Everything a first-time (or frustrated) buyer needs to know, written by a supplier that does this every day: real minimum order quantities, honest FOB price ranges, the exact process from enquiry to container, and how not to get burned.
Stock designs start at 2,000–5,000 pcs MOQ, custom molds at 5,000–10,000 pcs. Unit prices run roughly FOB $0.06–1.06/pc depending on category, weight and decoration. Budget for samples first (3–5 days), ~15 working days of production off-season, and sea freight (<1 week to Japan, ~2 weeks to US West Coast). Always demand market-specific food-contact test reports and a video factory tour before wiring money.
Glass is made on high-speed production lines that are expensive to start and stop. That's why minimums exist. The two numbers that matter:
| Stock designs (existing molds) | 2,000–5,000 pieces per SKU. You're sharing a production run that's happening anyway. |
| Custom molds (your own shape) | 5,000–10,000 pieces, depending on bottle weight and complexity, plus a one-time mold cost. |
Industry-typical custom thresholds are around 10,000 pcs; suppliers set up for craft brands (including Boklan) deliberately run lower. If you're between sizes, ask about combining SKUs in one run — often possible with the same glass color.
Indicative FOB (loaded on the ship in China) prices per piece, from current live listings:
| Sauce & food bottles | $0.06 – 0.90 |
| Liquor & spirits bottles | $0.07 – 0.98 |
| Candle jars & containers | $0.10 – 1.06 |
| Child-resistant jars & tubes | $0.06 – 0.90 |
Four things move the price: glass weight (the biggest factor — a heavy-base whiskey bottle costs multiples of a thin sauce bottle), color (amber/colored glass and full spray coating cost more than flint/clear), decoration (frosting, screen printing, hot stamping, decals), and quantity (price breaks are real; ask for a 2-tier quote at your volume and 2× your volume).
Comparison point: if you're paying a domestic distributor $0.80–1.50 per candle jar, factory-direct pricing at 2,000+ pcs typically lands at a fraction of that, even after freight.
A realistic landed-cost budget has five lines: ① unit price × quantity, ② one-time mold cost (custom shapes only), ③ decoration setup (screens/plates, usually small), ④ freight — a 20-foot container holds a lot of glass, and mixed-SKU containers are normal, ⑤ import duties and local delivery. Ask your supplier to quote FOB, CIF and door-to-door so you can compare with your own freight forwarder's numbers.
| 1. Enquiry | Send product type, target quantity and destination market. A capable supplier replies with pricing, MOQ and lead time within 24 hours. |
| 2. Samples | Stock samples: free except courier, ship in 3–5 days. Never skip this. |
| 3. Decoration approval | For custom work, a pre-production sample is produced and approved before bulk production. Get it in writing. |
| 4. Production | Around 15 working days off-season. Peak season (Sept–Dec, before western holidays) runs longer — order early. |
| 5. QC & testing | In-line QC plus market-specific test reports (see below) before anything ships. |
| 6. Shipping | Sea freight: under 1 week to Japan, ~2 weeks to US West Coast, longer to US East Coast and Europe. |
Food, beverage and cosmetic glass must meet the rules of your market, not the factory's. The practical checklist:
US: FDA food-contact requirements. EU: Framework Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 for food-contact materials. Japan: Food Sanitation Act. In all three cases the key lab tests for glass are lead and cadmium migration. A serious supplier arranges third-party test reports matched to your destination before shipment — for your actual SKU, not a generic certificate from years ago. For cannabis and pharma markets, child-resistant packaging additionally needs 16 CFR 1700 (US) certification on the closure system.
Three checks that cost you almost nothing:
① Audit status — ask for their third-party audit report (verified-supplier programs on major B2B platforms count). ② Live video factory tour — 15 minutes on a video call looking at the production line, QC stations and loading area tells you more than any brochure; a "factory" that won't show production on camera is usually a trader. ③ Samples before money — the quality of the sample process (speed, packaging, communication) predicts the quality of the bulk order.
This guide is published by Xuzhou Boklan Import & Export Trade Co., Ltd., a glass packaging supplier in Xuzhou, China. Price ranges reflect our live catalog and are indicative — request a firm quote for your specification.