Personal Care: Skin Care

There are a lot of places you can buy wholesale skincare products, and who you buy from is largely dependent on your needs, as well as your available resources:

• Factories: It's commonplace to buy wholesale skincare products directly from factories, though the issue is finding a factory that makes what you want and is otherwise a good fit for your business. 
• Trade companies: Trade companies sell wholesale products, though they act as middlemen between businesses and factories. While this isn't objectively bad (some trade companies may provide easier access to certain kinds of products), you're usually looking at higher prices and less flexibility when it comes to customizations and branding.

If you're curious where to find factories are trade companies, there are several options, including:

• Alibaba: Alibaba is a well-known B2B platform where thousands of suppliers for all kinds of products can be found. While not all of those factories are good matches for your business, it is a common starting point when looking for wholesale factories. 
• Google searches: Reputable factories will often have some kind of web presence, so a simple targeted search could be a way to connect with a supplier that is a great match. ‍
• Sourcing specialists: 3rd party sourcing specialists (sometimes called sourcing agents) can do the legwork for you to find a factory to make your wholesale skincare product. For example, Kanary is a sourcing specialist, and we regularly help businesses find factories that are suited for their precise business needs.

Buying wholesale skincare products from China is a great way to source high-quality items at great prices, but buying from China does present some unique challenges that businesses need to be prepared to face. Some of those challenges include:

• Communication issues: It's really important that you have someone on your team that is bilingual in English and Mandarin. There are many excellent factories that do not speak English, and while many choose to use online translators, it's only a good solution for basic, simple communication. If you are wanting to develop a product (or you plan on managing the factory during production), online translators can only do so much.
• Quality issues: It's a myth that factories in China inherently make low-quality products. The issue is that many businesses don't have the ability or expertise to enforce quality control procedures, so mistakes in production (or factories trying to cut corners) can be an issue. 
• Shipping: Once products are complete, businesses will need to navigate sea freight shipping and customs. While this is a routine supply chain requirement, many businesses aren't prepared to successfully book containers, schedule shipments, and pass customs without delays or problems. 

Many businesses partner with a sourcing specialist, like Kanary, to help navigate these challenges easily and smoothly and to guarantee that avoidable roadblocks or challenges don't have to be addressed.

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If you're an established business looking to create a new skincare product line, Kanary has a lot to offer. If you're looking for a product that could be used for white labeling, Kanary can help you find a factory to produce a product that's a great reflection of your brand. Then, you can leverage our graphic design services to brand your product in a way that makes it stand out from other generic competitors. 

If you're looking to customize a generic product or create something entirely new, Kanary finds a factory that can help you create a unique product. Our team partners with you in creating prototypes, evaluating samples, and tweaking designs or ingredients to help create the exact kind of product you want on the market. 

Finally, if you want to test a product in your market without heavily investing in inventory, Kanary can help, too. Using novel fulfillment strategies (like direct from China fulfillment) can add flexibility to your supply chain while decreasing your overall risk. Kanary partners with EcommOps as our trusted China fulfillment partner.

Custom import taxes for skincare products will vary, depending on what your specific product is. The following is general advice, and we strongly recommend you contact Kanary or a customs expert for information regarding your exact product. 

Skincare products, as well as most cosmetics, have the Harmonized Tariff Schedule (HTS) number 3304, which has a varying tariff on products. Again, we strongly recommend consulting with Kanary or a customs expert to get clarity on which HTS code is applicable for your product, since you want to avoid overpaying taxes, as well as underpaying and incurring penalties and fines.

There are several ways to find a white label skincare manufacturer. You can use a platform like Alibaba, you can go to a trade show, and you can even use a simple online search to find a manufacturer that may be a good match. 

If you look for manufacturers on your own, you need to be sure to invest the time and resources needed to make sure the factory is a good fit. If you aren't confident in your ability to vet suppliers, you may want the help of a 3rd party, like Kanary, to assist.

Yes, as long as you find a high-quality factory that will partner with you and help enforce quality control procedures. This is one of the key elements Kanary looks for when we look for a supplier for a client, since we need to know that a factory is trustworthy and already engaging in industry-standard quality control. 

When a business partners with Kanary, we'll also enforce quality control (since that shouldn't be left entirely to a factory), and we can guarantee that your product will be safe and trustworthy.

Finding a wholesale supplier for niche products like wholesale skincare for private label services can be tricky. There's a lot of qualifiers for what you need, and while there are a lot of skincare suppliers, a lot of skincare suppliers for private label, and a lot of organic skincare wholesalers, finding a single factory that ticks all of those boxes will be resource intensive. 

If you don't have experience searching for and vetting suppliers, you should consider a 3rd party to do the heavy lifting of finding a niche supplier that is also a good fit for your business. Sourcing specialists, like Kanary, do a great job of saving your business time and resources by making the searching and vetting process of potential suppliers easy.

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Properly vetting a manufacturer for skincare products before you sign a contract and start mass production is crucial. If you want to thoroughly evaluate a potential supplier, you should:

• Visit the factory: This is one of the most impactful things you can do when evaluating a supplier. Visiting the factory, in person, allows you to see first-hand how the factory operates and how they manage quality control. 
• Request photos and videos: Sometimes, a factory visit isn't practical (especially if you're partnering with an overseas factory). While Kanary strongly recommends you make an effort to visit (especially if you are making a substantial investment in mass production)
• Request samples: There is rarely an instance that you shouldn't ask for samples. Unless you are sourcing something like heavy machinery, which can't "have a sample," you should always insist on samples of products from a potential supplier. 
• Hire 3rd party support: You can hire a vetting specialist to evaluate a supplier on your behalf, like Kanary, to make sure that a specific factory is trustworthy.

Acne patch manufacturers in China are trustworthy, you just need to make sure you connect with a supplier that is a good match for your business and takes quality control seriously. If you need help finding a supplier, Kanary can help!

When you've found a factory that you feel confident can help you develop a custom skincare product, there is an involved process in developing that product for mass production. These steps will vary from product type to product type, even within the skincare product niche, though this is the general process you can expect:

• Designs/ingredients: First, you'll send your product designs and ingredient list to your supplier. For skincare, you may not have designs for jar or packaging, since you can have unique skincare without having a unique jar or bottle. 
• Prototypes: Your factory will send you a prototype of your product before mass production begins. This will allow you to inspect packaging and the actual skincare product to make sure it fits your expectations. 
• Adjustments: You should expect to make tweaks and adjustments to your prototype. You may find your overall design needs to be changed or completely rehauled. For lotions or creams, you may find that a certain ingredient would provide a desired aroma or skin-feel that you're hoping to achieve. 
• Mass production: After you finalize your prototype, mass production begins. You'll need to make sure to keep tabs on quality issues, especially product defects that need an overall adjustment that may not have presented in the prototyping phase. 

This process requires regular and clear communication with a factory, which can be a challenge if you are working with a factory with limited English ability. If you feel like you may benefit from a 3rd party that can help facilitate communication or manage the prototyping process on your behalf, then Kanary would love to connect with you.

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