New businesses require a lot of moving parts. And if you’re just beginning, making it all the way to an actual “launch” might seem years away. That’s why so many entrepreneurs look for any opportunity to get a head start. If that sounds like a refreshing idea, private label products may just provide the jumping off point you’ve been looking for.
Selling private label products is a process where you market and sell items under your own brand name that are manufactured by others. And that means a major up-front investment of time (and money) saved on your end.
With private label products accounting for approximately 19% of total retail sales in the U.S., this market is a solid opportunity if you’re looking to jump into the ecommerce deep end.
Here, we’ll walk you through some background information and the steps you need to take to successfully launch and sell your own private label products on WooCommerce. This guide will approach everything from product ideas to setting up your store.
Private label products are goods produced by one company but sold under the brand name of another company. This means you can offer products with custom branding without having to invest in the manufacturing process. The retailer (that’s you) controls the product’s branding, marketing, sales, and pricing while a third-party manufacturer handles production.
From private label food and beverages to personal care items and electronics, you can find examples of products being sold on a private label literally everywhere. Every product category likely has an example.
But here are a few for illustrative purposes that you’ve likely encountered in the wild:
Kirkland Signature
This is Costco’s private label brand. If it’s sold in a grocery store, the successful private label brand, Kirkland, likely has a version of the product, including groceries, personal care items, and household goods.
Amazon Basics
Launched in 2009, Amazon Basics includes products in nearly every category. These items are known for being affordable alternatives to name-brand products and are designed to compete with other brands on Amazon’s marketplace.
There are several advantages to selling private label products that make it an appealing business model for new and established ecommerce store owners alike.
Here’s what doing so can offer:
Better profit margins
Private label products sometimes offer higher profit margins compared to reselling national brands or traditional dropshipping. And it makes sense.
When you source products directly from manufacturers, all the intermediaries are eliminated. This reduces costs and allows for greater pricing flexibility. This means you can often achieve better margins while still offering competitive prices.
Custom branding
You have complete control over branding and packaging when you sell private label. You can create a unique brand identity that resonates with your core constituency and don’t have to rely on another company’s decision to get your inventory out the door. Custom branding helps differentiate your products from competitors, too.
Full customization
Private labeling provides flexibility. You get to choose the materials, design, packaging, and other elements to create a private label product that suits your chosen target market more effectively. Customization like this gives you the chance to address customer pain points in a way that actually works, according to McKinsey & Company.
Quick market entry
Launching private label items is also faster than developing and manufacturing your own products from scratch. This allows for quicker market entry and faster scaling, too.
Differentiation and exclusivity
Private label products afford you the chance to offer unique items that aren’t available from other retailers. Sure, other retailers might offer the same type of product, but the customizations you make create exclusivity that can attract customers looking for distinctive products and give you a competitive edge at the same time.
Control over pricing
You control the pricing strategy here. Set prices that reflect the value of your brand and meet your business goals. You can adjust prices to respond to market trends, competitive pressures, and customer demand without being constrained by the pricing policies of other brands.
Flexibility in production and distribution
Lastly, going the private label route injects flexibility into production and distribution processes. You can choose to opt for domestic or international manufacturers, depending on your cost and quality preferences. And you can select the most effective distribution channels, whether through online platforms, brick-and-mortar stores, or a combination of both.
Selling with private label brands allows you to create unique, customized items that cater to specific market needs. You’re not stuck adhering to other people’s decisions in how you present your products.
To help you get started, here’s a list of product ideas, sorted by category, along with manufacturers that offer WooCommerce integration (or, at the very least, are compatible) to help you get started.
Beauty and personal care
You can sell a private label product in the beauty and personal care niche from a general wholesaler or through a focused provider like the following.
Blanka
Blanka specializes in private label beauty and skincare products. They offer a wide range of vegan, cruelty-free cosmetics and skincare items like lipsticks, brow kits, and skincare products. Blanka integrates seamlessly with WooCommerce, making it easy to manage your online store.
Trilogy Laboratories
Trilogy Laboratories is known for skincare products, including serums, moisturizers, and treatments.
Pietra
Another option is Pietra, which provides custom beauty and personal care products with a focus on social media selling. Pietra offers integration with WooCommerce and other platforms, making it ideal for influencers and online sellers.
Apparel and accessories
Another popular niche is apparel and accessories. Sell clothing, hats, jewelry, or any other garment or wearable under your own custom brand name.
Apliiq
Apliiq offers custom apparel such as T-shirts, hoodies, and hats. Their services include private labeling and print-on-demand.
Printful
Though technically a print on demand company with more typical white label product offerings, Printful provides custom apparel and accessories like t-shirts, hats, and bags, and levels of customization that make private labeling possible. Printful offers WooCommerce integration via a dedicated plugin, making it easy to sell and manage products directly through WordPress.
Health and fitness
If health and fitness is more your thing, there are wholesaler options available for you, too.
AliExpress
Though a general marketplace, you can certainly source health and fitness products from AliExpress. They offer a wide range of items, including yoga mats, resistance bands, and fitness apparel.
Modalyst
Modalyst features athleticwear and fitness products, offering custom branding and fast shipping. Modalyst integrates with WooCommerce for automated order processing as well as other top ecommerce platforms.
HyperSKU
Another option is HyperSKU, which provides fitness equipment like resistance bands, yoga mats, and foam rollers.
Pet products
If you’re passionate about pets, you can sell private label products in this niche as well. Here are just a few examples.
Printify
Printify is another print on demand dropshipper, but they allow for a great deal of customization on things like T-shirts alongside pet products like pet clothing, bowls, and accessories. Printify provides WooCommerce integration via a plugin for streamlined product management and fulfillment, too.
Spocket
Or, you could work with Spocket, which features a variety of pet products, including toys, food, and grooming supplies.
DHGate
DHGate is a Chinese wholesaler that offers products across most consumer categories. But they also sell customizable pet products from various suppliers.
Home and living
People are always looking for new items to include in their home decor, so pursuing the home and living niche is an option with a lot of competition, but upside potential as well. Here are a few wholesalers you can use to create private label products.
Gelato
Gelato sells print-on-demand home decor items like wall art, photo books, and personalized gifts.
Art of Where
Then there’s Art of Where, which provides custom home decor and accessories, including pillows, blankets, and canvas prints. They also offer clothing items.
Alibaba
Another popular choice is Alibaba, which is actually a vast marketplace offering a wide range of products across all categories. But they sell home and living products, too.
Food and supplements
Along with fitness and health mentioned above, food and supplements are another popular category worth exploring — especially if you have some personal knowledge or experience with it. There are a few private label suppliers you can use to get your business off the ground quickly.
Dripshipper
Dripshipper focuses on private label coffee products. They offer custom branding and packaging with WooCommerce integration, allowing you to sell a variety of coffee products.
T-Swing
Then there’s T-Swing, which private labels tea products. Although they don’t have a direct integration with WooCommerce, they can provide custom labeling for tea products, which you can manually manage and purchase wholesale.
Vitalabs
Or if you want to sell supplements, Vitalabs could be your go-to provider. This private label dietary supplements and health products company offers numerous products you can customize — including their formulations — and sell under your own branding.
WooCommerce is one of the most popular ecommerce platforms for a reason and it stands out as a preferred option for selling private label products. Here’s why WooCommerce is particularly suited for private label sellers:
Flexibility and customization
WooCommerce offers unmatched flexibility and customization options. Since it’s an open-source platform, you can modify and extend its features to fit your specific business needs. This is essential for private label sellers who aim to create a unique brand identity and differentiate their products in the market.
WordPress integration
As a plugin for WordPress, WooCommerce leverages the full power of the CMS. This integration grants access to tons of themes and plugins, which means you’re never locked into a stale-looking store.
You can customize its design and create a professional-looking shopping experience thanks to all the available top-tier themes and add whatever features you’d like.
Cost-effective
WooCommerce, along with WordPress, is free. This makes it attractive for businesses of all sizes. And many WooCommerce compatible themes, plugins, and extensions are free, too. Or at the very least, affordable. This way, you can launch your online store with minimal upfront investment.
Scalability
One of WooCommerce’s strengths is its scalability. Whether you start with a small product range or plan to expand to a large inventory, WooCommerce can handle your growth seamlessly. This scalability ensures that your store grows alongside your business without compromising performance.
Comprehensive ecommerce features
WooCommerce also offers a comprehensive suite of ecommerce features. This includes things like product management, inventory tracking, multiple shipping options, various payment gateways, and customer relationship management tools.
These features are necessary for efficiently managing a private label business and ensuring a smooth shopping experience for customers. And you can add even more thanks to all the WooCommerce extensions available. With these extensions, you can offer product bundles, provide suggested product recommendations, or even set up advanced notifications.
SEO and marketing tools
WooCommerce includes built-in SEO features and marketing tools that can enhance your store’s visibility in search results and help attract more customers. Features like SEO-friendly URLs, customizable meta tags, and integration with popular platforms like Google Analytics and Facebook can help you reach your target audience and drive sales.
Extensive plugin ecosystem
We’ve already mentioned that you can use WooCommerce extensions to expand on its base functionality. But you can tap into the broad network of available WordPress plugins, too. Whether you need advanced analytics, enhanced security, or specialized shipping options, there’s likely a plugin available to meet your needs.
Specifically, plugins like Jetpack allow you to pick and choose from modules that greatly expand on what WordPress provides built-in, all within the convenience of one plugin.
Community support and resources
As an open-source platform with a large user base, WooCommerce benefits from an active community of developers and users. This community offers tons of free resources through forums and tutorials (both written and video) and in extensive documentation.
All of these resources can help you troubleshoot issues and optimize your store more effectively. Such access matters a lot for those just starting out and who might have many different questions about store setup.
Selling private label products on WooCommerce requires that you complete a set of generally consistent key steps, from initial product research to setting up your store and managing fulfillment. To help get you started, we’ve prepared a quick guide:
1. Do product research
Before you commit to a product to sell private label, you’ll need to conduct thorough research to confirm the best private label products. Then you’ll need to make use of available tools to assess the viability of it being a success.
To begin, identify trends. Look for products that are growing in popularity and have high search volumes. Tools like Google Trends, Amazon Best Sellers, and even social media platforms can provide valuable data on what people are currently interested in.
For example, fitness equipment like yoga mats and resistance bands, beauty products like hyaluronic acid and sunscreen, and pet products such as dog toys and pet shampoos are consistently popular and in demand.
Once you pick a product, analyze your competitors. Study them to understand their product offerings, pricing strategies, and customer reviews. This can help you identify gaps in the market and areas for improvement. Jungle Scout can help you analyze Amazon competitors, while tools like SEMrush can give insights into competitors’ SEO and marketing strategies.
From there, you can create customer personas to better understand who your target audience is. This includes demographics, preferences, and shopping behaviors. You might wish to make use of Facebook Audience Insights for this purpose as well.
2. Find a supplier for your product
Once you’ve identified a product, the next step is finding a reliable supplier who you can purchase it from. We’ve already mentioned many examples of product suppliers and manufacturers earlier in this article, so that should save you some time on the search.
No matter which you chose, make sure it:
- Offers high-quality products. This is your brand’s reputation on the line, so check reviews and verify that the supplier delivers.
- Provides the level of customization you’re after. This includes adding your logo, custom packaging, and any other branding elements you need.
- Has reasonable minimum order quantities (MOQs). Some suppliers offer low MOQs, which are ideal for startups.
- Ensures reliable and timely shipping. This is necessary for maintaining customer satisfaction and timely order fulfillment.
- Offers competitive pricing. Compare prices among different suppliers to ensure you are getting a good deal without compromising on quality.
- Complies with regulations and standards. This will be especially important if you’re importing products into a different country. This includes safety, health, and environmental regulations.
3. Order samples
Before committing to a large order, always request samples from your chosen supplier. This allows you to check the quality, packaging, and overall presentation of the product.
A few things to keep in mind while inspecting your samples include:
- Product quality. Thoroughly inspect the product and ensure it meets your expectations. Is it durable? Inspect the materials, craftsmanship, and functionality of the sample. You should feel proud to put your name on it.
- Packaging. Evaluate the packaging to see if it aligns with your brand’s image. Good packaging enhances the perceived value of your product, too.
4. Decide on branding and design
When selling private label products, your branding and design choices are what make your store stand out. This involves creating a unique brand identity and designing product packaging that reflects your brand’s values.
A consistent brand identity should include a logo, color scheme, and overall messaging. Tools like Canva can help you create professional-looking designs. But you should consider hiring a professional designer for a more polished look.
Private label suppliers usually offer packaging design options as well. Investing in high-quality packaging that is both attractive and functional can help you build brand recognition.
Beyond the products themselves, you should also make an effort to keep your branding consistent across all platforms, including your website, social media, and marketing materials. Consistent branding helps build trust and recognition, too.
5. Create your website
Setting up your store is straightforward but requires careful planning. Here’s a quick overview of the steps using WooCommerce.
- Select a hosting provider. Choose a reliable hosting provider that supports WordPress. WooCommerce recommended options include Bluehost, SiteGround, and Nexcess. These providers offer one-click WordPress installation and excellent performance for WooCommerce stores.
- Choose a domain name. You’ll need to pick a unique and memorable domain name that reflects your brand. Many hosting providers offer domain registration services, or you can use registrars like WordPress.com, GoDaddy, or Namecheap.
- Install WordPress. Most hosting providers offer one-click WordPress installation. Follow the provider’s instructions to install WordPress on your hosting account.
- Configure WordPress settings. After installation, log in to your WordPress dashboard to configure basic settings. Set your site title, tagline, and permalink structure. Install essential plugins for security and backups like Jetpack.
- Install WooCommerce. Next, install the WooCommerce plugin. Follow the setup wizard to configure basic settings like currency, shipping, and tax options. WooCommerce is highly customizable, so take advantage of its features to get your store functioning as you’d prefer.
- Choose a theme. Select a WooCommerce-compatible theme that fits the look and feel you’re going for. Themes like Twenty Twenty-Four, Astra, and Storefront are popular choices. These themes can be customized to suit any type of store.
- Add products. Use WooCommerce’s product management tools to add your private label products, including detailed descriptions, high-quality images, and pricing information. You can add products manually, or use a compatible integration — Printify has a WooCommerce plugin that imports your products automatically, for instance — to complete this process.
- Set up payment gateways. WooCommerce supports multiple payment gateways and options like WooPayments (a trusted solution that integrates management right into the WordPress dashboard), PayPal, Stripe, and credit cards. Choose the ones that best fit your target market.
For detailed setup instructions, you can refer to the getting started guide.
6. Decide on fulfillment
Lastly, decide on how to fulfill orders within the private label business model. Which option you select will largely depend on your supplier, as it’ll likely have a set way of fulfilling orders. But these are some of the available types of fulfillment so you can start thinking about what you’d prefer:
- Dropshipping. Platforms like Blanka and Printful offer dropshipping services where they handle inventory, packaging, and shipping. This is a hassle-free option, especially if you’re starting out. Dropshipping allows you to sell products without holding inventory, reducing overhead costs.
- In-house fulfillment. If you prefer to manage inventory yourself, you’ll need to have an established system for storing, packaging, and shipping products efficiently. This gives you more control over the fulfillment process but requires more resources and space.
- Third-party logistics (3PL). Services like ShipBob or Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) can handle logistics for you, allowing you to focus on marketing and sales. These services offer warehousing, packaging, and shipping solutions, and can often handle returns as well.
No matter the fulfillment method selected, you can use WooCommerce plugins to automate order management and fulfillment.
The ShipStation for WooCommerce extension can integrate with your store and automate shipping processes and manage orders from multiple sales channels.
Starting a private label business is exciting. Taking this route means you get to build a unique brand without having to go all-in on manufacturing. Through careful product selection and partnering with reliable suppliers, you can establish a professional and attractive online store. And when you rely on WooCommerce, it’s simpler than ever to customize your store and manage operations.
With thoughtful planning and execution, your private label business can thrive and grow.
This article has covered everything you need to know to get started with selling private label products. But you might still have a few lingering questions. Let’s answer those now.
How much does it cost to sell private label products?
The cost of selling private label items can vary widely depending on the type of product, the supplier, customization options, and order quantities. Initial product costs include the price per unit charged by the manufacturer, which can range from a few dollars for beauty items to higher amounts for electronics or specialized goods.
Customization, including branding and packaging, adds to the cost. Costs for private label beauty items, such as skincare or cosmetics, typically range from $1 to $10 per unit. For instance, custom lipsticks might cost between $3 to $5 per unit depending on the ingredients and packaging, according to Blanka. Ordering samples typically costs more than wholesale prices, as suppliers often charge premium rates for small quantities.
There are costs associated with shipping and fulfillment as well, whether you choose dropshipping, in-house fulfillment, or third-party logistics.
And setting up a WooCommerce store and marketing your products involves expenses for website hosting, themes, plugins, and advertising. Expect to pay, at minimum, $20 per month on web hosting and domain name fees. Though you may need to spend more to purchase a premium WordPress theme or premium plugins.
Can you make money selling private label products?
Yes, selling private label products can be profitable. The key to making money lies in selecting products with high demand and healthy profit margins. And having control over the branding and pricing gives you a greater likelihood of achieving higher margins compared to reselling generic products.
Effective marketing strategies and strong branding help attract and retain customers, leading to repeat business and positive reviews, which further boost sales.
How do I start selling private label products?
To start selling private label products, begin with thorough market research to identify trends and understand customer needs.
Once you have a product idea, find a reliable supplier who offers private labeling services. Order samples to ensure the quality of the product and its packaging.
Next, develop a strong brand identity, including a logo, color scheme, and packaging design. Then, set up an online store using WooCommerce, adding your products with detailed descriptions and high-quality images. Launch a cohesive marketing plan that includes social media, email marketing, and possibly paid advertising.
And decide on a fulfillment strategy, whether it’s dropshipping, in-house fulfillment, or third-party logistics.
Can I sell private label products on Amazon?
You can sell private label products on Amazon. To do this, you’ll first need to register as a seller and create product listings with detailed descriptions, high-quality images, and competitive pricing.
To protect your brand and access enhanced marketing tools, enroll in the Amazon Brand Registry. Consider using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) as well, which handles storage, packing, shipping, customer service, and returns. This allows you to focus on marketing and sales, exclusively.
Optimize your listings with Amazon SEO strategies to improve visibility and rankings, helping to attract more customers and drive sales. And consider using multi-channel fulfillment so you can sell on Amazon’s website as well as your own and through social media.
Can I buy a product and sell it under my own brand in the USA?
You can buy a product and sell it under your own brand in the USA through a process called private labeling. Start by selecting products you want to rebrand and find suppliers that offer private labeling services, such as those on Alibaba or AliExpress.
Work with the supplier to customize and brand the products with your logo and packaging. Ensure your products comply with regulations and standards for labeling and safety in the U.S. Then either make your wholesale order and store the products to sell and fulfill from your own warehouse or permit the supplier to fulfill your orders through dropshipping.
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Erika Ellacott
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