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The skincare launch playbook: the 60 days before and the first 90 days after

A week-by-week plan for a new skincare brand, from the waitlist and seeding before the stock lands to the reorder decision at day 90, with the KPIs to watch and what each sales channel leaves you per unit.

Short answer

Use the 60 days while your stock is made and shipped to build demand: a waitlist, product seeding with 20 to 50 creators or customers, a bank of at least 30 pieces of content, finished listings and a legal reviews plan. Launch to the waitlist first, then spend days 1 to 30 collecting reviews and fixing conversion, days 31 to 60 scaling the content, ads and affiliates that work, and days 61 to 90 placing the reorder and choosing the next channel or product. Price for your lowest-margin channel: from a USD 29 serum, Amazon's 15% beauty referral fee takes USD 4.35 before FBA fees, TikTok Shop takes a referral fee plus the creator commission you set, and a retailer buys at about half of retail.

The plan at a glance, week by week

Day 0 is the day your stock is in your warehouse, 3PL or Amazon FBA and orders can ship. With a library formula at KoreanOEM, production takes about 4 to 5 weeks after sample approval, QC and documents about 1 week, and shipping 5 to 10 days by air or 4 to 6 weeks by sea, so the pre-launch window usually starts when production starts.

Weeks	Stock status	Main jobs
Weeks -8 to -5	In production	Import setup, warehouse or FBA plan, waitlist live, listings and product page drafted, creator list built, content shoot planned
Weeks -4 to -1	QC, then shipping	Content bank finished, listings built, seeding boxes packed, emails written, tracking tested, ads built but paused
Week 1	Received	Count stock, ship seeding, email the waitlist, launch posts, answer everything
Weeks 2 to 4	Selling	Collect first reviews, fix conversion, small ad tests on the best organic content
Weeks 5 to 8	Selling	Scale winners, affiliates and email flows, set the reorder point
Weeks 9 to 13	Selling, reorder in production	Reorder, bundles or larger size, second channel or market, decide on product two, 90-day review

The same plan as a tick list is in the templates (download the launch checklist .txt there), and a printable timeline and budget worksheet are in the free launch kit PDF.

Pre-launch: the 60 days before stock lands

Import and operations first

The most common launch delay is not marketing; it is stock stuck at the port. Before the goods ship, have the importer of record, customs broker and bond (US), or EORI (UK and EU), and the regulatory roles in place (see business setup by country). Choose where stock goes: your own space, a 3PL or Amazon FBA (see 3PL and fulfillment). Write the return policy and a short FAQ, and set up one inbox for customer service.

The waitlist

Build one page
The product, the one-line promise, photos or a mockup, the price and the expected launch date, with an email signup. On Shopify this is a password page or a coming-soon product page (see selling on Shopify).
Get consent right
In the US, the FTC's CAN-SPAM guide requires a working opt-out, your postal address and honoring opt-outs within 10 business days. In the UK and EU, marketing emails to individuals generally need their consent, so use an unticked signup box and say what you will send.
Give a reason to join
Early access, a launch gift, or a first-batch number. Avoid fake scarcity: if you say "limited", it must be true.
Drive traffic
Your own social accounts, the creators you seed, your personal network, and a small paid test. Write down the signup rate: it is your first real demand number.

Seeding

Seeding means sending free product to people who might post about it. Pick 20 to 50 creators or real customers in your niche whose audience matches yours, not the biggest accounts. Send product from the first batch as soon as it lands (or samples before, if you have them), with a short note on the product, the key claim and how to use it. Ask, do not require, that they post. Under the FTC's endorsement rules, a creator who received free product must disclose it clearly (for example "#ad" or "gifted"), and your brief should tell them so. Never give them claims your product cannot support. More in influencer marketing and UGC creators.

The content bank

Have at least 30 pieces ready before day 0, so you can post daily for the first month without scrambling: product photos on white and in context, texture swatches, a 15-second "how to use" video, an ingredient explainer, a founder story, and the first creator videos. Short vertical video does most of the work on TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts (see Instagram and Reels and YouTube). Check every caption against what you can claim and use before-and-after images only within the rules in before-and-after photos and reviews.

The reviews plan

Reviews decide marketplace sales, so plan how you will get honest ones legally:

The FTC's rule on consumer reviews and testimonials (in force since October 2024) bans fake reviews, buying positive reviews, and offering any incentive on the condition that the review is positive or expresses a particular sentiment. Disclosure does not fix a conditioned incentive.
Amazon Vine sends free units to selected reviewers for honest reviews. It needs Brand Registry, FBA and a product with fewer than 30 reviews; check the current enrollment fee in Seller Central. Do not offer anything else in exchange for Amazon reviews.
On your own site, a post-purchase email that asks every buyer for a review (not only happy ones) is the simplest route.
Never post reviews written by staff, friends or family as if they were customers, or hide negative reviews.

Listings and tracking

Build and proof every listing before day 0: title, images, ingredients, directions, warnings, size, barcode, and the same claims as the label. For Amazon, apply for Brand Registry as soon as your trademark is filed and prepare A+ content (see selling on Amazon and Amazon and TikTok Shop requirements). For TikTok Shop, set up the shop, the product listing and the affiliate plan (see selling on TikTok Shop). Test your analytics, ad pixels and conversion tracking with a real test order.

Launch week, day by day

Day 0: receive and check
Count the stock against the packing list, check batch numbers and expiry dates, and photograph any damage for the carrier.
Day 1: seeding and test orders
Ship the seeding boxes. Place a test order on every channel and check the unboxing, the insert and the tracking emails.
Day 2: email the waitlist
Send the launch email to the waitlist first, with the early-access offer you promised.
Day 3: go public
Launch posts on every account, founder story, and the first creator content as it comes in. Turn the listings live on marketplaces.
Days 4 to 7: answer everything
Reply to every comment, message, question and review within a day. Watch sales, stock and any complaint or reaction report daily, and log each one.

Days 1 to 30: reviews and conversion

Collect reviews: post-purchase review emails, Vine on Amazon, and the creators' feedback. Reply publicly and politely to negative reviews.
Fix conversion before buying traffic: if people visit but do not buy, change the first image, the title, the price display or the first lines of the description, one at a time.
Start small ad tests on the organic posts and creator videos that already perform, with a fixed daily budget. See Meta ads and Amazon PPC.
Log every adverse reaction. In the US, MoCRA requires the brand to report serious adverse events to the FDA within 15 business days and to keep records of all adverse event reports. See recalls and adverse events.
Review KPIs weekly (table below) and write down what you change.

Days 31 to 60: scale what works

Scale winners, stop losers: double the budget behind the content, creators and keywords with the best return; switch off the rest.
Open the affiliate program: on TikTok Shop, set a commission and invite creators who already post in your niche; on your own site, use an affiliate or referral app.
Set up email and SMS flows: welcome, post-purchase, how-to-use, review request and replenishment timed to when the product runs out. See email and SMS flows and subscriptions and refills.
Set the reorder point: units you sell per week times the weeks of lead time, plus a safety buffer. If you sell 30 units a week and the reorder takes about 7 weeks to land, the reorder point is about 210 units plus your buffer. See cash flow, inventory and reorders.
Check margin per channel after every fee (next sections). Move effort to the channel that leaves the most per unit at a volume you can sustain.

Days 61 to 90: reorder and expand

Place the reorder when stock hits the reorder point. A larger run lowers the unit price; at KoreanOEM it is about 20% lower at 1,000 units than at 500.
Raise order value: a bundle with a second product, a larger size, or a gift with purchase.
Choose the next channel or market: add Amazon, TikTok Shop, Google Shopping (see Google Shopping), Pinterest (see Pinterest), Walmart (see Walmart), wholesale (see wholesale and distributors), or a pop-up (see trade shows and pop-ups).
Decide on product two from what customers ask for, using the rules in hero product and SKUs.
Write the 90-day review: what sold, at what cost per customer, through which channel, and the plan for the next 90 days.

KPIs to watch

Track these weekly. We do not give target numbers here, because good values differ by channel, price and niche; compare each week with your own previous weeks.

KPI	What it is	What it tells you
Sessions and sources	Visits to your store or listing, by where they came from	Which content, creators and ads bring people
Conversion rate	Orders divided by sessions	Whether the page, price and reviews persuade
Average order value (AOV)	Revenue divided by orders	Whether bundles and sizes work
Customer acquisition cost (CAC)	Marketing spend divided by new customers	What each customer costs to win
ROAS, ACoS and TACoS	Ad revenue per ad dollar; on Amazon, ad spend as a share of ad sales (ACoS) and of total sales (TACoS)	Whether ads pay, and how dependent sales are on them
Repeat purchase rate	Share of customers who order again	Whether the product earns loyalty; the basis for adding SKUs
Reviews and rating	Number of reviews and average stars	Social proof, and early warning of product issues
Sell-through and weeks of cover	Units sold per week; weeks of stock left	When to reorder; whether stock will expire
Contribution margin per order	Revenue minus product cost, fees, shipping and ad cost per order	Whether you make money on each order
Complaints, returns and reactions	Count and reason	Product, label or expectation problems; adverse events you must log

Pricing and margin per channel

Each channel takes a different cut. Set one retail price that works on your lowest-margin channel, rather than a different price per channel. The table uses a USD 29 serum and the platforms' published fees as of October 2026; product cost, shipping and marketing come out of what is left. For the full method, see wholesale, retail and DTC pricing and how to price skincare.

Channel	What the platform or buyer takes (as of October 2026)	On a USD 29 serum	What else comes out
Your own store (DTC, Shopify)	Plan fee (Shopify Basic is USD 39 a month in the US on monthly billing) plus card processing, which depends on plan and country; Shopify adds 2% on Basic if you use a third-party payment provider instead of Shopify Payments	Close to USD 29 before card fees	Shipping, packaging, returns, and all the marketing to bring buyers
Amazon US with FBA	Referral fee for Beauty, Health and Personal Care: 8% if the total price is USD 10 or less, 15% above (minimum USD 0.30); Professional plan USD 39.99 a month; FBA fulfillment fee by size, weight and price; monthly storage fee	Referral fee USD 4.35, then the FBA fee from Amazon's rate card	Freight to FBA, ads (PPC), Vine, storage
TikTok Shop US	Referral fee per order: TikTok's published category table listed 6% for most categories, and sellers reported an increase to 8% from August 2026, so check the rate in your Seller Center; plus the affiliate commission you set for creators	Referral USD 1.74 at 6% (USD 2.32 at 8%), plus, for example, USD 4.35 at a 15% creator commission	Shipping, free samples to creators, ads
Wholesale to shops	The retailer buys at about 50% of retail, because retailers typically need a 50% margin (Faire)	You receive about USD 14.50	Shipping to the shop; some retailers also charge for marketing, damages or returns
Distributor	The distributor buys below wholesale and keeps a margin on top; terms vary by market and services	With an example 30% distributor margin, about USD 10.15	Often you pay freight to the distributor and support marketing in the market

Example: why price for the lowest-margin channelIf your landed cost (product, freight and duty) is a fifth of retail, a USD 29 serum has about USD 5.80 of landed cost. Through a distributor you receive about USD 10.15, leaving about USD 4.35 before your own overheads; on Amazon you keep USD 24.65 after the referral fee but still pay FBA, storage and ads. If the distributor line is too thin, raise the retail price, lower landed cost with a larger run, or skip distributors for now. Amazon's Revenue Calculator and your Shopify and TikTok Shop fee statements give the exact figures for your product.

Common mistakes

Starting marketing on the day stock arrives, instead of building the waitlist and content during production.
Booking freight before the importer of record, bond or EORI is ready, so stock sits at the port on launch day.
Giving creators free product without telling them to disclose it, or giving them claims the product cannot support.
Offering discounts or gifts for positive reviews, which the FTC rule bans, or asking friends and family to review.
Spending on ads before the product page converts and has reviews.
Setting a price that works on your own site but loses money on Amazon or wholesale.
Missing the reorder point and running out in week 8, just as reviews and ads start working.
Not logging customer reactions, which MoCRA requires US brands to record and, if serious, report.

Checklist

Import setup and warehouse or FBA plan ready before the goods ship.
Waitlist page live with a clear consent checkbox and a realistic date.
20 to 50 creators or customers chosen and a seeding brief with disclosure instructions.
At least 30 pieces of content ready before day 0.
Reviews plan written: post-purchase emails, Vine, no conditioned incentives.
Every listing proofed against the label: ingredients, size, claims, barcode.
Tracking and pixels tested with a real order.
Launch week plan: stock check, seeding, waitlist email, public launch, replies within a day.
Adverse event and complaint log set up.
Weekly KPI sheet set up with the ten KPIs above.
Margin per channel calculated from the platforms' current fee pages.
Reorder point and reorder date set by day 45.
90-day review booked in the calendar.

How KoreanOEM helps

KoreanOEM is a Korean skincare OEM and private label manufacturer: we develop your formula and produce it in Korea. Our timeline is built so you can plan the launch around it.

A predictable timeline: production about 4 to 5 weeks after sample approval, QC and documents about 1 week, then 5 to 10 days by air or 4 to 6 weeks by sea. Reorders are faster. Order status and documents are in My page.
Documents marketplaces ask for: COA, MSDS (SDS), specification and stability data for ready library formulas, and the US MoCRA product listing filed by our team for USD 150 per SKU.
Cheaper reorders: about 20% lower per unit at 1,000 units than at 500, and about 35% lower at 3,000.
Samples for seeding plans: single-dose sachets from 3,000 units, and minis and sets through packaging options.
Influencers launching their own line: see KoreanOEM for creators.

Get a free quote Order a sample box

Frequently asked questions

What should I do before launching a skincare brand?

In the 60 days before stock arrives, set up the importer and warehouse, build a waitlist, seed product with 20 to 50 creators or customers, prepare at least 30 pieces of content, finish and proof your listings, and write a legal reviews plan. Then launch to the waitlist first.

What should a skincare brand focus on in the first 90 days?

Days 1 to 30 on reviews and fixing conversion, days 31 to 60 on scaling the content, creators, affiliates and ads that work, and days 61 to 90 on the reorder, raising order value and choosing the next channel or product.

How much does Amazon take on a skincare sale?

As of October 2026, Amazon US charges a Beauty, Health and Personal Care referral fee of 8% on items with a total price of USD 10 or less and 15% above that (minimum USD 0.30), plus the FBA fulfillment fee by size, weight and price, storage, and USD 39.99 a month for a Professional plan.

What are TikTok Shop's fees for beauty sellers?

A referral fee per order plus the affiliate commission you set for creators. TikTok's published US table listed 6% for most categories, and sellers reported a rise to 8% from August 2026, so check the rate applied in your Seller Center before you set prices.

What wholesale price should I give retailers?

About 50% of your retail price is the usual starting point, because retailers typically need a 50% margin; Faire, a wholesale marketplace, describes the same rule. Distributors buy below that and add their own margin.

Can I give free products in exchange for reviews?

You can give free product and ask for an honest review, as long as the review is not conditioned on being positive and the reviewer discloses the free product. The FTC's rule bans incentives conditioned on positive or particular sentiment, and on Amazon the allowed route for free-product reviews is Amazon Vine.

When should I reorder my first batch?

When your stock falls to the reorder point: the units you sell per week times the weeks it takes a reorder to arrive, plus a safety buffer. With production, QC and air freight, plan roughly 6 to 8 weeks, and longer by sea.

Sources

Checked against these sources in October 2026. Rules and fees change; check with the authority or your importer before you sell.