Hair Extension Types: A Wholesale Buyer's Comparison

Every page ranking for this term on 20 August 2026 is written for someone choosing extensions for their own head. Google's AI Overview that day quoted a price range of $40 for temporary sets to over $2,000 for a luxury salon install, sourced from perfectlocks.com. Those are retail install prices. If you are the one filling the shelf, that number tells you nothing.

This page runs the same six categories through the questions a buyer asks: what does it cost me to hold, who buys it, and when does it come back.

Wefts

A continuous track of hair with the strands fixed along one edge. The stylist sews it into a braided row or beads it in. Wefts are the oldest format in the trade and still the largest by volume.

Machine weft

Strands sewn through a sewing machine into a fabric-backed track. Thickest of the three weft types, cheapest to produce, and it survives being cut to width. It sits highest off the scalp.

This is the workhorse. Africa moves more machine weft than any other format, and it is what a volume salon reaches for.

Hand-tied weft

Knotted strand by strand by hand. The track is thin, it lies flat, and cutting it makes it unravel, so the stylist orders the exact width.

Slower to make and priced accordingly. It sells to salons doing fine-hair work where a machine track would show.

Genius weft

Machine-sewn, then trimmed and sealed so the track lies flat like a hand-tied and still takes a cut. It removes the width restriction that makes hand-tied awkward to stock.

Demand here is worth watching. "Genius weft" returns 1,000 searches a month in the US and 260 in the UK, against 4,400 for "hair extension types" as a whole (Google Ads API, pulled 20 August 2026). For a single sub-format inside one category, that is a large share of the category's total interest.

Who buys each and at what margin

Machine weft carries the lowest unit cost and the highest volume per order. Genius weft carries the highest unit price of the three and sells to salons that have already trained on beaded rows. Hand-tied sits in between and moves slowest.

All three carry more grams per unit than any other format on this page, so the ticket per order is the largest. The salon reorders hair infrequently, which means a bigger invoice on a longer cycle.

Stock sits in machine weft and genius weft.

Tape-in

Thin panels of hair with a medical-grade adhesive strip along the top edge, applied in pairs that sandwich a section of the client's hair.

Regular tape

Hair sewn onto a fabric-backed adhesive panel. Stronger, cheaper to produce, and the panel edge shows if the client parts directly over it.

Invisible tape

Also sold as PU tape or injected tape. The strands are set into a thin polyurethane skin so the panel reads as scalp. More expensive to make, and it is what the premium end of the US and EU market asks for.

Reusability and reorder rate

The hair is reusable. The adhesive is not. At each move-up the stylist strips the old tape and re-tapes the same panels, typically two or three times before the hair retires.

That gives you two revenue lines on different clocks: tape tabs on a four to eight week cycle, hair on a much longer one. Distributors who only stock the hair leave the tab revenue on the table.

Tape has the lowest skill barrier of any salon-installed format, which is why new stylists start here. Smaller ticket, more orders per year. The full comparison against weft and bonds is in weft versus tape-in versus keratin.

Stock sits in regular tape hair.

Keratin bonds

Individual strands tipped with keratin, attached either by heat fusion or clamped in a bead. Sold by the strand, usually in packs of 100 or 200.

I-tip, U-tip, V-tip, flat tip and nano tip

A full head runs into the hundreds of strands, so the unit maths works differently from every other format here.

Which markets buy which

Europe is the bond market. UK, Netherlands and German salons have run keratin fusion for years and the stylist base is certified on it. I-tip and nano tip move hardest there.

The US skews to weft and tape. Africa moves very little bond volume, because the install hours per head do not fit the price point.

Bonds carry the highest stock risk on this page. Bought against a named customer they are fine. Bought speculatively they sit.

Ask us for the current bond spec sheet before you commit to a pack size. Stock sits in keratin hair extensions.

Clip-in

Wefts with pressure-sensitive clips sewn along the track. The wearer fits them without a stylist.

Regular and seamless

Regular clip-in uses a machine weft base. Thicker, cheaper, and the base can be felt through fine hair.

Seamless clip-in sets the hair into a thin PU base, the same principle as invisible tape. Flatter against the head and priced higher.

Why clip-in is the highest-margin retail line

No stylist sits between you and the wearer. That removes the training barrier, the appointment, and the salon's cut, which is why clip-in carries the widest retail spread of any format on this page.

It is also the format that suits a distributor building a direct-to-consumer brand. Private-label packaging, a colour range, and a set weight are the whole product decision. Custom packaging, hangtags and brand identity are available at MOQ.

The trade-off is reorder rate. A clip-in set is a one-off purchase for most wearers and there is no move-up appointment bringing them back. High margin per unit, low repeat.

Stock sits in clip-in hair extensions.

Bulk hair

Loose hair with no weft, no tip and no clip. It ships as a hank, tied at one end.

What it is for

Bulk is an input, not a finished product. Salons and small manufacturers buy it to make something else.

Braiding and custom production

Two buyers dominate. Braiders use it for crochet, micro braids and hand-tied installs where a track would be in the way. Small manufacturers buy it to produce their own wefts, bonds or wigs under their own label.

For a distributor, bulk is the lowest-complexity line to hold: no hardware, no adhesive, no clip to fail. It is also the one where the hair itself is fully exposed, since there is no construction to hide behind. Buyers judge it on cuticle and consistency alone.

Stock sits in bulk hair extensions.

Wigs, closures and frontals

A closure covers a small parting area. A frontal runs ear to ear. A full wig is a complete unit on a cap.

Lace types

HD lace is the thinnest and the most transparent against the scalp, and it tears more easily in unskilled hands. Swiss lace sits a grade below on transparency and holds up better to repeat installs. Transparent lace is the sturdiest and the most visible.

Closures and frontals sell alongside bundles. Treat them as an attachment to a weft line and they move; shelve them on their own and they sit.

MOQ reality for wigs

Wigs are the most labour-intensive item a hair factory makes, and the minimum order is where buyers get surprised. Ours is one wig, or one closure or frontal, at normal price, so a buyer can hold a finished unit in their hands before committing to a run.

This is also where custom colour decides the sale. We bleach, dye and colour in-house at our factory, and buyers pick from a physical colour ring we ship before the order is finalised. Most Vietnamese factories only stock natural black, which forces the salon to lift and tone in-house at the cost of cuticle damage.

Stock sits in Vietnamese lace closures and frontals and HD lace wigs.

What to stock first if you are new

Start with one format and one texture. The most common mistake a new distributor makes is holding six categories thin instead of one category deep, which leaves every customer half-served.

Pick by who your buyers are:

Our numbers: minimum order for testing is 1 bundle at 100g, 1 wig, or 1 closure or frontal, at normal price. Wholesale volume gets a better per-unit price, so send your quantity on WhatsApp for the tier. Lead time is 1 to 2 days for in-stock items and 10 to 12 working days for custom production.

We make every format on this page at our own factory in Vietnam. For a distributor that matters at the point where a customer orders across categories, because the hair in the weft row, the tape panels and the closure comes off one sorting line and lifts the same way. A vendor who buys in half their catalogue cannot promise that, and the salon finds out at the toner stage.

Sourcing is step one of our 6-step production process. Channel NewsAsia and NPO Netherlands have both filmed inside our factory. Both broadcasts are public: AZ Hair on Channel NewsAsia and our NPO Netherlands feature. You can also watch our factory tour without asking anyone for permission first.

Frequently asked questions

What are all the types of hair extensions?

Weft (machine, hand-tied, genius), tape-in (regular and invisible), keratin bonds (I-tip, U-tip, V-tip, flat tip, nano tip), clip-in (regular and seamless), bulk hair, and wigs with closures and frontals. Halo and ponytail pieces sit alongside clip-in as wearer-fitted accessories.

What are the four methods of hair extensions?

Consumer guides usually group them as clip-in, tape-in, sew-in or weave, and fusion or bonded. That grouping describes install method. A distributor buys by product format, which splits differently, because bulk hair and closures have no install method of their own.

Which type of hair extensions are the best?

There is no single answer, and any page giving you one is selling that format. Weft holds the most grams per unit. Tape installs fastest. Bonds give the most placement control. Clip-in needs no stylist. The right one depends on who installs it and how often they come back.

Which is the least damaging type of hair extension?

Damage comes from weight per section, removal technique and whether the client returns on schedule, more than from the format itself. Bead-based methods with no heat and no adhesive give the stylist the most control over all three of those.

Which hair extension method is the healthiest?

Same answer. A well-fitted tape set is gentler than a badly fitted weft row, and the reverse is equally true. Install skill outranks format.

Which type sells fastest wholesale?

Tape-in, on order frequency. Machine weft, on volume shipped. Which one moves fastest for you depends on whether your customers are new stylists or volume salons.

What is the difference between machine weft and hand-tied?

Machine weft is sewn on a machine into a thicker track that can be cut to width. Hand-tied is knotted by hand into a thin flat track that unravels if cut, so it has to be ordered at the width required.

What is genius weft?

A machine-sewn weft trimmed and sealed so it lies flat like a hand-tied weft and still survives being cut. It gives a flat row without the width restriction.

Which extension type has the best margin for a distributor?

Clip-in carries the widest retail spread because no stylist takes a cut. Weft carries the largest value per wholesale order. Tape generates the most orders per customer per year. Pick the one that matches your cash cycle.

What MOQ should I expect per type?

Our testing minimum is 1 bundle at 100g, 1 wig, or 1 closure or frontal, at normal price. Tape panels and bond strands are sold in packs and work differently, and wholesale tiers improve the per-unit price. Send your quantity on WhatsApp for the current figures.

Can one factory make all of these?

Few do. Most specialise in one or two formats and buy in the rest, which is where cross-category colour and texture mismatch comes from. We produce all of them in the same building.