Inside the workshops these prices come from
Printing, spraying, marking and packing all run in-house in Yongkang — which is why we can quote per process rather than as one lump figure.
Real per-piece figures for every decoration method, body finish and packaging option — the same numbers our sales team quotes daily.
Where these numbers come from. An importer wrote to us asking for the cost impact of every customisation option before finalising a specification — not a vague “what is your best price”, but method by method. Candy, one of our sales engineers, answered it line by line, and the figures below are her reply. We are publishing them because the question was a good one and the answer should not depend on who you happen to ask.
They are indicative — the exact printing fee depends on your actual artwork, the print area and the quantity — but they are close enough to budget with, and they show you where the real jumps are.
| Method | Unit cost | Setup | Best for | The limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Silk screen 1 colour | USD 0.03 | Screen fee per colour | Simple logos, text and icons in 1–3 solid colours, small to medium print area. Good abrasion resistance, and the most cost-effective route at volume. | Each additional colour is a separate pass and a separate screen. Fine detail under about 0.3 mm does not hold. |
| Silk screen 2 colours | USD 0.07 | Screen fee per colour | ||
| Silk screen 3 colours | USD 0.10 | Screen fee per colour | ||
| UV digital printing | USD 0.20–1.00 | None | Anything over three colours. Multi-colour logos, fine text, photographs and gradients. This is what our quotations default to. | Dark bodies need a white base layer first — an extra pass, and it pushes you toward the upper end of the range. |
| Full-wrap heat transfer | USD 0.10–0.20 | USD 600 film plate | 360° continuous patterns, landscape images, full-body artwork. | Prints only on the flat main body — the uneven neck cannot be printed. Every full wrap has a visible seam. We control where it lands, not whether it exists. |
| Laser engraving | USD 0.10–0.50 | None | Single-colour logos, text and icons on stainless steel. Permanent, wear-resistant, dishwasher-safe. | No colour at all — the mark is the tone of exposed steel. Does not work on plastic. |
How to read this table. The cheapest method is not the cheapest programme. A three-colour silk screen at USD 0.10 needs three screens and three passes; the same artwork in UV at USD 0.35 needs none. At 500 pieces UV often lands cheaper all-in; at 20,000 pieces silk screen wins comfortably. Tell us the quantity and send the artwork, and we will price both rather than guess which you meant.
| Finish | Extra cost | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Stock colours | None | Whatever is already running on the line. The fastest and cheapest route, and where we suggest most first orders start. |
| Matte | None | Soft, non-reflective. Shows fingerprints more than gloss on dark colours. |
| Gloss | None | High-gloss solid colour, vibrant hue. |
| Spray | None | Standard spray finish. |
| Powder coating | +USD 0.05 | Tougher than spray, better chip resistance. Worth it on bottles that live in a bag. |
| Electroplating | +USD 0.80–1.60 | Metallic finishes. The exact figure depends on your Pantone — send the code and we can calculate it precisely. |
| Matched Pantone body | Colour-mixing surcharge | MOQ rises to 1,000 pieces, because a matched colour is its own dedicated spray run rather than a shared one. |
The one that surprises people is electroplating: at up to USD 1.60 a piece it can cost more than the printing, the box and the lid combined. It looks superb in a gift programme and rarely earns its place on a volume line. If you want the metallic look at lower cost, ask us about a matched Pantone in a metallic-effect spray instead.
| Item | Cost | What it gets you |
|---|---|---|
| Printed colour box | USD 0.30 per piece | Includes CMYK full-colour printing and your choice of matte or gloss lamination at no extra cost. |
| CMYK full-colour print | Included | Already in the 0.30 figure. |
| Matte or gloss lamination | Included | Your choice. Matte shows fingerprints on dark artwork; gloss hides more. |
| Spot UV | +USD 0.05–0.10 | Glossy raised areas over a matte base — the effect most often used on a logo. |
| Embossing | +USD 0.05–0.10 | Raised relief you can feel. |
| Debossing | +USD 0.05–0.10 | Recessed relief. |
These stack. Spot UV plus embossing on the same box is roughly +0.10 to +0.20 over the base 0.30. We give you the final unit price once the artwork is confirmed, because the cost depends on how much of the surface each effect covers.
Worth planning around: from 12 August 2026 the EU packaging regulation PPWR (EU) 2025/40 puts the box itself in scope — importer details and recyclability marks need space designed into the artwork. What that means for your box →
A buyer asks for 3,000 stainless bottles, two-colour logo, matte body in a stock colour, printed colour box with spot UV on the logo. Building it up:
| Line | Per piece |
|---|---|
| Two-colour silk screen | USD 0.07 |
| Matte finish, stock colour | — |
| Printed colour box (CMYK + lamination) | USD 0.30 |
| Spot UV on the logo | USD 0.05–0.10 |
| Decoration and packaging subtotal | USD 0.42–0.47 |
Plus the bottle itself, screen setup, and freight. The point of showing it this way is that decoration and packaging on a fairly rich specification came to under fifty cents — while switching the same body to electroplating would have added USD 0.80–1.60 on its own. When a programme is over budget, this is usually where to look first.
Ask the way that importer did. “What is your best price” gets you a number with no breakdown. “What is the cost impact of each option?” gets you this table — and it lets you see which line is worth cutting. Send your artwork, quantity and destination market, and Candy or one of her colleagues will come back with the same breakdown priced for your job.
Related: MOQ and quantity price breaks · how each decoration method actually works · tooling costs if you want your own shape · EXW, FOB or DDP.
Below is the actual reply, in the format we send it. The buyer’s original questions are quoted in grey; our answers are in red, inserted directly under each line — the same way we return a marked-up enquiry to any buyer. Names and company details are removed.
Why we publish this. The buyer asked a better question than most — not “what is your best price” but “what is the cost impact of each option?” That is the question that gets you a breakdown you can actually cut costs from. If you send us artwork, quantity and destination market, you get the same reply priced for your job.
Printing, spraying, marking and packing all run in-house in Yongkang — which is why we can quote per process rather than as one lump figure.
It depends on the method and the number of colours. Silk screen: USD 0.03 for one colour, 0.07 for two, 0.10 for three. UV digital: USD 0.20–1.00, which is what we recommend above three colours. Laser engraving: USD 0.10–0.50. Full-wrap heat transfer: USD 0.10–0.20 plus a USD 600 film plate. The exact figure depends on your artwork and print area — send the file and the quantity and we will price it precisely.
Per piece, silk screen — but not always per programme. A three-colour silk screen at USD 0.10 needs three screens and three passes, each with a setup charge; the same artwork in UV at around USD 0.35 needs none. At 500 pieces UV often lands cheaper all-in; at 20,000 pieces silk screen wins comfortably. Tell us the quantity and we will quote both.
Stock colours, matte, gloss and standard spray carry no surcharge. Powder coating adds USD 0.05 and is worth it on bottles that live in a bag. Electroplating adds USD 0.80–1.60 depending on the Pantone. A matched Pantone body carries a colour-mixing surcharge and raises the MOQ to 1,000 pieces, because it is a dedicated spray run rather than a shared one.
USD 0.30 per piece, and that already includes CMYK full-colour printing and your choice of matte or gloss lamination. Spot UV, embossing and debossing are each +USD 0.05–0.10 and can be combined — two effects on the same box is roughly +0.10 to +0.20 over the base. We confirm the final figure once artwork is approved, since cost depends on how much surface each effect covers.
Two things, and both are physics rather than quality. It prints only on the flat main body — the uneven neck section cannot be printed, so artwork has to be designed around that. And every full wrap has a visible seam where the transfer meets itself. We control where the seam lands, not whether it exists. There is also a USD 600 film plate charge before the per-piece cost.
Yes — ask your sales contact for close-up photographs of silk screen, UV digital, full-wrap heat transfer and laser engraving on actual production pieces, plus body finish comparisons (matte spray, gloss paint, raw stainless, electroplated, powder-coated) and packaging examples showing lamination, spot UV, embossing and debossing. We send these routinely, because the perceived quality of a finish is very hard to judge from a price list.
Because it handles the widest range of artwork without a setup charge, so it is the safest default before we have seen your file. If your logo is one to three flat colours and the quantity is high, we will tell you that silk screen is cheaper — we would rather move you to the cheaper method than let you overpay on a default. Send the artwork and the quantity and we will quote the methods that actually suit it.
They are indicative and good enough to budget with, but the exact printing fee depends on your actual logo design, the print area and the quantity. Setup charges (silk screen per colour, the USD 600 heat-transfer plate) are separate and are one-off rather than per piece. Send us artwork plus quantity and you get a fixed figure, not a range.
Send the market, a rough budget and a reference product. We will tell you which decisions matter for your case and which can wait.