Custom Phone Case MOQ: What 10 pcs Actually Means

Most suppliers quote a minimum of 500 or 1,000 pieces and stop there. Ours is 10 pieces per design for UV printing. That number is real, but on its own it is misleading, because it only works together with a second rule — one that most buyers do not hear about until the quote comes back.

This page explains both numbers, so you can size a first order before you ask for a price.

The four minimums

All four prices include the shell. A TPU, PC or TPU+PC body is part of the per-piece figure — it is not an extra line added in the quote.

Read the last column carefully. The unit price rises as the decoration covers more of the case — not as the quantity falls. Water transfer is the most expensive per piece not because it is a small run, but because it wraps the rim, where the other three processes cannot reach.

That single misunderstanding causes more bad first quotes than anything else on this page.

Why the minimum is 10 and not 1

The minimum is set by set-up time, not by sales policy. Each of the four processes needs the machine prepared before the first sellable piece comes out.

UV printing. The shell has to sit in a jig cut for that phone model, the artwork has to be positioned, and the first few pieces are printed to dial in ink density and adhesion. Ten pieces is roughly where that set-up cost stops dominating the unit price. There is no plate fee and no screen to burn.

IMD. Your artwork is printed onto a film, then formed and moulded into the wall of the case. One film run covers twenty pieces before it stops being worth the film and the forming step.

3D sublimation. The case is wrapped with a printed film under heat and vacuum, inside a model-specific support tool. One tool run also covers twenty.

Water transfer. A printed film is floated on water in a tank, and the shell is dipped through it. The tank has to be loaded and the film prepared regardless of run length, so 500 pieces is where a film run makes sense.

The rule that changes everything: 100 pieces per phone model

Here is the part that is usually left out.

Designs can be split. Phone models cannot.

You may run three different designs on the same phone model and count them together toward the model minimum. But each individual phone model in your order has to reach 100 pieces in total, whichever process you pick.

An order that works:

Three designs, one model, 100 pieces — this runs on UV printing at 10 pcs per design.

An order that does not work:

Two designs, two models, 10 pieces each. Every design clears its own 10-piece minimum, but each model is 90 pieces short of 100. This order cannot run as quoted.

We would rather tell you this before you approve a quote than after.

What it looks like in practice

A realistic first order for a buyer testing three artworks on one model:

• 3 designs on iPhone 16 Pro, 100 pieces in total
• UV printing, back panel only
• US$0.49–0.97 per piece, shell included
• Samples in 3–5 days, bulk lead time 15 days on average

If the designs sell, the next run moves to IMD or 3D sublimation — better durability, and no re-set-up cost for the same model.

If you need the pattern on the sides as well, UV printing cannot do it. Coverage, not quantity, decides the process. Our twelve decoration methods page walks through that decision in three questions.

Below 10 pieces

Ten pieces is the smallest production run we open. Anything smaller is a sample, and samples are handled as samples:

• UV printing samples: 3–5 days
• IMD, sublimation and water transfer samples: 5–7 days
• The sample charge is credited against your first bulk order

Send the artwork and the phone model and we will quote the sample separately, so you are not committing to a production run just to see the print quality.

Screen printing and laser engraving

Two more processes are quoted on a different basis:

These are used for logos and single-colour marks rather than full-colour artwork, which is why they start higher. Both are quoted per design.

On silicone cases the same two processes apply, but custom colour carries its own minimum: 1,000 pcs per colour per model, with the order total reaching 3,000 pcs. That number is about pigment rather than printing — the colour is in the material itself.

Moulds are a separate order

If you need your own shell shape rather than a stock model, that is tooling, not decoration. Phone case moulds run US$450–4,500 in our own tool shop, with 3D drawing in 5–7 days and T1 trial in 10–15 days. The 100-piece rule does not apply to the mould itself — it applies to the cases you later run from it. Details are on the mould page.

Questions we get at quoting stage

Can I split one design across several phone models?

Yes, but the 100-piece rule applies per model. Each model needs its own 100 pieces. Send the split and we will confirm the numbers in the quote.

Can I mix processes in one order?

Yes. UV printing, IMD, 3D sublimation, screen printing and laser engraving can all be combined in a single order. Each process keeps its own minimum, and every phone model still has to reach 100 pieces across all of them combined.

Can I supply my own shells?

No. We only decorate shells that come off our own moulding floor. A shell we did not mould has unknown wall thickness and unknown coating, and a print or film can fail weeks after delivery with no way to trace why. It is the one short-cut we do not take.

Is there a set-up or plate fee?

For UV printing, no. Screen printing and laser engraving are priced per colour or per depth instead.

What decides the unit price inside the range?

Shell type, how much of the case the decoration covers, and the number of colours in the artwork. The range on this page is real; the exact figure comes with your artwork in hand.

Send the artwork and the model

Send the artwork, the phone model and the quantity split. You will get a process recommendation, a unit price and a lead time within 24 hours — and if your order cannot reach the model minimum, we will say so in that same reply instead of after a deposit. Send your file here.