Custom Mahjong Launch Timeline: When to Order

Work backward from the date the sets must arrive

A custom mahjong launch timeline starts at the arrival date and subtracts each stage: transit, production, your sample review, sample courier, sample making, then the quote and proof. What remains is the latest day to send a complete brief. Each stage has a published planning estimate, and two of them are yours to control.

The formula is simple enough to keep on one line:

Latest brief date = arrival date − transit − production − your sample review − sample courier − sample making − quote and proof.

The order of these stages is fixed because production starts only after you approve one complete physical sample set. The stages, with the estimates our custom mahjong set production process page publishes:

Stage	Planning estimate	Who controls it
Quote	Within 24 hours of a complete brief	Us, once the brief is complete
Digital proof	Depends on artwork and revision rounds	Mostly you
Sample making	About 15–17 days after payment and proof approval	Us
Sample courier	Express, about 5 days after dispatch	Carrier
Sample review	Your decision	You
Production, 50 or 100 sets	About 20 days	Us
Production, 150 or 200 sets	About 25 days	Us
Production, 300–1,000 sets	About 30 days	Us
Inspection and packing	Inside the production window	Us
Transit after dispatch	Regular sea about 35 days, fast sea about 25, air about 10–12, express 3–5	Carrier and customs

Transit estimates exclude production and depend on the route, customs and final delivery, so the quote confirms the service and the arrival estimate for your address. The mahjong freight estimator gives a planning budget for each shipping method before you ask.

A worked example: 100 sets briefed on October 6

A brand that sends a complete brief for 100 custom American mahjong sets on October 6, with in-stock sheet colors and finished vector artwork, has sets ex-factory around November 26 in this example. They arrive around December 8 by air or December 21 by fast sea. Regular sea arrives around December 31, after Christmas.

The example uses the published estimates plus two assumptions you can change: about five days for the quote, proof and sample invoice, and three days for your own sample review.

Step	Days	Running date
Brief sent	0	October 6
Quote, proof approved, sample invoice paid	6	October 12
Sample made (upper estimate)	17	October 29
Sample delivered by express	5	November 3
Your review and approval	3	November 6
Production of 100 sets, including inspection and packing	20	November 26
Arrival by air (upper estimate)	12	December 8
Arrival by fast sea	25	December 21
Arrival by regular sea	35	December 31

Larger runs move the ex-factory date. The same calendar with 200 sets reaches ex-factory around December 1, and 500 sets around December 6, so a 500-set run needs air to arrive before Christmas. A split plan, with a launch portion by air and the balance by sea, is assessed per order once we know the quantity needed first and the destination.

Holiday demand concentrates in November and December. The National Retail Federation tracks the winter holiday season as November and December retail sales,¹ so a set that arrives on December 21 sells for days, not weeks. Brands that need stock on shelves for the whole season should brief in late summer.

What pushes the date out

Four things move a mahjong launch date more than quantity does: custom sheet colors, artwork that fails the file check, extra proof or sample rounds, and choosing sea over air. Each one lands before production, so the delay carries straight through to the arrival date.

• Custom sheet colors. A Pantone-matched, made-to-order sheet adds about 15 days for the sheet plus about 10 extra days at the sample stage. Picking a code from the in-stock color board avoids that wait.
• Artwork. Custom engraved faces need outlined vector artwork with linked assets included. We manufacture from your finished files and do not redraw or vectorize. The artwork-to-production guide explains what a production-ready file looks like.
• Revisions. A change to size, layers or artwork after the sample can mean another proof or another sample. Confirm the revised scope, cost and timing before you plan around it.
• Packaging. Standard shrink-wrap export packaging is included. Printed boxes start at 1,000 pieces per design, so a holiday gift box for a 100-set run is a separate decision with its own minimum.

Payment timing matters too. Production orders of USD 3,000 or less are paid in full before production; above that, a 40% deposit starts production and the 60% balance is due before shipment. A payment that waits a week moves the whole calendar by a week.

Chinese New Year: finish the sample before the holiday

Chinese New Year 2027 falls on Saturday, February 6, with the national public holiday running February 5–8.² Factories, packaging suppliers and freight slow for several weeks around it, so treat late January through late February as a gap in any production calendar. A sample approved before the holiday lets production start as soon as lines restart.

Two briefs, two outcomes, using the same 100-set assumptions:

Brief sent	Sample approved	Ex-factory	Fast sea arrival	Regular sea arrival
December 1, 2026	About January 1	About January 21	About February 15	About February 25
January 11, 2027 (sample crosses the holiday, about 14 days added)	About February 25	About March 17	About April 11	About April 21

A December brief finishes production before the holiday. A January brief puts the sample across the shutdown and the production run after it. Our Chinese New Year ordering calendar covers the factory pause, restart and freight booking in more detail.

Spring and Mother’s Day launches

Mother’s Day 2027 in the United States is Sunday, May 9. A brand that wants 100 custom sets in its warehouse by mid-April should send the brief by early January at the latest, and by early December if it wants production finished before Chinese New Year. Anything later depends on air freight.

Spring is the season where the holiday gap does the most damage, because a sample started in January runs into the shutdown. Briefing in December gives you a sample in hand before the holiday, time to approve it calmly, and an earlier place when lines restart. If your spring line uses a custom Pantone sheet, add about 15 days for the sheet and about 10 days at the sample stage, and move the brief earlier by the same amount.

The fast path: a sample that is already approved

The quickest custom mahjong order is one whose sample is already approved. A repeat order or a second run of an approved design starts at production, which removes about four weeks of sample making, courier and review from the calendar. Rush dates are confirmed in writing per order, not offered as a standard lead time.

Our 14-day trade-show order shows the pattern: 50 custom sets left the factory 14 days after release because the sample was already signed off. If you plan several launches a year, approve the sample for the next design while the current run is in production, so the next launch only waits on production and transit.

For a first order, the sample stage cannot be skipped. One complete custom set costs USD 500 including courier, is paid separately and is never credited to production. Production minimums are 50 complete sets per tile design. The sample stage page lists what the sample includes and when its clock starts.

Copy this timeline into your brief

Send the arrival date with the brief, not after the quote. A complete brief lets us check the schedule along with the price and tell you in the first reply whether the date works, needs air, or needs a smaller first shipment. Use the configurator to fill the brief and add the date there.

Include these items:

1. Quantity per design (production starts at 50 complete sets per tile design).
2. Tile count, size and layers, face process and artwork status.
3. Sheet colors from the stock board, or Pantone targets if you accept the longer schedule.
4. Accessories and packaging, with their own minimums.
5. Destination address or port, shipping term and preferred shipping method.
6. The date the sets must arrive, and whether part of the order is needed first.

When you are ready, design your own mahjong set in the configurator and send the brief with your launch date. The manufacturing cost guide helps you compare FOB and delivered budgets for each shipping method.

Footnotes

1. National Retail Federation: Winter holidays data and trends — NRF reports holiday retail sales forecasts as November and December sales. ↩

2. Office Holidays: Chinese New Year in China — lists Chinese New Year 2027 on February 6 with public holidays on February 5–8, 2027. ↩