# Hard lure is a category, not a specification

> Diving depth is fixed in the mould. Minnow, crankbait and popper are three toolings and three quotations, which is why one price band cannot cover them.

Source: https://luressource.com/sourcing-playbook/hard-lure-is-a-category-not-a-specification/

Direct answer. Minnow, crankbait and popper are three separate toolings with three separate behaviours, so they cannot be quoted as one line. The reason is mechanical: diving depth and running attitude are set by the bill geometry, and the bill is formed in the mould, which means the field that decides how the lure fishes cannot be adjusted after tooling. Our six-listing hard-lure sample sits in a tight US$1.85 to US$3.20 band precisely because those listings happen to share a sub-type - the band is not a price for hard lures in general. Key facts. 1) Minnow, crankbait and popper are three toolings, three behaviours and three quotations, not one product line. 2) Diving depth and running attitude are set by bill geometry, which is fixed in the mould and cannot be changed after tooling. 3) Our six-listing sample sits at US$1.85 to US$3.20 per piece with MOQ 100 on every listing, the most uniform MOQ band in the catalog. 4) The tight band covers listings that share a sub-type, so it is not a price for hard lures as a category. 5) Two of the six listings are sold by the bag, so the unit still has to be checked before any comparison. Frequently asked questions. Q: Why can a hard lure order not be quoted as one line? A: Because a hard lure is a category. A minnow, a crankbait and a popper are three moulds, three bill geometries and three assembly sequences. A supplier asked to price hard lures will price whichever sub-type it holds, and the buyer may be comparing a crankbait against a minnow without noticing. Q: Why is the bill the decisive part? A: Because bill geometry sets the diving depth and the running attitude, and the bill is formed in the mould. Once the tool is cut, the depth is committed. That is the opposite of a soft plastic, where the same mould can be run in several material packages and colors. Q: What does the MOQ pattern in your sample show? A: Six listings at MOQ 100 each, the most uniform band of any type in this catalog. A uniform MOQ usually means the sub-types in the sample share a tooling and a process, which is also why their prices sit so close together. Q: Is the tight price band a good sign? A: It is a sign that the sample is narrow, not that the category is cheap. Six listings that share a sub-type will quote close together. Widen the sample to include a deep-diving long-bill and a large pencil and the band opens, because the tooling and the material change. Q: What should a hard lure order state? A: Five fields: the sub-type, the bill geometry or target running depth, the body material and whether the hook hangers are through-wire or moulded, the hook configuration, and the finish. Add the packing format, because two of the six listings in our sample are priced per bag. Sources (3). 1) The six-listing hard lure sample behind every figure on this page — /opportunities/hard-lure-suppliers-china/ 2) The companion guide on buoyancy class, which is the field soft-bodied and hard-bodied lures do not share — /sourcing-playbook/minnow-floating-suspending-sinking/ 3) Our rule for separating a claim from its evidence — /opportunities/editorial-rules/ A hard lure is the type where the most important field is the one that cannot be changed after the money is spent. Three toolings, not one product Minnow, crankbait and popper are filed together in most catalogs, including ours, and they are not one product. They are three moulds, three bill geometries and three assembly sequences. Each behaves differently in the water and each carries its own quotation. That is the trap in a request for a hard lure price. A supplier asked to quote hard lures will quote whichever sub-type it actually holds, and the buyer receives a number that is correct for a product they did not specify. The bill commits you Diving depth and running attitude are set by the geometry of the bill. The bill is formed in the mould. Once the tool is cut, the depth is committed, and no amount of sample tuning changes it. This is the structural difference between a hard lure and a soft one. A soft plastic mould can be run in several material packages and colors, and the same tool produces a range. A hard lure tool produces one behaviour. Buying a hard lure is therefore a tooling decision before it is a product decision. It is also why the US habit of shopping crankbaits by running depth translates directly into a mould specification rather than a fishing preference. Same body, three bills, three behaviours. The bill is formed in the mould, so this field is committed the day the tool is cut. What the sample shows, and what it does not Our hard-lure sample holds six listings at US$1.85 to US$3.20 per piece, with MOQ 100 on every one. That is the most uniform MOQ band in the catalog. It would be easy to read that as a stable category. It is not. The six listings happen to share a sub-type, which is why they quote close together and why the MOQ is flat. The band is a price for those six products, not a price for hard lures. The sample spans a floating minnow, a deep-diving long-bill, a 140mm pencil, a sinking popper and a trolling metal jig. Two of the six are sold by the bag, so the unit has to be checked before any comparison is made - the same failure we record across the catalog. The hook hanger is a structural field Hard bait bodies are ABS or composite, and the hook attaches either through a wire that runs through the body or onto a moulded hanger formed with the body. Those are different structures with different failure behaviour and different tooling. It is a field buyers skip because it is invisible, and it is the field that decides whether a hook pulls out of the body under load. It belongs in the order. What the order has to state Sub-type. Named, because it determines the tooling. Bill geometry or target running depth. Fixed at tooling, so it must be agreed before the mould is cut. Body material and hook hanger type. Through-wire or moulded, stated rather than assumed. Hook configuration. Treble count and sizes, quoted separately. Finish. color, foil and eyes, the last step and the cheapest to change. Send a specification See the hard lure record