Sourcing
23 October 2026
Two suppliers quote USD 1.28 and USD 1.41 for the same TPU case and the same quantity. Neither number is wrong. They are not comparable, because a per-piece price is the last line of a six-line structure and most quotes only show one line.
This is what a phone case quotation actually contains, in the order the cost is built, and which of those lines is worth negotiating.
| # | Line | What it covers | Negotiable? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Unit price at quantity | Material, cycle time, labour, overhead, margin | Yes, mainly via quantity and specification |
| 2 | Tooling | Steel, EDM, polishing, trial shots | Yes — buy it or amortise it |
| 3 | Sample and courier | Proto samples, colour chips, express freight | Partly; usually credited against the order |
| 4 | Printing plates / dieline | Packaging artwork plates, cutting die | Rarely; it is a third-party cost |
| 5 | Testing | Heavy metals, phthalates, SVHC, drop test | No — it is a lab invoice |
| 6 | Freight and Incoterm | Carton cost, pallet build, sea or air, duty basis | Yes, by choosing the term |
On a moulded case the price is dominated by four things, in this order:
When a buyer asks us to hit a target price, the honest answer is usually "at this thickness, in this colour, with this print, here is the floor" — not a discount on the same specification.
Tooling is quoted once and either paid up front or spread across the first order. Both are legitimate. What matters is that the quote states which, and that the ownership and hand-over terms are written down. The tooling ownership article covers the clauses.
Build a landed-cost sheet per 1,000 pieces, and force every quote into the same columns:
| Line | Supplier A | Supplier B |
|---|---|---|
| Unit price × 1,000 | 1,280 | 1,410 |
| Tooling (if new) | — | 900 |
| Bagging / retail pack | included | +60 |
| Carton cost | +18 | included |
| Inland + port charges (FOB) | +95 | +70 |
| Freight to destination port | +340 | +340 |
| Duty at destination rate | buyer | buyer |
| Comparable total | 1,733 | 2,780 |
In that example the cheaper unit price was also the cheaper landed cost — but only because the tooling was already cut. Reverse the tooling line and the ranking flips. The point is that the ranking has to be computed, not inferred from the per-piece number.
Nine times out of ten the productive conversation is not about the unit price. It is about the tier boundary: whether the order can be consolidated across colourways to reach the next volume step, or whether the packaging can move from a printed box to a printed sleeve. Those two changes typically move the landed cost more than a percentage point on the piece price. Our assortment planning article works through the quantity side of that.
Almost always a specification difference: wall thickness, cavity count, print method, or whether packaging and cartons are inside the unit price. Force both quotes into the same landed-cost columns before deciding anything.
Up front is cleaner if you expect to keep the tool and move it later. Amortised is cheaper on day one but becomes expensive if volumes fall short. Whichever you choose, put ownership in writing.
Rarely in plastics, because resin prices move. Thirty to ninety days is typical, and a longer validity usually carries an exchange-rate or resin-index clause.