If you’re in the market to order some coffee mugs, you’ll want to know how much it costs to make coffee mugs before you place your order, right? Unfortunately, there are a lot of factors that go into pricing these products that make finding the cost to make coffee mugs very difficult.
Thankfully, we were able to do some research and put together this guide on how much it costs to make coffee mugs so you can figure out what price range you should be looking at when researching companies online and figuring out who you want to order from.
The Total Cost
At first glance, most people assume that making mugs involves an incredible amount of work, but they’re wrong. It costs just $2.15 to manufacture one mug — and that price doesn’t include shipping or design. The total cost includes labor, raw materials, equipment (for metal mugs), warehousing and packaging, marketing costs, and other expenses related to selling your product in retail outlets or online via eCommerce sites such as Amazon and Etsy.
While metal mugs are popular for retail sales because of their sturdiness, ceramic ones can be much more affordable for eCommerce sales as you only need storage and fulfillment services in addition to product design fees.
The Materials
Materials are one of your biggest costs in creating mugs. The average glass mug will cost $1 per piece; ceramics will be higher at $2-3, while specialty materials like metals can cost anywhere from $5-10. One thing to keep in mind when choosing materials is that cheaper mugs are often made with less expensive materials and with thinner walls, meaning they’ll break or chip more easily.
You may want to invest in good-quality mugs that will last for years and not just break after a few drops. If you’re looking for an affordable product, consider using plastic, which can be between 10-and 20 cents depending on whether you use custom printing options.
What Type of Ceramic Glaze Should I Use?
While there are several types of ceramic glazes, they are primarily defined by how they change color when fired. The most common ceramics, earthenware, and stoneware use an oxidizing glaze that has a yellow or orange color at cone 04 (the temperature at which all fuel is gone from the kiln).
At cone 10 however, these glazes will turn red/orange. If you’re looking for ceramic mugs that change color in different firing temps be sure to choose an on-glaze or low-fire glaze. Most high-fire glazes (cone 06 and above) can’t be overfired without losing their shine.
What About the Design of My Mugs?
Once you have your mugs on hand, you still need to design them. Designing may be costly (depending on whether or not you can find a designer or graphic artist willing to do custom work for cheaper), but if you don’t design them yourself and outsource your designs, it will definitely cost more.
If you use any printing services, such as CafePress or Zazzle, there are additional costs for getting your designs onto mugs. The good news is that once these initial costs are covered (you may not recoup these expenses upfront), producing and selling new coffee mugs doesn’t cost anything—other than time! As long as people want new coffee mugs with new messages on them, they can buy them from you.
Decide Whether To Outsource or Create Yourself
There are many ways you can approach making your own coffee mugs. You can create them yourself, either by hand or with a 3D printer. Or you can have someone else do it for you. It all depends on what quality of mug you want and how much time and effort you’re willing to put into creating your own mugs, but it’s probably going to cost at least $2 per mug (plus shipping). Whether or not that’s worth it will depend on where in your business plan your purchase falls; buying $2 mugs over and over again isn’t viable if you’ll be selling your cup for more than $10.
Finalizing the Design
The first step in manufacturing any product is getting its design finalized. This means taking an idea from 2D (on paper) and turning it into something that can be produced on a 3D printer or traditional manufacturing line. Depending on what you’re making, your design may need simple tweaks or entire re-workings. For example, if you’re making a t-shirt with your logo on it, your design might just need tweaking so all of your text is horizontal and fits within certain margins.
If you’re making jewelry with intricate details like many designers are doing these days, your designs will likely need some serious revision in order to meet international safety standards; these often include detailed documentation so consumers can understand how their product was made!
Where Can I Sell My Mugs?
Where can you sell your mugs and how much money could you make from selling them? If you’re thinking about creating your own coffee mug for your company, charity, or personal brand, knowing where to sell them is essential.