The Ultimate Guide: Customizing bone china mugs

“We’d like to commission a relatively small order of customizing bone china mugs with our art design (two different designs on, say 50 mugs of each design). We’d like straight-sided mugs with a large handle and a capacity of around 300mls. Could you tell us what it would cost to order these from you + shipping and how we would proceed?”

“Hi, would you be willing to manufacture a small quantity tea set? around 50 pieces each?”

“I have my own design, can you print my design on your sets? What is the minimum order quantity?”

“I would like more information on pricing for this product with my own custom artwork. Also, what is the minimum order?”

The keywords here are small quantity, customize design, cost, if those are the topics concern you, please read.

The 3 key factors determining the cost are the product, the package, the shipping cost, and the choice of each factor to determine the overall cost.

The topics of this article include the following.

1. What’s the advantage of bone china mugs comparing to porcelain and ceramic mugs.

2. What is the procedure of customizing bone china mugs.

3. What’s the minimum order quantity.

4. How much is the cost of the customizing bone china mug.

5. How much is the freight.

6. What kind of services do we provide.

When you require a refined, premium coffee mug or teacup, you can’t go past the beautiful bone china range of drinkware. If you want to customize a mug for business use, bone china is the premium choice you can’t miss. It is a more elegant and refined type of porcelain developed in 1748 and is claimed to genuinely improve the taste of a cup of tea or coffee.

1. Advantage of bone china mugs comparing to porcelain and ceramic mugs.

While bone china has a well-earned reputation for being a premium product, due to the complexity of the production and firing process, we are proud to offer products made of quality fine bone china without the huge price tag. Each mug is expertly crafted using traditional production techniques and fully customized with your promotional branding. Bone china mugs make perfect executive gifts and are bound to be regularly used by your recipients.

Bone China is recognizable across the world for its high mechanical strength and strong resistance to chipping, which makes bone china mugs ideal for corporate campaigns that require products of high quality. Lightweight and comprised of thin phosphate-derived porcelain, bone china mugs can be fully branded to showcase your corporate logo or personal design, it is the preferable choice for high-end gift and promotional choices.

Non-Lead. Health and Eco-friendly are our principles. The bone china is famous for its low lead and cadmium content. (see test result). It has a good appearance and is also a healthy choice.

2. What is the procedure of customizing bone china mugs.

The procedure of customizing bone china mugs can be described as below.

1. Select the ideal mug shape.

2. Send over the design you want to develop.

3. Determine the design effect, like the size of the logo, the position of the design or logo, whether you want gold or silver decoration at the rim or handle.

4.Determine the order quantity, the package, and delivery time.

5. Factory evaluates the cost based on the above information.

6. Sampling. After confirm the shape, design, quantity, package, unit price, sampling charge, delivery time, we will start sampling. The sampling time depends on the difficulty of the design after the sample is done, we can take the photo or send the sample to the client for approval or improve adjustment.

7. Bulk order confirm. After the sample is approved, we will start bulk production. Before that, a deposit is required before the production. Depending on the total amount, the deposit can be 30%, or 50%, or the full amount.

8. Bulk order production arrangement. The production of bulk orders is around 30-60 days depending on the difficulty of the project and the production arrangement. If the client is of urgent need, please notify the manufacturer for coordination.

9. Quality check and prepare for shipment. When the production is about to finish, we will notify the buyer of the rest payment and arrange to ship.

10. Provide the necessary documents for shipping and assist with the custom clearance.

3. Minimum order quantity of customizing bone china mugs.

The MOQ(minimum order quantity) of the customizing bone china mug varies, depending on the difficulty of the design. Usually, the order quantity we suggest starting with is 500pcs/design.

As explained in the article, MOQ of Custom Bone China Mugs, if customers use the existing mug shape, the MOQ mainly comes from the decal printing which is used for the realizing of the design.

Decal paper is used to decorate the surface of bone China products, that’s how we do custom design.

The production of decal paper involves a series of processes, (check the making process), each decal paper sheet is of the size 700*500 mm. Within this area, we can layout different items with customer’s designs, like mugs, plates, etc. To better control the cost, the decal production manufacturers require a minimum order of 200 sheets based on each design. This is the major factor we use in measuring a bone china project is worth developing or not.

In the article MOQ of Custom Bone China Mugswe have a detailed explanation of the layout. Here we just list the conclusion.

For 1-3 color designs, the MOQ is 300.

For designs with more colors, if the customer just wants to develop a mug, the MOQ is 1000.

Ways to decrease the MOQ

A. Develop a series of products instead of a single mug.

B. Pay deposit for the left decal for future use.

As mentioned above, the MOQ of multiple color design is 1000, while if the customer finds the quantity is difficult to start with, we can start with 500, and stock the rest decal for a repeat order. Thus customer needs to pay the cost of the decal of the rest 500, and this amount will be deducted when the customer places a repeated order.

C. Develop similar designs at the same time.

A similar design means designs of the same colors. If designs are of the same colors, we can lay them on the same layout, thus the quantity of each design is reduced.

D. Accept some increased costs of each unit.

There is no doubt that a big quantity always means a better price. When we can’t reach the MOQ, there is an all-covered cost charged for the decals, which means the cost of developing decals for 1000 and 500 is the same if we only produce 500 pieces, the unit cost of each mug will increase. This applies to one-time development.

4. How much is the cost of the customizing bone china mug.

The unit price of customizing bone china mugs depends on the information mentioned above, we can not give a quote unless we got the full information needed for the project. However, we can provide economical bone china options for the following reasons.

Direct from factory.

Without the middle man, and with our one-stop service, you can save a bunch of time and cost. This allows for considerable savings in production.

Geographic advantage.

Tangshan is the industry center of bone china in China, this gives us the advantage of multiple choices, low price, as well as great quality.

Professionalism.

Been in this field for more than 15 years, We are a professional bone china tableware manufacturer, with rich experience in developing customizing bone china mugs projects. If you are looking for a solid customizing bone china mug supplier, you are in the right place.

Strict quality control

Top-notch raw materials were chosen to ensure the best quality, skilled workers strictly follow the international standard of producing.

Strict quality control measurements are conducts throughout the entire production process.

Inner QC online and third-party QC for finished customizing bone china mugs. we aim at saving your time and energy for after-sale service.

5. How much is the freight?

The freight of the customizing bone china mugs depends on two things, the delivery method and the weight/size of the goods.

Delivery method

Getting your products across swiftly is essential for customer satisfaction, and getting them across inexpensively is essential for your financial results. So choosing the right mode of transportation is key to an efficient and cost-effective international arrangement.

The four main modes of international transport are road, sea, rail, and air. Each mode has its perks, drawbacks, and conditions pertaining to the type of goods being exported or imported.

Among them, the most commonly used methods are sea and air. Your choice of transport is heavily dependent on your type of goods and the business requirements needed for the venture. You should match the transport mode with your goods to balance service, quality, cost, organization, and time. For example, comparing air and sea delivery, the sea delivery is slow but cheap, the air is fast but expensive.

For a small quantity business, freight is a big concern, as in most cases, the freight can be as much as the value of the goods.

Revenue Ton.

A revenue ton is a unit measure used in marine transport, on which a shipment is freighted. Cargo is rated as weight or measure (W/M) depending on the commodity. Weights are based on metric tons and 1 metric ton = 1,000 Kilograms (2,205 lbs.) Measures are based on cubic meters (M3).

Regardless of which method is used, the one that produces the highest revenue, between the weight calculation, or the measurement calculation, will be considered the revenue ton.

To simply put, a pack of foam, even though the weight is very light, the freight is collected by the measurement instead of the weight.

In the case of customizing bone china mugs, as most of the products are individually packed and some with EPE, the freight is usually collected by measurements. Therefore, the sizes of the boxes matter in determining the freight.

For whichever transportation method, we need to confirm the quantity and the preferable transportation choice to ask the forwarder for the quote of freight, and given the current fluctuation of the ocean and air freight, the exact quote can only be provided when the goods are ready.

6. What kind of services do we provide.

Here at Longway Ceramics, we are trying to provide a one-stop service of customizing bone china mugs to our clients if needed. From the idea of developing the project to the package design, and delivery to local warehouse assistant if needed.

Package development

The packaging attracts the customer’s attention and turns it into interest. Some people think that “every package is a billboard.” Good package design of the customizing bone china mugs can improve the attractiveness of the products, the value of the packaging itself can also attract consumers’ desire to buy a product. In addition, increasing the attractiveness of the packaging is less costly than increase the unit price of the bone porcelain product.

Here we have different package options for customers’ selection, customers can choose the method that tailed to their needs. There is no perfect solution to all requirements, you need to balance among look, cost, and function. As mentioned before, the package method of customizing bone china mugs affects the freight cost too.

The detailed disucssion about the package desgin of customizing bone china mugs can be found in the article. 3 Ways of Package Design for Bone Porcelain Giftware

A qualified or good package design should meet the below requirements.

1. Protect the safety of the goods against breakage or damage, porcelain is a kind of fragile material, even though bone china is relatively strong, it is still fragile needs to handle with care.

2. Providing convenience like bar-code or description information for the customer to easily identify the products inside.

3. Help improve the brand image or can help the products sell at a higher price thus create profit.

The detailed discussion and options about the package design can be found here.3 Ways of Package Design for Bone Porcelain Giftware.

Transportation assist

You can skip this part if you are an experienced importer.

We will assist with all the documents and certifications needed for the smooth transportation of your customizing bone china mugs. As most of the first-time clients don’t have much experience regarding international transportation or customs clearance, we can assist with these if needed.

However, the forwarder in China still need to cooperate with local forwarder and forwarder at your place would know the local policy and situation better, for the long development of your business, we suggest you contact a few local forwarders for suggestions and services.

Other products sourcing service

You can find nearly everything you want in China. For some clients, we offer sourcing services for the other products they are interested in and help deliver together with the bone china products they made. This would help them save time and energy dealing with different suppliers in China.

For more information about your own customizing bone china mugs project, please feel free to send us your design. If you have more questions about the topic, please send us message via the form below.