printful to fulfill orders they receive on their website.

2. A successful Instagram and social media influencer, made famous with make up tutorials and different styles, launches her own line of make up. The make up products are created by a white label manufacturer and the influencer's branding is added. The influencer has the products shipped to a fulfillment company who fulfill the orders on her behalf.

3. Always keen to jump on the latest trend, a marketing graduate decides to go into the ecommerce business. They research the latest high demand products and start a business selling candles. They approach a candle manufacturer who supplies them with the candles and merchant fulfills the orders themselves.

Whats are the advantages and benefits of white labelling?

White labelling allows merchants to quickly start a new business or product line, sold under their own branding. White label merchants can start a sideline to their normal business (such as the YouTube content creator example above), or it can be the main focus of their business.

By using a white label manufacturer to create the products for them, merchants don't need creative skills or expertise and don't need manufacturing experience, equipment or personel. Instead, they can focus their time on aspects of an ecommerce business that they do specialise in.

White labelling can be a great option for merchants if they want to:

• Want to start an ecommerce business quickly
• Want to add an additional income stream to an existing business
• Don't have a product idea of their own
• Aren't interested in making or manufacturing products or don't have the experience to do so
• Want to expand on their existing product range

The best white label products to sell in 2023

If you're looking to start an ecommerce business but don't know what to sell, we've put together a few ideas below - some of the hottest product ideas in 2023.

Ashwagandha

Alternative remedies, herbs and supplements have long been in vogue, but a recent arrival to the scene is Ashwagandha, a popular Ayurvedic herb with a long history of use in more traditional medicine.

Indeed, most popular supplements like Ashwagandha, Acai Berry and "friendly bacteria" are manufactured under a white label. Pet supplements are also increasingly popular and could provide a great additional product range for an existing pet store or brand.

Suggested supplier: nutribl.com

Air humidifiers and purifiers

Even though the Covid-19 pandemic appears, hopefully, to be entering a final stage, many people are continuing to spend more time at home than they did pre 2020. Air quality and the immediate "environment" are aspects of home life that consumers are tuning into more than ever.

Electrical home appliances are one of the most common white label products with large a number of suppliers available. There are over 4,000 air humidifiers and purifiers available on Alibaba's manufacturer marketplace.

Single product websites like blendjet.com have huge conversion rates and can easily dominate a market.

Suggested supplier: alibaba.com

Candles

Homemade candles have become one of the must have items for home decor. A recent study by Marketwatch found the industry was expected to reach $10 billion in worldwide sales by 2026.

Google Trends shows a consistent amount of interest in the UK for candles, peaking in November and December of each year. There are many candle manufacturers who produce products under a white label.

Suggested supplier: optionsltd.co.uk

Coffee

Many coffee producers will work with other brands to create custom blends, packaging and branding. Such partnerships can require a higher than average initial investment in a product line or range but the returns can pay dividends if you are able to market your new coffee brand well.

Suggested supplier: lincolnandyork.com

T-shirt printing

Think not just t-shirts but all forms of sporting gear, clothing and accessories. Yoga mats, sports socks, leggings, t-shirts and water bottles are available through multiple manufacturers. Making it easy to start an online boutique or clothing and fitness brand.

Many print-on-demand companies like Printful will drop ship your products too, meaning all your shipping and fulfillment hassles are handled by a third party as part of the service.

Suggested supplier: printful.com

Bath bombs

Branded self-care products are a great way for wellness influencers to monetise a personal brand or following and take a leap into the world of ecommerce.

Bath bombs make a great Christmas or Birthday gift too, as can be seen on Google Trends where searches for bath bombs peaks in the run up to Christmas. A quick search on Google reveals the bath bomb industry will hit $350 million by 2025, so there's plenty of room for budding entrepreneurs to make a foray into this industry.

Suggested supplier: homefragrancewholesale.co.uk

Body scrubs

Another self-care and wellness product on our list of the best products for 2022 is body scrubs. Interest in body scrubs has been pretty much consistent over the past 5 years but is certainly yet to make it big.

One of the biggest consumer trends over the past few years has been a desire for natural products with the aim of reconnecting to nature. Body scrubs can be a great addition to any existing wellness, sporting and fitness, beauty or self-care brand.

Suggested supplier: whitelabelbotanist.co.uk

Stainless steel water bottles

One of the must have accessories of 2021 has to be the water bottle. Water bottles can be a blank canvas for any design. If you're an artist looking to sell merchandise, this is a great low cost idea to help you sell a reproduction of your work at an accessible price for your fans.

Water bottles can also be a great brand awareness tool and are a great way to diversify into a relevant physical product

Suggested supplier: makeitprint.co.uk

Underwear

Subscription box business models were a boom industry throughout both 2020 and 2021. Everyone was stuck at home with nothing to do other than look for innovative ways to spend the money they were saving by not going to the pub or hanging out with friends - and who doesn't need underwear?

Cheap manufacturing costs and endless opportunities for design and style make underwear a great choice for building a new brand.

Suggested supplier: intrepidsourcing.com

Where/how to sell white label products

Once you've chosen your white label products and created your brand, you'll need a way to sell the online. That's where an ecommerce platform like ShopWired comes in.

You can use ShopWired to build, launch and grow an ecommerce business. ShopWired has a number of advantages over other ecommerce platforms:

• No starting or setup fee
• No transaction fees, you keep what you earn
• We're a UK platform with a UK focus
• You can manage every aspect of your online store through your ShopWired account
• We offer advice and help with marketing and growing your store and busines
• ShopWired integrates with white label suppliers like Printful and Printify
• ShopWired hosts numerous tools to make white label selling easier

Multi-channel ecommerce

White label products can also be sold on marketplaces like eBay, Amazon and Etsy (depending on the nature of the product). It's a good idea to get your product infront of as wide an audience as possible. You can use ShopWired's multi-channel ecommerce tools to help you manage your entire business from within your ShopWired account.

Fulfillment services

Depending on the nature of your business, you may also find it useful to use an end-to-end fulfillment service as well. A fulfillment service will take delivery of your products from the supplier and then pick, pack and dispatch the orders for you. Using a fulfillment service like Huboo can enable you to streamline your business even further and focus your energy, efforts and time on growing your online presence and brand.

If you decide to sell your products on Amazon you may also like to use Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) as well as your fulfillment service. You can find out more about FBA here.

Shipping and packaging

Any successful ecommerce strategy, no matter what products are being sold, includes a solid shipping and packaging strategy.

Many white label manufacturers will offer a shipping option built into their service, and dispatch the ordered products direct to your customer. However, caution is advised with this type of strategy. One of the main benefits of selling white label products is a chance to build a new brand or grow an existing one.

Control over your brand is an important aspect of any ecommerce business and you should ensure that your brand and its values are reflected in the packaging that the items are sent in. The packaging is the first thing that your customers see when they receive their delivery and increasingly seen as all part of the brand experience.

Pay close attention to packaging when using a dropshipping white label manufacturer.

Dropshipping white label companies like Printful and Printify will allow you some degree of customisation of things like shipping labels, but not enough to create a true brand experience. Whilst that level of customisation might be OK for a well established brand selling a 'sideline' of t-shirts or mugs, it probably isn't sufficient for businesses where the products being sold are the main focus of the business.

Take time to choose the packaging for your products carefully, make sure the packaging reflects your brand values.

Some more of the pros and cons of white label products

The cons

No control over manufacturing

One of the biggest draw backs of using white label manufacturers to create the products you are selling is the lack of control over the product manufacturing process and quality.

You should ensure you have a strong contract with the manufacturer with protections built in. You do not want to find yourself in the situation where you have hundreds of orders to fulfill but the manufacturer cannot deliver the products.

It's more expensive than private labelling

Strange but true. Buying white label products can actually prove to be more expensive than buying private label products.

It can be hard to find a good manufacturer

Sourcing a reliable manufacturer that creates quality products can be difficult and time consuming. It certainly involves an upfront investment of your time, and sometimes money buying samples, to be sure that you find the best products possible. Hopefully, the time will be worth the investment for you and your business.

The pros

The products have been tested

On the whole, you can expect the products to have been tested by other merchants first, before you come along to buy them too.

Labelling and compliance are taken care of

UK law requires certain products to be labelled appropriately, such as cosmetics. Other products are subject to compliance requirements (like electrical equipment). By purchasing white label products you should find the manufacturer takes care of all of these compliance matters for you so you don't have to.

Its a speedy solution

One of the biggest advantages of using white label products is the speed with which you can get to market. Some white label ecommerce websites can be setup in a couple of hours, particularly if you're using a print on demand or similar solution. Other types should take at the most a few days (once you have chosen the manufacturer). It's a very quick method to enter the market and start selling online.

Frequently asked questions

Q. What is an example of a white label product?

A. Some of the best examples of white label products, and the easiest to spot, can be found on the shelves of your local supermarket. Supermarket own brand products liked baked beans, baby food and wine are all white label products.

Q. Where can I find white label products?

A. One of the most obvious places to find white label products is Alibaba.com, one of the world's largest B2B marketplaces. But there are many suppliers of white label products which include print-on-demand suppliers like Printful and Printify. A search on Google is always a good place to start.

Q. Is white labelling legal

A. Absolutely. White labelling is a term mainly focused on the manufacturing process by which a label is not attached to the product.

Q. What is the difference between white label and private label?

A. Private label products are usually exclusively available to a single retailer or merchant. White label products can be sold by any number of retailers, without an exclusivity agreement.

Q. Is white labelling profitable?

A. White labelling can be extremely profitable, but of course it depends. Your business has to be successfull in all other aspects to create a successful ecommerce business out of it.

Before you begin, make sure you create a solid and well thought through business plan.

Q. What are the risks to white labelling?

There's always a risk to any business venture but good preparation and appreciation of the possible risks can help to mitigate any loss you might sustain as a result of things "going awry".

• Investigate any possible legal considerations
• Make sure the products you are selling are safe and legal and compliant with appropriate regulations
• Be careful not to buy too much inventory up front
• Choose your products carefully, poor quality goods can harm your reputation or brand
• Negotiate a good contract with the manufacturer