How much does an RFID label actually cost?

Typical price range

Type	Volume price	Notes
Standard UHF label	0.04–0.18 USD	Depends on chip and size
NFC sticker (NTAG213)	0.07–0.20 USD	Printed, encoded
On-metal label	0.15–0.45 USD	Absorber layer adds cost
Washable label	0.20–0.50 USD	Textile encapsulation
Encrypted anti-counterfeit	0.25–0.80 USD	DESFire / SM7 chips

Treat these as orientation, not quotation. Volume, size and encoding change the number a lot.

The five cost drivers

1. Chip — the single biggest factor, with a 2–10× spread between models. Impinj M5 costs several times what Alien H3 does.
2. Antenna — standard designs are free; a custom antenna means tooling plus tuning time.
3. Face material and adhesive — coated paper is cheap; high-temp PET, freezer-grade or medical adhesive is not.
4. Printing — 4-colour process plus variable data (unique QR per label) pushes you onto digital printing.
5. Encoding and inspection — per-piece encoding with 100% read-back verification costs labour. Skipping it is why batches fail in the field six months later.

Three changes that cut cost fastest

1. Standardise the size. Custom dimensions waste material on every sheet. Moving to a standard size often saves 10–20%.
2. Drop the custom antenna unless the surface truly demands it. Metal and liquid need it; cardboard does not.
3. Accept roll delivery. Sheet or single-piece die-cutting adds handling cost for no functional gain.

What not to do

Do not switch to refurbished or downgraded chips to save a cent or two. The failure does not show up in your incoming inspection — it shows up in the field, in the customer's hands, months later. The rework cost is an order of magnitude more than what you saved.

What changes the quote most at your volume

• Under 10k pcs — setup and tooling dominate; unit price looks high
• 10k–100k pcs — chip price dominates; shopping chips matters
• Over 100k pcs — material efficiency and line speed dominate