Custom Microdart Patches: What Personalisation Actually Costs
"Personalised" means at least three different things in this category, and they are not priced alike. Artwork on a stock patch costs a print setup. A new shape costs a mould. A new formulation costs a development project — and only one of those is usually what the buyer had in mind.
Sorting the request into one of the three is the fastest way to get a real quote, because each has a different tooling item, a different minimum and a different clock.
Three levels
Most briefs that say "custom" are level 1. Most that say "our own formula" are level 3 without the budget for it. Level 2 is the sweet spot for a first private label run: it is visibly yours, and it does not require formulation work.
What drives the cost at each level
- Level 1 — number of colours and the number of pack formats. Same artwork across two pouches is one print setup and two pack minimums.
- Level 2 — the mould, plus the yield at your chosen dart count. More darts means more chances of a break, so yield falls before price rises.
- Level 3 — drying behaviour, stability testing and the risk that the formula does not survive scale-up. This is a project timeline, not a purchase order.
Timelines, honestly
Level 1 runs on the print and pack clock: plates, print, pack. Level 2 adds mould making and a trial run before the production run. Level 3 adds development and stability, which is measured in months and cannot be compressed by paying more — the samples have to sit.
The compression lever that does work is scope: fewer colours, one pack format, an existing chemistry. Every one of those removes a step rather than hurrying one.
The minimum, at each level
Custom runs start at 1,000 units per size and pack format. At level 2 that minimum applies per mould, so two shapes are two minimums. At level 1 the same 1,000 applies but the tooling is cheaper, which is why branded stock is the usual entry point.
For how personalisation interacts with shape geometry, see what the die line decides.
Tell us which of the three levels you actually need and we will quote that one — including the tooling that the other two would have hidden.
Request a quote
