“PROUDLY MADE IN THE USA!” 

This is a big goal for Sprouted Planner. To be honest, it feels like one of those BHAG goals: big, hairy audacious goals. 

It’s doable, but it comes with a steep price tag, and I’m just not there in my business…yet. 

For now, I’m manufacturing via a reputable factory in China. I discovered them through Alibaba and I’ve been working with the same place AND the same contact since Sprouted began in 2020. 

By the way, if you’re unfamiliar with Alibaba, it’s basically like Amazon for finding production companies. You search for products you’d like to make, and all available options pop up. You choose the one you like best (from the example photos), and then you start chatting with that manufacturer about how you’d like to customize it, pricing, minimum order quantities (MOQs), etc. 

Why Is Manufacturing in China Popular?

These are just my observations, and from other businesses I’ve talked to. I also did a quick Google search to see if my understanding is correct, and it said the same thing (except way better). Nonetheless, here’s my observations.

Manufacturing in China is such a popular and common occurrence for two big reasons:

1. The cost to produce your products 

2. Their comprehensive and integrated production plants (supply chain + infrastructure)

Low production costs

China has a vast network of suppliers where they are able to secure [many] raw materials at a low cost. (I know that sounds like an AI sentence but I promise I wrote it). 

In addition to this, I believe their labor costs are also low for a bunch of different reasons. The fairness of this varies from factory to factory, but I’ve tried my best to make sure my factory treats their employees well and fairly.I’ve asked my contact several times if they treat her well and if she’s happy, and she always reassures me that she is. I know to take that with a grain of salt, but from all my research on the factory and company itself, this seems to be true. 

The population, labor market, cost of living, and working expectations are drastically different in China than here in the USA. Good, bad, or indifferent, it just is. These are contributing factors of why labor cost is lower than the United States. 

Production Plants

China’s factories are built to do everything in-house. At least these planner manufacturers. They have all the equipment to make the planner of your dreams all under one roof.

In other words, if you want a planner with all the bells and whistles (rounded corner, pockets, tabs, ribbons, multiple binding options, etc), their factories have the machines to do this in one place.

This makes it extremely efficient and desirable for the companies buying from this. This is because we don’t have to work with several different companies to make components of our products, which increases the opportunity for errors and misunderstandings. 

Why It’s Hard to Produce Planners in the USA

Once again, I’m lending from my own experience here. I’m sure I could spend [even more] hours researching an answer for this, but ain’t nobody got time for that. Here’s my understanding + experience of why it’s hard to produce planners in the USA:

1. Lack of access/searchability of manufacturing companies

2. Siloed factories

3. Cost of labor

Lack of Access to Manufacturers

In my armchair opinion, the United States needs its own version of Alibaba. Currently, it’s so stinking hard to find companies thatmay manufacture what you want.

The companies that do pop up have websites that are hard for the average person to understand if you aren’t in the world of printing. They will list what machines they have and what they are capable of, but what the heck does any of it mean? Offset printing, die cut, embossed, UV coating, stitching, finishing, tipping, and the list goes on. I know what these mean now (loosely) but starting out, it might as well been a foreign language. 

Siloed Factories

Unlike China, many production companies are siloed (and therefore limited) in their abilities and operations.

Many of these printing companies can do basic things like printing and wire-o binding with a heavy stock (or laminate) cover. However, when you get into more advanced products, you have to produce components of those products in different places, and then have them shipped to a finishing facility where they put them all together for you. For some of these planner features, there’s not even US manufacturers that can produce these for you. 

Cost of Labor

Due to cost of living in the United States, minimum wage requirements, and the cost of having employees (benefits & unemployment), labor costs a pretty penny here in the states. That cost continues to increase every year. This is one of the highest factors for why things cost so much to produce in the States. 

But Erin Condren Manufactures in the United States

The mega popular planner brand, Erin Condren, certainly does manufacture most of their planners here in the United States. 

Ivory Paper Co also manufactures from the United States. 

If they can do it, why can’t you, Heather? 

These companies created their own manufacturing “plants” by buying the machines needed to create their planners. This is awesome for them. This is not accessible for me. 

These machines cost an incredible amount of money and requires more than one machine. At the very least, you have a printer, cutter, and binder. Those are 3 different machines, all costing well over $100K. For these 2 companies, I know they have much more than that. 

I have no idea how they funded these machines. On top of that, they need employees to operate them, and they need to know how to service them. It’s an incredible investment. 

My Attempt to Manufacture in the United States

In 2025, with the threat of insane tariffs towards China, I started [once again] exploring manufacturing here in the United States. After talking with my favorite local printer, he pointed me to a “finishing” company in Brooklyn Center, which is a 30 minute drive from me. 

I spent the first 5 months of 2025 sincerely working with this company in hopes beyond hope that I could manufacture my 2027 planners here. 

The downside to already working with China and having an established planner brand is this: my planners already have a beloved and proven style to them: 

• Hard cover

• Spiral binding (or case bound, for the Hourly Planners)

• Rounded Corners

• Pockets on the inside cover

• Tabs on the calendar spread (vs as a stand alone sheet before the monthly calendar)

• Ribbon on the Hourly Planner

• Plastic bookmarks included

In order to manufacture here in the United States - and in a way that matches the current style - I would have to: 

1. Print the “guts” of the planner through a printing company (that’s just the inside paper)

2. Have the covers created with a different company, and at a higher quantity than I’m used to. 

3. No longer have rounded “crimped” corners…I’d have to go back to “metal” corner protectors. 

4. The tabs on their own sheets of paper (and not on the calendar spreads)

5. The spirals would be a much lower quality 

6. Pockets glued to the inside cover could be done but at an extreme cost since people would have to do this vs a machine. 

7. No ribbons on the hourly planner

8. No snap-in bookmarks

If you caught that, I’d be working with a printer for the guts, and a different company for the hard covers (that have the art wrapped around them). Once these companies produce their end, they ship them to this finishing company that would then assemble them with the remaining components (tabs and spiral binding). 

The cost to do this would be triple the cost per unit vs. manufacturing in China. 

For smaller accessories, like the mini notebooks, it’s about 1.5 times the cost. 

All in all, the product (especially the signature planners) would be both different and much more costly to make. 

Once I’m bigger and need more quantity, the cost will go down, which is great. I can wrap my head around this. What I can’t wrap my head around is significantly changing the planner in order to manufacture here. Is this something my customers would still enjoy or want? 

The bright side to manufacturing locally 

The bright side to manufacturing locally are simply stated:

1. I’d get to choose my own paper, and the paper I’d choose is DREAMY. 

2. The turnaround time of production would be ridiculously better when I don’t have to wait for customs, and then an entire month + additional week to ship here, and then drive it across the country to our warehouse. 

3. In a similar vein, the COST of freight is insanely better. Currently from China, I’m paying around $8,000 for freight. 

4. I’m contributing even more to the United States economy

5. I get to have a personal face-to-face relationship with my manufacturing team and company (vs the one person I’m working with now)

6. I’m close enough to frequently visit to approve samples, brainstorm future products, test things out, etc. 

7. I can see their process and their sustainability efforts

Current Mindset of Manufacturing

As of April 2026, I feel I have no choice but to continue manufacturing with China.

However, I have rather enjoyed my relationship with them. They produce wonderfully quality products and they have treated me very well. They appreciate my loyalty, and I appreciate their care. I do not think of them as this terrible option. 

There are downsides to manufacturing in both places. There are upsides to both places. 

In the end, I still hope to move production here to the States for the reasons given above. I have no timeline for this, nor do I know if it will ever be feasible. I may start small with certain products and go from there. 

Time is not on my side either. I’m a stay at home mom who only has time to work on this business while my kids are in school. Trying to change an entire process takes valuable time that I don’t exactly have right now. I barely have the time to run this business as-is. 

I’m leaving both doors open and will continue to assess every season.