How hard is it to manufacture cases?

[Blues Fan]

I'm obsessed with phone cases, especially heavy duty ones and was curious if anyone had an idea how much it would be to manufacture your own cases? I mean do you need a 3d printer, plastic molding machine and such? Would it be a costly business to get into?

I know the profit margins are really high on cases and accessories though. Another poster on here who works for a distributor for tech accessories said they could buy the S8 Plus Otterbox Defender for like $24 or something I recall from their company. It probably cost Otterbox like 10 bucks to produce.

I know when I worked at the gun range the markups were big on holsters for example. An hoslster with a $50 msrp we could buy for like $25-$30.

 

[naturalguy]

It probably costs Otterbox much less than that as they are the manufacturer. In this business (as in many others) it's all about volume, the more you are making/selling the lower your costs will be. The tough part about the business is it's saturated. So let's say you start a case company tomorrow, for example you call it "Blues Fan" cases, why would I as a consumer buy your case? I've never heard of "Blues Fan" cases. You would have to do a lot of marketing work to build your brand which will also cost money. Branding and marketing is what I do for a living by the way.

 

[Blues Fan]

It probably costs Otterbox much less than that as they are the manufacturer. In this business (as in many others) it's all about volume, the more you are making/selling the lower your costs will be. The tough part about the business is it's saturated. So let's say you start a case company tomorrow, for example you call it "Blues Fan" cases, why would I as a consumer buy your case? I've never heard of "Blues Fan" cases. You would have to do a lot of marketing work to build your brand which will also cost money. Branding and marketing is what I do for a living by the way.

Very true! I wonder does Otterbox actually own the factories in China and Mexico that makes the case or do they simply pay a large manufacturer to pump the cases out?

Well I notice on Amazon there are a million and one no name cases you can buy for like $7-20 bucks. I'm not talking like VRS or Spigen, Supcase but no name companies. Also some of the larger malls have those small Kiosk selling cheap cases and chargers.

With Ebay and Amazon, I see tons of people rocking no name cases on their phones when I'm out and about. I myself want to produce heavy duty cases that are similar to Otterbox but fraction of the cost. The s8 is too new, but there are a handfull of no name companies that produce cases that are VERY similar to Otterbox Defenders for fraction of the cost you can buy on Ebay and Amazon. I have one for the regular S7 and for the price it's pretty darn good! The built in screen protector is way better than Otterbox and has no air gap in it and I think I paide $17 for it. The rubber on it is also better than the Otterbox S7 Defender as well.

 

[Blues Fan]

I'm also interested in maybe owning a small shop or Kiosk that sells tech accessories. When I lived in St. Louis teh mall near me had a shop that just sold batteries, cases and some used sell phone. They were an authorized Otterbox Dealer too and sold them almost same price as Amazon and they also sold Spigen stuff as well and a couple other brands as well as the generic types sold on Amazon.

Does anyone know how much the minimal order is required in order to become an otterbox dealer or Spigen? I contacted Spigen to inquire about how much to become a dealer but I just got a generic reply.

 

[naturalguy]

I'm also interested in maybe owning a small shop or Kiosk that sells tech accessories. When I lived in St. Louis teh mall near me had a shop that just sold batteries, cases and some used sell phone. They were an authorized Otterbox Dealer too and sold them almost same price as Amazon and they also sold Spigen stuff as well and a couple other brands as well as the generic types sold on Amazon.

Does anyone know how much the minimal order is required in order to become an otterbox dealer or Spigen? I contacted Spigen to inquire about how much to become a dealer but I just got a generic reply.

If you are passionate about this then I say go for it!

 

[Blues Fan]

If you are passionate about this then I say go for it!

I also was looking on the internet about franchises and Cellaris ones cost about $75,000 on up. You know those Cellaris Kiosk at most malls? Some do screen repairs now but mostly they sell cheap sh** cases and chargers, their own cases that I would never put on my $850 phone or Note 8. Just a head scratcher why they would charge so much for their franchises. I bought a car charger once that was a slow POS. If it cost that much you'd be better off just starting your own kiosk and not have the franchier bossing you around and having to follow their guidelines.

 

[jcp007]

I also was looking on the internet about franchises and Cellaris ones cost about $75,000 on up. You know those Cellaris Kiosk at most malls? Some do screen repairs now but mostly they sell cheap sh** cases and chargers, their own cases that I would never put on my $850 phone or Note 8. Just a head scratcher why they would charge so much for their franchises. I bought a car charger once that was a slow POS. If it cost that much you'd be better off just starting your own kiosk and not have the franchier bossing you around and having to follow their guidelines.

Dude, best of luck. Staring your own shop is harder than the Predators advancing to the WCF. You are going to need enough start up capital to finance equipment, inventory, manufacturing space, insurance and living expenses. It my take up to five years to turn a profit. I truly admire your passion and wish you the best in your endeavors should you decide to pursue it.

 

[Blues Fan]

Dude, best of luck. Staring your own shop is harder than the Predators advancing to the WCF. You are going to need enough start up capital to finance equipment, inventory, manufacturing space, insurance and living expenses. It my take up to five years to turn a profit. I truly admire your passion and wish you the best in your endeavors should you decide to pursue it.

I think the key would be having to mass produce them. I'm thinking a lot of those Defender style cases and Defender clones you see sold on Amazon are produced in China.

Flossy in one of his videos recently was talking about that guy who sent him the Wifi only S6 Edge to do drop test with. He said the guy wanted to do Defender style cases and sell them at fraction of the cost but that he didn't have the funding because the investors decided to back out of the idea.

I would think it would be the equipment that would cost a lot of $$. For the price of the equipment and such it would probably be way cheaper and open up a small shop that sells cases such as Spigen, Supcase and such and finding retail space with suitable rent price. The only problem is the only mall near me is a POS and on the decline and except for back to school and christmas there isn't a lot of foot traffic. Even if they have low rent just to get businesses to go there the sales wouldn't be high enough. The better mall is 40 miles to my north or have to go at least 30 miles south.

If it were the mall I lived near while in St. Louis it would be different. Has a lot of foot traffic and younger crowed compared to God's waiting room here in my area of Florida. There is also a lot of cell carrier stores there too which you could take their case sales when someone buys a phone and they see your stand selling no name or Spigen cases for 50 percent cheaper than the $60 otterbox or $45 Tech 21 cases at ATT and Tmobile.

Honestly a large majority of people I see are not using the Otterboxes and other $50 cases but the $20 generic ones you see on Amazon or the junk the Kiosk sell.

These days I actually see just as many people carrying around Spigen and Supcases/Unicorn Beetles as I do Otterbox at least in my area and where I work. I think Otterboxes have got so high priced now and with so many decent generic ones out there you can save more $

If they sold The I Blason Armor Box and Supcases at the time I pre ordered I probably would have stuck with them but Amazon didn't have them in stock yet and with the possibility of the phone coming in early I went and bought the Defender because Best Buy had it almost 3 weeks before the launch date.

 

[jcp007]

I think the key would be having to mass produce them. I'm thinking a lot of those Defender style cases and Defender clones you see sold on Amazon are produced in China.

Flossy in one of his videos recently was talking about that guy who sent him the Wifi only S6 Edge to do drop test with. He said the guy wanted to do Defender style cases and sell them at fraction of the cost but that he didn't have the funding because the investors decided to back out of the idea.

I would think it would be the equipment that would cost a lot of $$. For the price of the equipment and such it would probably be way cheaper and open up a small shop that sells cases such as Spigen, Supcase and such and finding retail space with suitable rent price. The only problem is the only mall near me is a POS and on the decline and except for back to school and christmas there isn't a lot of foot traffic. Even if they have low rent just to get businesses to go there the sales wouldn't be high enough. The better mall is 40 miles to my north or have to go at least 30 miles south.

If it were the mall I lived near while in St. Louis it would be different. Has a lot of foot traffic and younger crowed compared to God's waiting room here in my area of Florida. There is also a lot of cell carrier stores there too which you could take their case sales when someone buys a phone and they see your stand selling no name or Spigen cases for 50 percent cheaper than the $60 otterbox or $45 Tech 21 cases at ATT and Tmobile.

Honestly a large majority of people I see are not using the Otterboxes and other $50 cases but the $20 generic ones you see on Amazon or the junk the Kiosk sell.

These days I actually see just as many people carrying around Spigen and Supcases/Unicorn Beetles as I do Otterbox at least in my area and where I work. I think Otterboxes have got so high priced now and with so many decent generic ones out there you can save more $

If they sold The I Blason Armor Box and Supcases at the time I pre ordered I probably would have stuck with them but Amazon didn't have them in stock yet and with the possibility of the phone coming in early I went and bought the Defender because Best Buy had it almost 3 weeks before the launch date.

Like I said. More power to you. When you get set up, keep us updated.

 

[Blues Fan]

Does anyone who works in the industry know how much distributors and manufacturers such as Spigen, Otterbox, Supcase, I-Blason, Speck charge for minimal orders or how to become a dealer? I know to be an Otterbox dealer probably cost quite a bit, but how much do their distributors charger for min orders? There is a poster who works for a distributor on here that supplies otterbox cases I'd ask but I can't remember who it is.

Supcase now is selling to resellers now but I have not seen any of their cases sold at any of those kiosk places and such yet. I would think it would be cheaper to sell their cases than Otterbox or Speck for example that probably require a large min order.