Seven steps from idea to sea freight, written by the people who run the production line.
The short version: making custom cups is a seven-step pipeline — base model → logo method → colours → lid & accessories → packaging → sample → bulk. Printing your logo on a proven shape (OEM) needs no tooling and starts at 500 pieces; inventing a new shape (ODM) needs a steel mould from about US$3,000. Sample in 7-10 days, bulk in about 30. The most expensive mistake is skipping the physical sample.
Start from what the cup must do, not what it looks like. Room-temperature use points to single-wall steel or Tritan; desk coffee points to double-wall (warm 4-6 hours); all-day retention needs true vacuum construction. Browse a category — coffee mugs, tumblers, sport bottles — and shortlist two or three models. Our guide to double-wall vs single-wall explains the construction tiers in five minutes.
Four core methods cover almost every brief: silk screen for 1-3 flat brand colours (cheapest per unit), laser engraving for a premium permanent mark on metal (metal-only — plastic logos go to silk or UV), heat transfer for full-colour wraps, and UV printing for photographic detail, gradients and texture. Pad printing and in-mould labels exist for special cases. The full comparison with photos is in our printing methods guide.
Stock body colours run at the standard 500-piece MOQ, and stock colours can often be mixed to reach it. A custom Pantone-matched body colour means a dedicated paint run, so it starts from 1,000 pieces. Powder coating and spray painting age differently — if the cups will live in dishwashers, read powder coating vs spray painting before you choose the finish.
The lid changes the product more than the body does: flip-top, straw lid, handle lid, one-touch — each fits a different user. Lids and straws are injection-moulded in-house here, so lid colour can be matched to your brand, and you are not gluing together parts from three vendors with three tolerance standards.
The default is a plain white box, which most importers use for e-commerce. Step up to a printed colour box or a gift box when the cup is going on a shelf or into a corporate gift programme — the options, costs and print specs are covered in our packaging guide. Insert cards, sleeves and FBA prep (FNSKU labels, Prop 65 stickers, FBA cartons) can all be done on the line.
You will get a digital proof in a day or two — check logo size, placement and colours against your brand book. Then order the physical sample (7-10 days). Test it like a customer: fill it, invert it overnight on paper, run the dishwasher if your users will, and check the print with a fingernail. Every expensive bulk-order dispute we have ever seen would have been caught at this step.
After deposit (typically 30/70 T/T) and sample approval, bulk takes about 30 days: body forming, welding, finishing, decoration, assembly, leak testing, packing. Shipping is FOB Yongkang, Ningbo or Shanghai; sea freight to the US or EU adds roughly 3-5 weeks. If you want a shape that exists nowhere else, that is ODM: a custom steel mould from about US$3,000, roughly 60 days to cut, and it can be reserved exclusively for your brand — the trade-offs are covered in mould design pitfalls.
Ready to start? Send Beyond your logo and target model — a real factory since 1998, factory-direct pricing, FDA/LFGB/EU/Prop 65 certs ready, MOQ from 500 pcs, 30-day production. We usually reply within 24 hours.
Written by the Jupeng Drinkware team — Yongkang, Zhejiang, China. Manufacturing drinkware since 1998. Contact Beyond: info@jupengcup.com | WhatsApp +86 156 5791 8881