# How to Set a Colour Standard | China Sourcing

> Colour is the most common disagreement in tackle sourcing and the one with the clearest fix: the approved sample, the checking light, and the tolerance.

Source: https://luressource.com/sourcing-playbook/how-to-set-a-colour-standard/

Direct answer. A colour standard is three things written down - the approved sample, the light it is checked under, and the tolerance you will accept. Without the light, two batches that are both within spec get rejected against each other, because colour is a property of the light as much as of the object. Colour is the most common disagreement in tackle sourcing and the one with the cheapest fix. Key facts. 1) Colour is the most common disagreement in this business and the one with the clearest fix. 2) Two acceptable batches can be rejected against each other when the checking light is not stated. 3) A new colourway raises the MOQ floor because the setup has to be recovered across the run. 4) Colour is checked against the approved sample, not against a description or a photograph. 5) Matte, translucent and two-tone finishes are separate process steps from colour itself. Frequently asked questions. Q: Why is colour such a common problem? A: Because it is the field where the standard is usually implied rather than written. Two people can agree that a green is "right" in daylight and disagree about the same green under a factory's fluorescent tubes, and neither of them is wrong. Our glossary entry on colourway tolerance describes exactly this failure. Q: What does "check it under a stated light" mean in practice? A: It means the order names the light source the colour will be judged under, and both sides judge it there. That single sentence converts a conversation about taste into a test with a result, and it is the cheapest improvement available to a tackle order. Q: Do I need a physical sample, or is a colour code enough? A: A physical approved sample is the standard; a code is a description of it. Codes are useful for ordering a new colourway that does not exist yet, but once a sample has been approved, the sample is what a delivery is measured against - not the code, and not a photograph. Q: Why is a new colourway more expensive? A: Because it is a setup. A stock colourway runs in the low thousands; a new one raises the MOQ floor because the setup has to be recovered across the run. This is the same arithmetic that sets every MOQ floor on moulded tackle, applied to colour instead of shape. Q: Does the finish matter as much as the colour? A: More, on some products. Matte, gloss, translucent and two-tone are separate process steps from the colour itself, and a matte finish is where two acceptable batches disagree most. Name the finish as its own field rather than as part of the colour. Q: What should I write on the order? A: Three lines: "the approved sample, reference <id>", "checked under <light source>", and the tolerance you will accept. Those three lines are the whole standard, and every one of them is checkable on delivery. Sources (3). 1) Colourway tolerance — the glossary term for why two acceptable batches can be rejected against each other — /glossary/colourway-tolerance/ 2) The sample-to-production gap — what a sample can and cannot promise — /glossary/sample-to-production-gap/ 3) Inspection checkpoints and the documents — where the colour check sits in the process — /how-it-works/inspection/ The cheapest fix in tackle sourcing Colour is the field where a buyer and a factory most often disagree while both being right. The disagreement is almost never about the colour; it is about the light . A green that matches in daylight and a green that matches under a factory's tubes can be the same green, and a standard that does not say which light is being used is not a standard. So the fix is three lines on the order, and it costs nothing: The approved sample , referenced by an identifier. The light source it is checked under. The tolerance that will be accepted. Everything else on this page is elaboration. Why the sample is the standard, not the code A colour code describes a colour that does not exist yet. Once a physical sample has been approved, the sample is the standard and a delivery is measured against it - not against the code, not against a photograph, and not against a memory of the conversation. This matters particularly for tackle, because so much of it is translucent, matte or two-tone. On a translucent bait the colour the buyer sees depends on what is behind it; on a two-tone bait it depends on where the line between the colours falls. A code cannot carry either. Finish is a separate field from colour This is the distinction that catches buyers who think they have specified colour when they have not. Field What it is Why it is separate Colour The hue itself Changeable at the mixing stage Finish Matte, gloss, translucent, two-tone Separate process steps Flake Metallic flake count and size A second step on top of the colour Pattern Printed artwork rather than a solid colour Needs its own transfer tooling on a hard bait Our soft lure and hard lure type pages both carry the finish field in the specification list, because a matte and a gloss version of the same colour are two products commercially. Why a new colourway raises the MOQ A colourway is a setup, exactly like a mould. That is why: A stock colourway runs in the low thousands on a soft plastic. A new colourway raises the floor, because the setup has to be recovered across the run. This is the same arithmetic behind every MOQ number on this site, and it is worth reading alongside how to negotiate MOQ without losing the price - because "stay on a stock colour for the first order" is one of the four levers on that page. Where the colour check sits in the process Colour is checked at two points, and they are not the same check: At sample approval - you are establishing the standard. This is the only moment where the standard can be set. At pre-shipment inspection - the delivery is measured against the approved sample , under the stated light. Our inspection page sets out where that check sits and what the inspector measures. The important structural point is that the second check is only meaningful if the first one produced a physical sample and a written light source. Otherwise the inspector is measuring against a description - which is what the sample was supposed to replace. What a delivery cannot tell you The sample-to-production gap is worth reading here. A colour check confirms the colour. It does not confirm that the colour holds on the two-thousandth piece, or that the finish will not dull in the pack, or that the strands will not deform in the carton. Those are separate lines, and each one has to be specified if it matters. The three lines, again [ ] "The approved sample, reference ⟨id⟩" [ ] "Checked under ⟨light source⟩" [ ] "Tolerance: ⟨what you will accept⟩" Where to go next Colourway tolerance - the glossary entry behind this page Inspection checkpoints and documents How to negotiate MOQ without losing the price What to do when a sample fails Send a specification Frequently asked questions Why is colour such a common problem? Because it is the field where the standard is usually implied rather than written. Two people can agree that a green is "right" in daylight and disagree about the same green under a factory's fluorescent tubes, and neither of them is wrong. Our glossary entry on colourway tolerance describes exactly this failure. What does "check it under a stated light" mean in practice? It means the order names the light source the colour will be judged under, and both sides judge it there. That single sentence converts a conversation about taste into a test with a result, and it is the cheapest improvement available to a tackle order. Do I need a physical sample, or is a colour code enough? A physical approved sample is the standard; a code is a description of it. Codes are useful for ordering a new colourway that does not exist yet, but once a sample has been approved, the sample is what a delivery is measured against - not the code, and not a photograph. Why is a new colourway more expensive? Because it is a setup. A stock colourway runs in the low thousands; a new one raises the MOQ floor because the setup has to be recovered across the run. This is the same arithmetic that sets every MOQ floor on moulded tackle, applied to colour instead of shape. Does the finish matter as much as the colour? More, on some products. Matte, gloss, translucent and two-tone are separate process steps from the colour itself, and a matte finish is where two acceptable batches disagree most. Name the finish as its own field rather than as part of the colour. What should I write on the order? Three lines: "the approved sample, reference <id>", "checked under <light source>", and the tolerance you will accept. Those three lines are the whole standard, and every one of them is checkable on delivery.