Three terms are used for a product that ends up under your brand and is made by someone else, and they are used loosely. They differ most in how easily another brand could carry the same product. This page puts the three side by side on that question and on brief wording, so that the brief for a manufacturer search names the model, and it explains what the resulting shortlist records under each. Whose design the product is and how much of it you may change is the question of the OEM vs ODM search page.
Under OEM the design is yours and the maker builds to it. Under ODM the maker owns a design and you adapt and brand it. Under private label the product already exists and is sold to several buyers, with your name and packaging on it. What differs most for a brand is exclusivity: how far the product can be yours alone. The report keeps the three kinds of candidate apart and records what each maker states about brand customers.
Where a candidate offers more than one model, the report lists each as the company states it and marks whether the wording is supported by anything else in the sources.
A framing for the brief. The statements describe the models in general and are not a reading of any one company.
| Question | OEM | ODM | Private label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting point | Your drawings, samples or specification | A base design the maker already offers | A finished product from the maker's catalogue |
| What you can change | What your specification covers | A stated range such as colour, material, features, packaging | Branding and packaging; the product itself stays |
| What the search looks for | Process, equipment and fit with your drawing | Design capability and a catalogue of base models | Catalogue breadth and how the maker handles brand customers |
| Who else may sell the same product | Depends on the contract | Possibly other brands on the same base | Other buyers of the same product, by design |
| Questions left for you to ask | Who holds drawings and tooling, and for how long | Whether the base design is sold on, and on what terms | Whether any exclusivity exists and how it is stated |
| What the report cannot show | Capacity and quality in practice | Design rights in the contract | Who else is already selling the product |
Ownership and exclusivity are contract matters. The report lists the questions and does not give legal advice.
ODM and private label are the models that start from an existing product. The report notes what you would still need to define before an OEM search makes sense.
OEM framing is searched, with capability and minimum order read from what each maker states.
Private label candidates are recorded with what each maker states about its brand customers.
Research reports what can be established from public and provided sources. It is not a guarantee about a counterparty's future conduct and not legal advice.
We do not state commercial terms. The report shows what the sources say, and you obtain terms from the makers.
Minimums are recorded as the company states them, or as unavailable.
That page is about whose design the product is and how much of it you may change. This one adds private label and reads the three for exclusivity.
No obligation. We read your request and reply with a straight answer.
Tell us what you need to find out and by when. We confirm scope before any work starts.
Request research