How Much Does It Cost To Start A Skincare Line?
How much does it cost to start a skincare line?
Answer this question before you even think about brand name ideas, marketing strategies, or where you plan to sell your skincare products.
Incorrectly budgeting for the skincare creation process can lead to brand failure before you launch a single product on the market.
Many skincare manufacturers shy away from revealing estimated costs upfront. Not Genie Supply!
To make the budgeting process easier for you, our guide below breaks down the cost differentials between the four main skincare formulating methods. Plus, we also discuss additional manufacturing and testing costs where applicable.
How Much Does It Cost To Start A Skincare Line? Costs For The 4 Main Formulating Methods
The Least Expensive Option: Buying In Bulk ($1k+ to start)
Ordering in bulk is ideal for beginners and small budget start ups. This involves ordering skincare products in large quantities without any branding.
From there, you can source your own packaging either from the same lab, or with a different manufacturer.
When ordering in bulk, the packaging filling process can either take place at your own in-house facility or with a 3rd party contract filler.
Therefore, although it’s the least expensive option, if you plan to start a skincare line, you need to factor in additional packaging and filling costs if you order in bulk.
At Genie Supply, we offer a wide range of skincare products in bulk, with four different formulation categories to choose from. Learn more about our bulk pricing and our entire bulk process on pages 6 and 7 of our catalog.
Our bulk pricing starts at $1 per ounce for our budget-friendly ‘Diffusion’ line, with our most expensive ‘Super Luxury’ range starting at $5 per ounce.
You can benefit from economies of scale by ordering in bulk. As you can see in the table above, our ‘Mass Market’ range costs an estimated $1,000 for 15kg, while a much larger quantity - 120kg - is available for just $6,800.
It’s so easy to order in bulk on the Genie Supply website:
Simply select from our range of products on our bulk product category page.
Choose your desired kg size and quantity for each product
Click the add to cart button
Select the cart icon in the top right hand corner
Click ‘checkout’
Budget-Friendly Skincare: Private Label ($6,000 - $8,000+ All Inclusive)
Private label is a great manufacturing option if you’re on a budget. All private label formulas are developed in advance – there are no additional research and development, testing, or tweaking costs.
It’s a relatively speedy process with 5 straightforward steps:
Sampling and ordering
Onboarding and packaging design work
Batching
Testing
Filling/assembly
Costs will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer and depend on the products, their complexity, the number of units, and the type of packaging selected, among other factors.
At Genie Supply, our private label process starts around $6,000 - $8,000 per product for 1,000 units. This doesn’t just include the actual skincare product – it also includes packaging, screen printing, and more!
When it comes to packaging design, we offer a design assistance service starting at $250 per product and $250 per box. However, you are welcome to design your packaging with your own designer using our die-line templates.
For a more precise overview of our private label pricing, check out our full catalog here. If you require any changes to the packaging or sizes listed in our catalog, just contact us at customerservice@geniesupply.com or call us at 812-329-1105 for fast and accurate pricing updates.
A Slightly Pricier, Semi-Customized Skincare Line: Custom Product Creation ($1,000 - $2,000 Excluding Manufacturing)
Private label is a great option to keep costs to a minimum. However, if you want your products to stand out in a crowded skincare market, adding some customizations to your formula is a simple way to separate your brand from the rest.
Make your formula more unique via custom product creation. Here at Genie Supply, our custom product creation process involves choosing from one of our 100s of base formulas and adding your unique customizations on top.
Unsure if this process will work for your skincare line? Book a call and we’ll refund you after the first call if we don’t have an existing base to suit your requirements.
We know that it’s important to keep costs down at the early stages of your business, and as such, we offer two different packages to suit two different budgets.
Our first includes all of the following for just a $1,000 fee (this price excludes the manufacturing phase, which costs the same as our private label manufacturing service):
Email communication & 2 product sample rounds with adjustments
Unique manufacturing rights at our facility
Stability testing
50% back as manufacturing credit for orders of 2,500 pieces or more
100% back as manufacturing credit for orders of 5,000 pieces or more
If you have a little more room in your budget, for a $2,000 fee (excluding the manufacturing costs), you will receive everything in the first package along with added Zoom calls & further email exchanges.
Following the entire custom product creation service, your products will be ready for the assembly and manufacturing stage, which is subject to additional costs (matching our private label costs above) and typically spans an additional 2-4 months.
The Most Expensive, Highly Customized Skincare Line: Custom Formulating ($3,500 - $15,000+)
Custom formulating is the most costly and time-consuming way to start a skincare line. However, the quality, market-disrupting products that it delivers justifies the added expense.
This development process allows for full creative control and ownership of the complete formula, and involves the following steps:
Submission review
Onboarding, R&D, and formulating process
Testing (stability & other tests)
Contract manufacturing (optional)
It’s difficult to estimate an exact cost for custom formulation as prices vary depending on the level of complexity and the number of safety tests required.
If the project is highly complex, including those involving technical scientific research or unique new-to-market concepts, we will bill it on an open retainer rather than a set fee.
A rough estimate of our set fee ranges from $3,500 - $15,000 for the formulating and testing stage, while manufacturing costs will vary.
The minimum quantity for buying in bulk is 60kg, while full turnkey manufacturing is available from 5,000 pieces.
The set fee price includes formula ownership, in-house stability testing, and up to 3 rounds of formulating revisions with samples.
We will quote additional tests and their corresponding costs if required. We can negotiate quotes to include additional rounds of tests if necessary.
Costs For Contract Manufacturing (Following Formula Development)
If you have the legal rights to a complete formula (developed with Genie Supply or another manufacturer) and are ready to start your skincare line, contract manufacturing is the next step.
It’s difficult to put an exact cost on the manufacturing process as it will vary depending on the complexity of the formula.
At Genie Supply, we bill by the hour from when we start working on the formulation. This process can take slightly longer if any tweaks are necessary based on your feedback.
Learn more about our contract manufacturing services over on our blog.
Testing Requirements: How Much Does It Cost To Start A Skincare Line?
Our private label formulas are already tested and the cost is included in the total price.
Testing requirements for custom product creation or custom formulating vary depending on the product contents and therefore costs differ greatly from product to product.
Every single formula requires stability testing by law. Stability testing is included in our custom product creation and custom formulating quotes, otherwise, it costs $500-4000. PH and USP 61 and 62 tests are also included with custom formulating orders.
If your formula contains water it requires Preservative Efficacy Testing (PET) testing by law. Our PET test costs $750 per round.
Additional testing (if required) includes skin patch/ocular testing and heavy metal testing at $3,000 per test. Hemp testing on CBD products starts at $150 and exceeds $1,000 per round for full panel tests.
How much does it cost to start a skincare line? Formulating costs at Genie Supply are as follows:
Bulk Manufacturing ($4,000 maximum)
Private label ($6,000 - $8,000+ all inclusive)
Custom product creation ($1000 - $2,000 excluding manufacturing)
Custom formulating ($3,500 - $15,000+ excluding manufacturing)
Additional manufacturing and testing costs apply for custom product creation and custom formulated products.
Ready to start a skincare line? Don’t hesitate to email us with any questions about our manufacturing processes and corresponding costs at customerservice@geniesupply.com or call us at 812-329-1105.
