I’m going to say something you don’t usually hear from a Chinese printing company: for some projects, you’re genuinely better off printing locally.
There. I said it.
After 35 years in this industry — starting as a typesetter in 1990, running factories, managing production, and now serving clients in more than 40 countries — I’ve seen thousands of projects go right, and a fair number go wrong. Most of the ones that went wrong weren’t because of bad printing. They went wrong because someone chose the wrong type of printer for their project.
This guide exists to help you avoid that mistake. I’m going to walk you through the real comparison — with actual numbers, a 2026 tariff update, and a clear decision framework — including the situations where I’d honestly tell you to use your local printer instead of us.
First, What Does "Local Printing" Actually Mean?
When most people say “local printing,” they mean one of two things — and they’re very different:
Digital printing / Print-on-demand (POD): Services like Amazon KDP, IngramSpark, or your local FedEx Office print one copy (or a few) at a time, digitally. Per-unit cost is high. No minimum order. Fast turnaround.
Local offset printing: A commercial print shop in your city or country that runs offset presses. Higher quality than POD, but also higher cost than China, and typically fewer specialty finishing options.
When I compare China vs. local in this article, I’m talking about China offset printing against local offset printing. POD is a separate category, and I’ll address when it makes sense later on.
The Real Cost Comparison — With Actual Numbers
Let’s get specific. Here’s a real-world example using a common project: 500 copies of a 200-page, 8.5″ × 11″ paperback with a full-color cover and full-color interior, delivered to the continental US, as of early 2026.
| US Local Offset | QinPrinting (China, sea freight) | |
|---|---|---|
| Printing cost per unit | $10–$14 | $4.00-$5.00 |
| Sea freight + port fees | Included / minimal | $2.00–$2.50/unit |
| Import duty (7.5% Section 301) | N/A | Included in shipping fees (7.5% Section 301) |
| Total landed cost per unit | $10.00–$14.00 | $6.00–$7.50 |
| Production time | 1–2 weeks | 1 week |
| Shipping time to your door | 1–5 days | 5–6 weeks (sea) |
| Total time from file approval | 2–3 weeks | 6–7 weeks |
At 500 copies, you’d likely save $2,000–$3,250 by printing in China — even after shipping and duties. At 3,000 copies, the gap grows considerably. This is why Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and virtually every major publisher print a large share of their books in China. The economics are hard to argue with at volume.
But that math changes fast when you factor in your specific situation. Which brings us to the questions that actually matter.
The 5 Questions That Decide Where You Should Print
1. How many copies do you need?
This is the single biggest factor, and there’s a real tipping point.
Under 100 copies, China almost never makes financial sense for straightforward projects. The printing itself may cost less, but sea freight adds significant overhead — and on a small quantity, those fixed shipping and handling costs eat up any savings before you can blink. The math starts shifting around 100–200 copies. By 500, China is usually clearly cheaper.
- Under 100 copies, get local quotes first. At 100 or more, compare China seriously.
2. How much time do you have?
This is where local printing wins outright.
Sea freight from China to a US or European port takes 5–9 weeks. Add production time (typically 1–3 weeks for offset), plus port clearance and domestic trucking, and you’re looking at 6–12 weeks from file approval to your door. Air freight is faster (10–14 days from the factory), but it costs around 5x more than sea and usually wipes out your cost advantage.
If you have a book launch in 6 weeks, a conference deadline bearing down on you, or a holiday season to hit, local printing may be your only realistic option — even at a higher price.
- Delivery window under 6 weeks? Talk to a local printer. Have 10+ weeks? China is firmly on the table.
3. Does your project have specialty finishing?
This is where China printing has a genuine, often underappreciated advantage that isn’t just about cost.
Finishing options like foil stamping, embossing, debossing, spot UV, soft-touch lamination, cloth binding, painted edges, and custom ribbon markers are standard services at most Chinese offset printers, priced as routine add-ons. The same finishes at a US or UK commercial printer often require outsourcing to specialty vendors, adding weeks and a significant surcharge — if they’re even available for your run size.
A hardcover with foil-stamped cloth binding and a full-color dust jacket? For an independent author printing 1,000 copies, this kind of project is extremely difficult to source locally at any reasonable price point. In China, it’s a standard quote.
- If your project has specialty finishing, China's options are almost always broader and more affordable.
4. What product type are you printing?
Not all products work the same way for China sourcing:
Books (novels, children’s books, coffee table books, cookbooks, art books): China excels across all these categories, at all run sizes above 100 copies.
Board games and card games: China is the dominant global production center for this category, full stop. If you’re making a game with a box, cards, tokens, game boards, and a rulebook, sourcing all those components locally is practically impossible at independent creator quantities and price points. China wins decisively.
Tarot, oracle, and specialty card decks: China is almost the only realistic option for high-quality custom decks with proper card stock, linen finish, and printed tuck boxes. Most Western printers simply don’t offer this.
Packaging (boxes, paper bags, rigid boxes): China is competitive for medium to large runs. For small quantities of simple packaging needed quickly, local or domestic services may be more practical.
Marketing materials (brochures, flyers, posters): For short runs needed fast, local digital printing often wins. For large runs with a long lead time, China competes very well on cost.
5. How much remote communication are you comfortable with?
Working with an overseas printer means doing everything by email or video call across time zones. Files go back and forth. Proofs are reviewed digitally. If you’ve never prepared a print-ready file before and need a lot of real-time guidance, the remote process requires more patience than walking into a local shop.
That said, a good Chinese printing partner — and we’d like to think we’re one of them — will walk you through every step: detailed file templates, a thorough pre-press check, a digital proof before production starts, and physical press proofs available for larger or color-critical orders.
- If you need intensive hand-holding or rapid same-day back-and-forth, local printing may be less stressful. If you're organized and comfortable communicating remotely, this is not a real barrier.
The 2026 Tariff Update: What You Actually Need to Know
A lot of people are asking about tariffs right now, and understandably so — 2025 was a chaotic year for US trade policy. Here’s what actually matters for printed products as of early 2026.
Printed books are protected. Books are classified as “informational materials” under US law and are exempt from the IEEPA-based reciprocal tariffs that dominated headlines in 2025. The Supreme Court also ruled in February 2026 that IEEPA does not grant the president authority to impose tariffs — adding another layer of legal protection for importers. The tariff that does still apply to most general books is the Section 301 tariff of 7.5%, which has been in place since 2018. Children’s books and religious texts remain fully duty-free under HTS Code 4903.
To put that in perspective: a 7.5% tariff on a $1.50 book is about $0.11 per copy. It matters, but it doesn’t change the fundamental economics.
Games, puzzles, and card decks (HTS Chapter 95) currently face a combined effective tariff rate of around 15%.
Paper box packaging can face rates of up to 45%. If you’re importing these product types from China, factor current tariff rates carefully into your total cost calculation — and ask us for updated guidance when you’re ready to quote, as tariff policy continues to evolve.
- For books, games, and cards, the tariff impact is modest and China printing remains strongly cost-competitive. For paper box packaging and specialty products, duties narrow the gap somewhat, but China still offers significant advantages in specialty capabilities and overall cost for complex, multi-component projects.
The Hidden Costs Nobody Mentions
Before you decide, factor these in on both sides:
Hidden costs of printing in China:
- Sea freight, port fees, and customs brokerage (typically $300–$700 to a US port, then domestic trucking). Make sure your price is DDP or DAP.
- Import duties (varies by product type — see above)
- Your time: communicating across time zones, reviewing files carefully, planning 10–12 weeks ahead
- The cost of errors: if a file problem isn’t caught before printing, you’re waiting weeks for a reprint, not days
Hidden costs of printing locally:
- Per-unit cost 2–4x higher, which compounds significantly at a few thousand copies
- Limited or nonexistent specialty finishing, or steep surcharges for it
- Narrower paper stock and binding options
- MOQs that may not align with your run size
Quality: Addressing the Concern Directly
We hear this one a lot: “Is Chinese printing actually good quality?”
The honest answer is: it depends entirely on which company you use — which is equally true of printers in the US, UK, or anywhere else. There are excellent Chinese printers and there are poor ones, just as there are excellent and poor local printers.
What we can tell you is this: the largest publishing houses in the world — Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, Hachette, and others — print a substantial portion of their books in China. They don’t do this because the quality is mediocre. They do it because the quality is genuinely excellent and the economics work.
At QinPrinting, we use GMG color proofing — the same standard used by leading commercial printers worldwide. We run hard-proof color checks before every press run, and we send you a digital proof — or a physical press proof for color-critical projects — for approval before a single sheet goes on press.
The practical question isn’t “Is China printing good quality?” It’s “Is this printer a quality operation?” For that, look at years in business, client testimonials, sample packs, and willingness to communicate openly. We’ve been at this for over 10 years, and we’re always happy to send samples before you commit to anything.
When Local Printing Is the Right Call
To be clear, since this is the part most China printers won’t say:
Print locally when:
- You need delivery all products in under 6 weeks
- You’re printing fewer than 100 copies of a straightforward product
- You’re in a testing phase and need a small quantity to validate demand before a larger run
- You need last-minute changes — local printers can sometimes accommodate revisions that would require a full reprint if discovered after plates are made
- Your product is simple (a basic flyer or brochure) and speed matters more than per-unit savings
Print in China when:
- You’re printing 100+ copies and unit cost affects your margin
- Your project has specialty finishing that’s expensive or unavailable locally
- You’re making a complex product: a board game, a multi-component set, a hardcover with foil and ribbon markers, a custom card deck
- You’re planning 10–12 weeks ahead
- You need options — paper weights, binding styles, finishing effects — that most local printers can’t offer
The Smart Hybrid Approach
Many independent publishers and creators do both, and it’s worth thinking about.
Use local digital printing or a POD service (like IngramSpark) for your initial run of 50–100 copies — enough to test the market, launch at an event, or send to reviewers. Once you’ve validated demand and know you need a real quantity, move to a China offset run for the main production.
This costs slightly more in total, but it lowers your risk considerably. You’re not betting thousands of dollars on a product before you know people want it, and you’re not over-printing to hit a minimum order you aren’t sure you’ll move.
So, China or Local? The Straight Answer
Here’s my genuine take after 35 years in this industry:
If you’re printing 100–200+ copies of anything that benefits from offset quality — a book, a card deck, a game, a catalog — and you have 8+ weeks before you need it in hand, the economics of printing in China are hard to beat. The quality, when you work with the right partner, is excellent. Major publishers aren’t printing here because it’s cheap and mediocre. They’re printing here because it’s affordable and the quality is genuinely there.
If you’re in a hurry, printing a small quantity, or testing a new product, local printing — including POD — makes more sense. We’d rather tell you this honestly than have you place an order that doesn’t fit your situation.
The right choice depends on your timeline, your quantity, your product type, and your budget. If you’re not sure where your project falls, get in touch. We’ll give you a straight answer — even if that answer is “not us, not yet.”
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