What does private label mean?

It means selling products made by a third-party manufacturer under your own brand name. You control the branding, packaging and listing, while a contract manufacturer produces the goods, often to your specification.

What is the difference between private label and white label?

Both involve a manufacturer making goods you sell under your brand. Private label usually implies more customisation or exclusivity to your brand, while white label typically means a generic, off-the-shelf product that multiple sellers can rebrand. The terms overlap and are sometimes used interchangeably.

Do private-label sellers need their own GTINs?

Yes. Because the product carries your brand, you are the brand owner and must license a GS1 company prefix and assign your own GTINs, rather than reusing a manufacturer's existing barcode.

Is private label better than reselling?

It depends on your goals. Private label gives control, listing ownership and brand-building potential but requires more investment and effort to create products and listings. Reselling is faster to start but means competing on shared listings, often on price.

Glossary

Private Label

Own Brand · Private Brand

Private label is the model where a seller has products manufactured by a third party and sells them under the seller's own brand name. The seller controls the branding, packaging and listing, while a contract manufacturer produces the goods — often to the seller's specifications.

Last updated: June 2026

Key facts

In private label, the product is made by a manufacturer but carries the seller's brand, not the factory's.
The seller typically controls branding, packaging, and often the product specification and design.
Because the brand is the seller's, private-label sellers must buy their own GTINs and own their listings.
Private label is distinct from reselling branded goods, where you use the manufacturer's existing brand and barcodes.

How private label works

In a private-label model, you do not run a factory — you partner with a manufacturer who makes products for you, and you put your own brand on them. Sometimes the product is an existing item the factory already produces, lightly customised; sometimes it is designed to your specification. Either way, what reaches the customer is branded as yours, sold through your listings, in your packaging.

This contrasts with simple reselling. A reseller buys finished, branded products from a supplier and sells them as-is, using the manufacturer's brand name and the GTIN the manufacturer already assigned. A private-label seller instead creates a new brand identity and a new product listing that they own and control end to end.

Because the brand belongs to the seller, private label brings ownership responsibilities: you license your own GS1 company prefix and assign your own GTINs, you are the brand owner on the listing, and you are responsible for product compliance, quality and customer perception of the brand.

Why sellers choose private label

The main attraction is control and differentiation. When you resell a branded product, you compete with every other seller of the identical item, often on price alone, and you fight for the Buy Box on a shared catalogue page. With a private-label product you own the listing outright — there is no Buy Box competition on your own brand, and you set the price and positioning.

Brand ownership also unlocks marketplace tools. On Amazon, enrolling a private-label brand in Brand Registry opens access to enhanced content, brand protection and additional advertising formats. Over time, a recognised private-label brand can build loyalty and pricing power that a reseller of someone else's products cannot.

Private label across EU marketplaces

For multichannel sellers, private label and reselling lead to different workflows. A reseller maps existing manufacturer GTINs to each marketplace and often matches their offer to a catalogue page that already exists. A private-label seller is usually creating brand-new listings on every marketplace, because no one else sells that exact branded product.

That makes listing quality and consistency especially important for private-label sellers. You are building the catalogue page from scratch on each channel, so your titles, images, attributes and brand data need to be complete and consistent across Amazon, Kaufland, Allegro and the rest. The upside is that you fully own those listings; the work is that you have to build and maintain them yourself.

Example

A seller finds a manufacturer that produces stainless-steel water bottles, has them made in a custom colour with the seller's logo and packaging, licenses a GS1 prefix to assign EANs, and lists the bottles on Amazon and Kaufland under their own brand "HydraNova" — a product no other seller offers under that name.

Why it matters for marketplace sellers

Owning the brand means you own the listing outright, avoiding Buy Box competition that resellers face on shared catalogue pages.
Private-label sellers must license their own GS1 prefix and assign their own GTINs, since the products carry their brand.
You build new listings from scratch on every marketplace, so consistent, complete product data across channels is essential.
Brand ownership can unlock marketplace brand programmes such as Amazon Brand Registry, with extra content and protection tools.