Brand launch guide
Launching a lash brand is a supply chain problem before it is a marketing one. Get the supplier and the packaging right and the rest is distribution.
The short answer: you can launch a private label lash brand for roughly USD 500–1,500 on your first run. The floor is set by three costs: samples, your minimum production run, and packaging. With a 50-pair-per-style minimum and 7–15 day production, most brands go from first enquiry to sellable stock in four to six weeks.
What this guide covers
Most people who say they want a lash brand have not decided which business they are in. There are three, and they need different suppliers.
| Business model | Who buys | What wins | Typical first run |
|---|---|---|---|
| Salon brands | Lash techs and their clients | Comfort, curl consistency, bulk pricing per tray | 50–200 pairs across 2–3 styles |
| Retail / DTC brands | Consumers via your own site or marketplace | Packaging, photography, a clear style story | 150–500 pairs across 3–5 styles |
| Distributor stock | Shops, salons, other resellers | Price per pair, reliable restock, breadth of range | 500–2,000 pairs, many styles |
The trap is trying to be all three at once. A distributor play needs volume pricing and a wide catalogue. A DTC play needs packaging that photographs well and a tight range of three to five styles that a customer can tell apart. Pick one for the first year and let the others wait.
If you are selling to consumers, the thing that separates a brand from a reseller is not the lash — many brands buy the same lash — it is the box, the photography and the copy. Budget accordingly. A USD 0.90 lash in a well-made box with clean photography sells for USD 12. The same lash in a poly bag does not.
This is where most first-time brands get stuck, and it is almost always about one number: the minimum order quantity (MOQ).
Large factories quote MOQs of 1,200 pairs per style because their line setup and material buying only makes sense at that volume. If you are launching with 200 pairs, that MOQ ends the conversation. You need a supplier whose MOQ is built for small brands — ours is 50 pairs per style.
When you shortlist suppliers, ask these questions in the first email. The answers tell you more than any catalogue:
We wrote a longer version of this screening process in how to choose a lash manufacturer, including the answers that should make you walk away.
Never place a production run off a photo. Two reasons: lighting hides defects, and a style that looks wispy on a model can arrive dense and plastic in your hand.
Order one pair of each style you are considering, plus one pair of the same style in two different curls if you are unsure. Wear them. Check four things:
Sample orders should have no minimum, and should not take three weeks. If a supplier treats a sample request as an inconvenience, they will treat a small production order the same way.
Packaging is the single largest driver of perceived value, and it is also the most common cause of delays. Custom printed boxes are made to order, so they add production days that a plain tray does not.
Three practical options, cheapest first:
| Option | What it involves | Best for | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Label on standard box | Your logo sticker applied to our stock box | Testing a style before committing | Looks like a reseller, not a brand |
| Printed sleeve over standard tray | Card sleeve printed with your artwork | First real run on a tight budget | Lower perceived value than a rigid box |
| Fully custom rigid box | Your box, your board, your print finishes | Brands selling above USD 15 a pair | Higher unit cost and a few extra days |
Our custom packaging page covers box types, print methods and how artwork should be supplied. If you only take one thing from it: send artwork as vector files with fonts outlined, and specify a Pantone reference if colour matters. Screen colour is not a specification.
The instinct is to order big for the price break. Resist it. Your first run exists to answer a question — will this style sell at this price with this packaging — and you want the cheapest possible answer.
A sensible first run is two to four styles, 50–100 pairs each. That is enough stock to sell for six to ten weeks at a realistic launch volume, and small enough that a wrong style is a learning cost rather than a write-off.
Two things make small runs easier than they used to be. First, low MOQs mean you are not forced into 1,200 pairs to get started. Second, restocking in 7–15 days means you can reorder a winner quickly instead of stockpiling safety inventory up front.
You do not need a large marketing budget. You need a clear answer to one question: why would someone buy this lash from you rather than from the fifty other brands selling something similar?
The cheapest launch assets are the ones you should ask your supplier for: product photography on a clean background, a lifestyle shot, and the specification (length, curl, thickness, band type). If your supplier will not provide these, you are paying for a photoshoot before you have proven the product.
For a DTC launch, list three to five styles, not twenty. Each style needs one sentence explaining who it is for. “Everyday Glam — balanced volume that still reads natural at arm’s length” outsells a wall of options with no guidance.
Figures below are indicative for a first run of three styles at 100 pairs each, and exclude shipping, duties and marketplace fees. Treat them as a budgeting frame, then get a real quote.
| Line item | Lean launch | Full brand launch |
|---|---|---|
| Samples (6–10 pairs) | USD 40–80 | USD 40–80 |
| Production, 300 pairs | USD 450–750 | USD 450–900 |
| Packaging | USD 0 (label only) | USD 250–600 (printed boxes) |
| Photography / assets | USD 0 (supplier-supplied) | USD 150–400 |
| Store setup / platform | USD 0–30/month | USD 30–80/month |
| Realistic total to first sellable stock | USD 500–900 | USD 900–2,000 |
The number people underestimate is not production — it is working capital. If you sell 40 pairs a month, 300 pairs is seven months of stock. That is fine, but it means your second order has to wait, and you should plan for it.
Ready to price a first run?
Send us the styles you are considering and we will come back with per-pair pricing, packaging options and a production date. 50 pairs per style minimum, no sample minimum.
A lean first run of about 300 pairs across three styles typically costs USD 500 to 900, including samples and basic packaging. A full brand launch with custom printed boxes and photography runs USD 900 to 2,000. Shipping, duties and marketplace fees are extra.
At Auama the minimum is 50 pairs per style, which can usually be split across colours or lengths of the same style. Sample orders have no minimum. Many large factories require 1,200 pairs per style, which is why new brands often cannot start with them at all.
Four to six weeks is typical. Sampling takes about one week, artwork approval and packaging a few days, production 7 to 15 days, and shipping depends on destination. The variable that most often slips is packaging artwork approval.
No. Almost every lash brand, including the large ones, buys production from a manufacturer and supplies their own branding and packaging. What you need is a supplier who will run small volumes and print your packaging.
Private label if you want your own packaging, your own style selection and eventually your own developed styles. White label if you want to test demand quickly with minimal setup. Private label has a slightly higher setup cost and a much stronger long-term position.