A white label product is a product which contains very limited or no branding information, so that other companies can rebrand it, make it look like their own and ultimately, sell it. White labelling can be a great way for some businesses to make more money without investing more time into production and development.
The term originates with vinyl records, when upcoming artists and producers would press vinyl to records with plain white stickers and sleeves which they sold to record shops. Sometimes these were test pressings, or promo copies for review or promotion.
White label production is often used for mass-produced consumer goods like DVD players and televisions. White label DVD players can be branded and sold by any other electronics company or shop. For example, Dixons would sell on a white label DVD player as a Matsui, and Currys would mark it Saisho before turning it over to consumers.
White label businesses function in a similar way, the biggest white label business probably being eBay or Amazon, selling none of their own products but earning commission from bringing consumers to sellers. This isn’t proper white labelling though since people still use eBay and Amazon to shop for established brands.
The advantage of reselling white labelled goods is the low level of risk, investment and effort involved. A business can just acquire a white label product after an order is received, collect commission on the sale and not even have to concern itself with development, production, storage or distribution.
The time, effort and planning involved in manufacturing a product is taken out of your hands, you can essentially profit out of their hard work, knowledge and expertise. This is a trade the manufacturer is normally prepared to make, provided they are experiencing difficulties selling the product in the amount or in the time frame they had hoped/planned for.
The disadvantage of white labelling being that as the seller, the product itself is completely out of your control. You are powerless to try to maintain quality standards, and to an extent manage the reputation of your brand, as any product you sell, white labelled or not, impacts upon your brand.
White labelling can be useful in that it allows a business to access a tried and tested product, allowing them to market and sell the product, while avoiding the risks involved in the planning and development of a product. White labelling is a great way for small businesses to boost their profits.
Sauven Marking is a leading manufacturer and global supplier of bar code printers to the food, beverage, pharmaceutical, industrial and electronics industries.
