Materials and their failure modes
- PU leather — the premium default. Peels at fold lines when the base fabric and coating are mismatched.
- PVC — cheapest, most waterproof, and the one most likely to arrive with a chemical smell that lingers.
- EVA — rigid, keeps shape, good for structured cases.
- Nylon and RPET — lightweight and increasingly specified by EU buyers for recycled content.
- Velvet and canvas — soft goods positioning, screen printing only in most cases.
Lining and zipper are where returns come from
190T polyester is the cheap lining and pills quickly. Velvet and satin linings read premium and cost more. On zippers, nylon coil is light and quiet, metal is durable and heavier, and a YKK or SBS pull is worth specifying by name because unbranded zippers are the most common cause of a stuck bag. Ask whether the zip is sewn with a backing tape — without one, the seam distorts after a few weeks of use.
Printing methods compared
Silk screen is cheapest and works on flat panels. Heat transfer handles full-colour artwork and gradients. Embroidery and metal logo plates are the premium options and add 5–10 days. On PU and PVC, print adhesion depends on surface treatment — ask for a cross-hatch tape test on the sample, because a print that passes a thumbnail scratch can still fail a proper adhesion test.
MOQ and timing
Typical MOQ is 500–1,000 pieces per style and colourway, with 300 achievable on stock materials. Sampling takes 7–12 days; a custom moulded EVA case adds 15–20 days and USD 500–2,000 for tooling. Production runs 20–30 days. Consolidating several styles into one purchase order usually improves the price more than negotiating unit cost.