China OEM Power Supply: MOQ, Tooling & Timeline Reality

“15-day lead time” in a Chinese quotation almost always means production time, not delivery time. It excludes component procurement. If your design uses an imported MOSFET or a Japanese electrolytic capacitor — and most 200 W+ designs do — the real number is 15 days plus 4–6 weeks of inbound material. This gap is almost never stated in the contract, and it is the single most common cause of a blown launch date.

Here are the real numbers, including the four costs that do not appear in the quotation.

MOQ: The Three Different Numbers

When a Chinese factory says “MOQ,” it may mean any of three things. Always ask which.

A factory quoting MOQ 50 for a “custom” product is selling you ODM with cosmetic changes. That is often the right answer — just make sure you know which one you are buying, because the price and the timeline differ by a factor of three.

Tooling: What the 2,000–8,000 Buys

Tooling is a one-time cost and, crucially, you should own it. Get that in writing, along with the right to have it shipped to another factory. Factories rarely volunteer this clause, and it is the difference between a switchable supply chain and a locked one.

Timeline: The Real Gantt

For a genuine OEM project — new housing, existing platform electronics:

For ODM — existing platform, your label — the same chart collapses:

That is the 15-day lead time we quote, and it is honest because the platform is stocked and the components are on the shelf.

The Four Hidden Costs

1. Certification — bigger than tooling. CE/CB 1,500–3,000 (3–4 weeks). FCC 800–1,500 (2–3 weeks). UL 8,000–15,000 (10–12 weeks). For a North American launch this routinely exceeds tooling, and it is not recoverable if you change factories.

2. Tooling modification, not just tooling. First-shot mouldings rarely fit perfectly. Budget 15–25% of the tooling cost for modifications. A $5,000 mould realistically costs $6,000–$6,250 by the time it produces good parts.

3. Inventory carry on components. If your design needs a non-standard capacitor or transformer, the factory will ask you to commit to the full reel or full winding run — not to your order quantity. On a 200 W design, a minimum transformer winding run might be 500 pieces when you ordered 200. That is 3,000–5,000 of cash sitting in their store, and it is usually non-refundable.

4. Currency and payment terms. A 3–5% RMB or USD move between quotation and payment wipes out the margin you negotiated. Fix the price validity period at 90 days minimum, and note that a 30-day validity on a 120-day project is not a real quote.

Five Negotiation Points That Actually Work

1. Ask for the component lead time separately from the production lead time. This one question surfaces the hidden 4–6 weeks.
2. Get tooling ownership in writing with a shipment clause.
3. Fix price validity at 90 days, or index it to a stated exchange rate.
4. Ask what happens to leftover components if you do not reorder within 12 months.
5. Structure payment so that a portion is held until after your incoming inspection — 30% deposit / 60% before shipment / 10% after QC is a common and reasonable shape.

What Our Standard Terms Look Like

Stated plainly so you can compare: MOQ 50 pcs for ODM, 15-day lead time (production, on stocked platforms), 3-year warranty, CE / FCC / RoHS held by us with your name added as an additional listing, tooling owned by you. No component inventory commitment on stocked platforms.

For the ODM vs OEM decision behind all of this, see ODM vs OEM LED Power Supply. To score the numbers a supplier gives you, use the 23-check scorecard.

Get a line-by-line cost breakdown — we will show you the tooling, certification, per-unit and logistics lines separately, so you can see what you are paying for. → Request the breakdown