China Custom Activewear Packaging: Options, Costs & MOQ Guide factory and suppliers | Omi
Packaging is the first physical touchpoint your customer has with your brand — and one of the most commonly over- or under-spent line items in a first production order. As a manufacturer, we pack thousands of garments a week and see exactly where packaging money is well spent and where it is wasted. Here is a practical guide to the options and their real costs.
The Packaging Stack for Activewear
Most activewear programs use three layers. You do not need all of them on day one:
- Layer 1 — Protection (mandatory): poly bag per piece, protects the garment from moisture and dye transfer during 30+ days of ocean transit
- Layer 2 — Brand identity (recommended): woven neck labels, printed poly bags, hang tags, size strips
- Layer 3 — Unboxing experience (optional): custom boxes, kraft mailers, tissue paper, thank-you cards, stickers
Typical Costs from China Factories
| Item | Typical Unit Cost (USD) | Typical MOQ | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plain poly bag (self-seal) | $0.01 – $0.03 | None | Usually included free by the factory |
| Printed poly bag (logo + warning text) | $0.03 – $0.08 | 5,000 – 10,000 pcs | Cheap branding win; required warning text varies by destination |
| Woven neck label | $0.05 – $0.15 | 1,000 pcs | Sewn in during production — order before cutting |
| Size strip label | $0.02 – $0.05 | 1,000 pcs | Often bundled with neck labels |
| Hang tag (300gsm card, single color) | $0.05 – $0.12 | 1,000 pcs | Add string or safety pin (+$0.01–0.02) |
| Custom box (corrugated, 1-color print) | $0.30 – $0.80 | 1,000 pcs | Price collapses at 3,000+ pcs |
| Kraft mailer bag | $0.10 – $0.25 | 5,000 pcs | Lighter than boxes = lower shipping cost |
| Tissue paper + sticker set | $0.05 – $0.10 | flexible | The cheapest “premium unboxing” upgrade |
| Thank-you / care card | $0.03 – $0.08 | 1,000 pcs | Doubles as a review-request card |
Realistic first-order packaging budget: for a 200-piece legging launch, expect $100–$250 total for printed poly bags (from stock designs), woven labels, hang tags and a thank-you card — roughly $0.50–$1.20 per unit on top of the garment price.
What Is Worth Paying For
1. Woven labels — yes, always. A printed care label screams “dropship product”; a woven neck label costs cents and survives washing. This is the single highest-return packaging spend.
2. Printed poly bags — yes, if MOQ fits. Your product sits in this bag in the customer’s hands. Logo + suffocation warning in the right language is professional at near-zero cost. Tip: many brands use one neutral design across styles to hit the MOQ faster.
3. Custom boxes — usually not at launch. Boxes add $0.30–0.80 per unit AND increase volumetric freight weight significantly. Most successful DTC activewear brands ship leggings in poly mailers and reserve boxes for retail or gift programs.
4. Thank-you cards — the hidden sales tool. A card with a QR code to your review page or reorder discount pays for itself with a single conversion.
Compliance Notes Many Brands Miss
- Fiber content & care labels: mandatory in the US (FTC Textile Act) and EU — your factory can print content/care/composition labels from your spec
- Country of origin: “Made in China” must appear on the product or label for US imports
- Poly bag suffocation warning: required wording and minimum font size for US retail; EU has analogous language expectations
- EU GPSR: general product safety rules now apply to EU sales — a traceable manufacturer address on the label helps
How We Handle Packaging at OMI Apparel
We pack every order with individual poly bags as standard, and can source woven labels, hang tags, boxes and insert cards through our trim supply chain at the prices above — consolidated into your garment invoice so you have one shipment, one inspection, one payment. Send us your packaging artwork or let our design team lay out your logo on a label and tag set: sampling in 5–7 days, full quotation within 24 hours, MOQ from 200 pieces per style.
