The four terms describe four different commitments and four different price points. Getting them confused is the source of most onboarding friction with new buyers.
OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer)
You provide the product specification — exact moisture, exact cap size, exact grade. Supplier manufactures to your spec in your packaging. You own the brand and formula. Common in B2B ingredient sales with technical requirements. MOQ at Ruihejin: 5 MT per spec, lead time 25-35 days.
ODM (Original Design Manufacturer)
Supplier provides both product AND design/packaging. Buyer adds brand label. Less control over formula but faster time to market. Common in retail private-label sourcing. MOQ: 3 MT per design, lead time 20-30 days.
Private Label
A subset of ODM focused on retail packaging. Supplier has standard products; buyer chooses one, adds logo and barcode. Lowest commitment, fastest turnaround. MOQ: 1,000 retail units per SKU, lead time 20-30 days.
Co-Packing
Buyer ships product to supplier (or sources from third party); supplier handles packaging only. Less common in cross-border trade.
Which Fits Your Business?
First-time importer: start with bulk cartons, test market, then move to private label once you have data. The mistake we see most: new buyers committing to 10,000-unit private label runs before testing 100 units of plain bulk.