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How do I successfully sell private label cosmetics on Shopify? This article will show you how!
Selling homemade cosmetics on Amazon is a great way to make money, but it can be difficult. Here are some tips and tricks for selling your own cosmetics.
Private label cosmetics are cosmetics made by one firm and marketed under the name of another. By selecting the proper supplier, creating a brand, and marketing your private label cosmetics, you may learn how to sell private label cosmetics economically. Selling private label cosmetics may easily bring in several thousand dollars each month for small businesses.
In six easy steps, you can create your own cosmetics brand.
1. Determine which products are profitable.
Making sure there is strong customer demand for the items you wish to offer is the first step in creating a successful private label cosmetic brand. Use Google Trends and Amazon sites such as the Best Sellers list and the Movers & Shakers section. When combined, these techniques may provide a clear picture of whether or not people are looking for and purchasing the cosmetics you want to market.
You may develop your own items when you build a private label cosmetic brand.
You can predict how popular particular cosmetics will be by applying the following formula:
- Google Trends: Google Trends informs you if searches for a certain keyword are rising or decreasing, as well as the level of general interest in that topic.
- Amazon Best Sellers list: You may filter down Amazon’s Best Sellers list to any product category or subcategory to check which cosmetics are the most popular and get a sense of the current competition.
- Amazon’s Movers & Shakers list displays goods that have had a surge in popularity or sales, which is useful for recognizing trends.
- Visiting boutiques & other retailers: See what other retailers are featuring in-store and even check the packaging to get ideas for potential suppliers.
Make a niche for yourself.
With a few individual goods, you may create a thriving private label brand. Finding a niche and establishing a product line around a certain subject or interest, on the other hand, is the ideal method to market private label cosmetics profitably. A well-coordinated product range will aid in the development of a strong brand and the targeting of a particular demographic.
The following are some of the most popular cosmetic niches:
- Cosmetics made from natural ingredients
- Cosmetics that are cruelty-free
- Cosmetics and skincare containing cannabidiol (CBD)
- Cosmetics that are both sustainable and ecologically friendly
2. Find suppliers of private label cosmetics.
You may look for private label cosmetics providers in one of two ways: online or in-person at beauty industry trade fairs. Define precisely what you want in your private label cosmetics line before you start searching for providers. Do you, for example, just desire organic products? Do you need skincare, cosmetics, or both? Do you have any particular components in mind that you want or don’t want?
Here are a few additional things to think about while looking for private label cosmetics suppliers:
- Are they authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)?
- What are the minimum order quantities?
- What are the costs of labeling and packaging?
- How long does it take to process new orders and reorders?
Suppliers
Googling “private label cosmetics USA” is one of the simplest methods to start your search for providers. This search returns a lengthy list of vendors from which to begin your investigation. When you look at a few supplier websites, you’ll see that they all provide a wide range of private label cosmetics, from customizable makeup programs to whole skincare lines. Most vendors provide a large selection, allowing you to mix and combine goods to create your own unique cosmetics brand.
Supplier websites might also provide useful information on how their ordering process works. Many providers even have very low minimum order quantities. So, depending on the range of items you choose to start with, private label cosmetics may let you begin your own beauty business for as little as a few hundred dollars.
By inserting phrases like natural, organic, and cruelty-free in the search box, you may further focus your Google search for particular needs on your must-have list. Include any phrases that you need to establish your own personal beauty brand.
The following are some of the most well-known online cosmetics producers and suppliers:
- Basic Modern
- Naturals Nardo
- Pinnacle Cosmetics
- Lady Burd
- Audrey Morris
- Byrdie
Ensure that all regulations are followed while developing products.
During your web search, you’ll come across providers headquartered in other countries, particularly China. While imported cosmetics may be less expensive, they may not fulfill US purity criteria or other regulatory restrictions. Going this path might lead to inconsistencies in your goods, consumer complaints, and perhaps legal action. There’s no need to take this risk when there are so many private label cosmetics vendors in the United States and Canada.
In the U.S., cosmetic safety laws fall under the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA). Cosmetics products are FDA-regulated, not FDA-approved, which means that while most cosmetics and their ingredients do not require specific approval before being sold to consumers, there are laws and regulations in place to ensure consumer safety.
The FDA has the authority to examine cosmetic manufacturing plants and does so. While manufacturers are not forced to register their cosmetics firms or submit their formulas to specialized testing, they may opt to register with the FDA Voluntary Cosmetic Registration Program, which helps with ingredient transparency. This is why many merchants choose to buy their private label cosmetics from companies situated in the United States.
Trade events in the beauty business are a great method to meet a lot of private label suppliers in one place. You may receive hands-on experience with a variety of items and leave with lots of free and low-cost samples to evaluate at these events. Best of all, trade exhibitions allow you to meet prospective vendors in person and discuss your objectives.
Cosmoprof North America is one of the most well-attended beauty trade fairs in the United States. It’s particularly beneficial to small companies since it includes a variety of providers of all sizes and sorts, as well as new brands and manufacturers. They also offer sections devoted to ecologically friendly items and new businesses. There are also several events and possibilities for networking.
Other prominent trade exhibitions in the beauty sector include:
- International Beauty Competition
- International Salon & Spa Expo
- Indie Beauty Expo is a one-of-a-kind event
North American Cosmoprof Las Vegas is held once a year and serves a diverse range of beauty merchants, experts, and influencers.
If you decide to attend a trade fair, be sure to Google the show organizers and contact them to ensure you have the proper credentials. For approved retail customers, most product trade exhibitions are free to attend. Some just demand your state sales tax number, while others want verification of an existing online or brick-and-mortar company. To ensure that you will be accepted, it is essential to find out ahead of time.
3. Request samples and provide feedback on the products
When you look for private label cosmetics suppliers online, you’ll see that the majority of them provide low-cost sample kits or the ability to acquire single samples. Expect to spend between $40 and $100 per firm for samples to be mailed to you. This method is more expensive, but it allows you to inspect things in person. If you can visit a trade fair in your business, you can get a lot of free or low-cost samples all at once, as well as test them out on the exhibit floor.
Regardless of how you obtained samples, the next step is to properly evaluate each product to determine whether it matches your expectations and is consistent with your beauty brand. Your perspective is most important here, but it’s also a good idea to get feedback from others.
If you have a business, spa, or a group of customers, you may have them test out various goods to discover what they enjoy. They are, after all, your prospective customers. If you don’t already have a customer base, enlist the help of some friends to test items and offer feedback.
It may take many rounds of evaluations and maybe even several rounds of sample goods from other vendors, but you’ll finally locate a collection that represents your brand. When you’ve decided on a product line to offer, it’s time to consider how you’ll market it.
4. Choose a marketing strategy for your cosmetics line.
You must first select how you will advertise and sell your private label cosmetics line before making your first purchase. You may start small with a single sales channel, add goods to an existing business, or set up many sales channels at the same time.
Cosmetics are often sold via the following channels:
- At-store: Use a point-of-sale (POS) system like Vend to sell cosmetics in a salon, spa, specialized fashion boutique, or natural foods store.
- Online, on your own webpage: Using an eCommerce platform, create a website.
- Amazon: Use the Amazon Marketplace to sell private label cosmetics.
- Social media: A Facebook Shop or an Instagram account may be used to sell things directly.
- Markets: Participate in a local home, gift, and craft markets or community events as a vendor.
- You may offer your items to boutiques, spas, and brick-and-mortar shops to resale to clients since you’re establishing your own line.
“Since we’re primarily an internet business, we’ve discovered that selling as a private label to our merchants is more lucrative.” Our businesses have a greater community reach than an internet shop since they have physical locations. Even if the retailer’s name is printed on the product label, we still have our name in tiny font on the reverse of the label. In this manner, the client may see where the product was manufactured and who made it.” Founder of Dolphin Wood House, Laura Hatt
Some private label cosmetics vendors, such as Nardo’s Natural, make the procedure quite simple if you intend to sell largely on Amazon. If you utilize Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service to store and ship purchases, they will also deliver your things to Amazon. If Amazon sales are your primary priority, this is something to think about.
Nardo’s Natural provides a variety of private label cosmetics with free label and box design, as well as packaging tailored to Amazon’s specifications.
You have a variety of online selling possibilities in addition to Amazon. Ecommerce websites, blogs with online shop sections, and social media sites such as Facebook and Pinterest are examples of these. Even if you plan to sell solely via Amazon or social media postings, you should definitely consider creating your own website. Your own website is the finest location to create a brand identity that is completely unique to you and under your control.
Diversifying your sales channels is an excellent approach to expand your brand and increase product sales. Keeping track of all of these channels, though, maybe a challenge. Salsify is a product information management (PIM) software that allows you to centralize all of your product data and content. Improve search results, page conversion, and bring more goods to market quicker than your competitors by effortlessly creating extensive product material.
Select a Fulfillment Methodology
You must also consider how you will keep your cosmetics and deliver them to your consumers once they make order before making a product purchase. This selection must be made ahead of time in order to choose a provider that can satisfy your unique fulfillment requirements and to supply the relevant mailing address.
If you want to offer private label items in person at events, in your spa, or in your retail shop, you won’t have much of a choice: you’ll need to have them on hand. If you want to sell mostly online, however, you must determine where your items will be stored and how they will be packaged and dispatched.
The following are the four primary options for order fulfillment:
- Dropshipping: With drop shipping, all aspects of the order fulfillment process are handled by the suppliers, who ship orders straight to your consumers; finding private label suppliers that provide drop shipping may be tough, but it’s a common fulfillment approach for new eCommerce businesses.
- In-house order fulfillment refers to when a company manages its own storage and shipping operations; this is ideal for brick-and-mortar shops and well-known brands.
- Order fulfillment may be outsourced to third-party organizations like FulfillmentCompanies.net to manage product storage and delivery of client orders. This is a fantastic alternative for companies that don’t have the time or resources to manage their own operations, as well as those that are undergoing quick growth or seasonal sales surges.
- Hybrid order fulfillment: To manage online and offline sales, businesses may mix any of these order fulfillment methods.
As your private label company expands, you’ll find yourself spending more time packaging and delivering online purchases. Outsource your fulfillment procedure to save up time to focus on your salon or online business. Use fulfillment companies to find a national or regional fulfillment company to handle your online orders for you.
5. Create your logo, branding, and packaging
As you research possible suppliers, you’ll see that the majority of them handle the labeling and packing for you. You provide your logo, and they take care of the rest. This is the most straightforward method for labeling and packaging your private label cosmetics. It gives your labels a professional appearance and guarantees that they are accurate in terms of ingredients listings and other packaging regulations.
Many private label cosmetics manufacturers also offer complimentary photographs of your branded items, such as Nardo’s Naturals below. You may use these photographs to develop your website or Amazon listings if you’re selling your beauty collection online. This saves you time and money by eliminating the need to photograph items yourself or hire a professional.
Be aware that most private label cosmetics vendors demand additional costs for label printing and packaging on top of the product price, so keep that in mind while you shop. On most supplier websites, these costs are explicitly stated. If you have any queries, a call to their customer service number should answer any inquiries you have about packing costs or the procedure.
Most vendors need you to provide your logo with your purchase in order to have your items tagged with your branding. Suppliers give logo parameters, such as the number of colors that may be used, the size constraints, and the file formats that can be used.
6. Purchase Cosmetics with a Private Label
You’re ready to make your order once you’ve chosen your private label cosmetics provider, determined the goods you want to carry in your line, and had your logo developed. You’ve probably already talked with a customer support agent, so this step should be straightforward, but there are a few things to keep in mind and double-check:
- Because private label cosmetics are usually paid for in advance, you should expect to pay using a credit card when you make your purchase.
- Make sure the prices of your products and the costs of label printing are correct.
- Be mindful of the labeling process’s needed turnaround timeframes.
- Recognize that the majority of private label cosmetics do not accept returns.
- Keep track of the things you’re selling shelf life and expiry dates.
In most circumstances, it will take a few weeks for your private label cosmetics order to arrive once it is placed. Use this time to get your website up and running, as well as other selling avenues such as Amazon and social media profiles, or to make your shop or spa ready to exhibit your new beauty line.
Most Commonly Asked Questions
How much does it cost to establish a cosmetics firm under your own label?
Whether you’re beginning a new company or introducing a new product line to an existing one, and whether you’re storing inventory in-house or dropshipping, your upfront expenditures may differ. If you’re establishing a new company and selling items in person or completing client orders in-house, sample products, a website, logo and packaging design, an initial wholesale purchase, and shipping will set you back a few thousand dollars.
Is a license required to sell cosmetics?
Like any other shop, you’ll need a resale license. To sell cosmetics or skincare items, however, you do not need a cosmetology license or schooling. Depending on your state, you’ll need a cosmetology or esthetician license if you want to apply makeup to consumers, give makeup or skincare services, or demonstrate skincare items to customers.
How can I sell Amazon’s private label products?
To sell directly on Amazon, you must first create an Amazon Seller account. Your private label brand should also be trademarked. You may apply to Amazon’s Brand Registry after you have a registered trademark. When you join Amazon’s Brand Registry, you have total control over your product page, photos, and data.
Conclusion
Building your own beauty brand with private label cosmetics is a straightforward and low-cost option. Even fashion stores, healthy living companies, and active lifestyle enterprises are moving into this high-demand industry since the entry fees are minimal and the variety is so large. After you’ve decided on a supplier and items for your first line, you’ll need to create a logo, place an order, and devise a marketing strategy.
