A 2026-06 DirectIndustry supplier index lists 53 manufacturers offering 140 deep groove ball bearing products, with 122 ball-bearing SKUs and 125 steel-cage variants dominating the catalog mix [S1]. Metric 6000-series remains the global reference, with bore sizes from 3 mm to 400 mm and outside diameters from 7 mm to 600 mm across premium suppliers such as Timken, SKF, Schaeffler, NSK, NTN and NKE [S2].
The 6001 (12 x 28 x 8 mm) and 6208 (40 x 80 x 18 mm) sizes are the two most-traded metric benchmarks on Chinese B2B platforms, with formal export packing, carton + pallet, and a stated delivery window of 15-25 work days for mixed-container orders [S3][S8]. For an overview of how bore, series, seal and cage choices reshape cost, see the selection brief on Deep Groove Ball Bearing Selection: Bore, Series, Seal and Cage Logic.
Price Bands and the Variables That Move Them
On Made-in-China and Okorder listings, chrome-steel 6000-series pieces cluster in a US$1-10 FOB band at 1-piece MOQ, while 6200-6300 mid-series typically prints US$3-20 [S5][S8]. The 6208 reference (40 x 80 x 18 mm) ships against an explicit 15-25 work day lead time, signalling that the FOB quote is ex-factory rather than ex-stock [S8]. Reference the ball bearing encyclopedia entry for the dimensional system that fixes these code numbers.
Three levers swing the quote more than any other: bore diameter (a 6001 at 12 mm bore sits at the low end, a 6208 at 40 mm bore roughly doubles the unit price), cage material (steel pressed vs brass machined, where brass adds 20-40% on identical dimensions), and seal configuration (open < 2Z < 2RS in both cost and torque) [S2][S3]. The Timken 6000-series description specifies brass or plastic cages, super-finished raceways and a preferred C3 internal clearance for electric-motor duty, all of which are quoted as upcharges over the baseline open bearing [S2].
Material and Tolerance Cost Stack
Across the DirectIndustry catalog, steel is fitted to 125 of 139 deep-groove SKUs, ceramic to 11, with rubber, plastic, brass, copper, urethane, nylon, polymer and resin filling the remainder [S1]. Hybrid ceramic (steel rings + ceramic balls) typically doubles unit cost versus full-steel at the same 6204 dimension; full-ceramic (rings and balls in Si3N4 or ZrO2) lands at 5-10x for the same bore and is sourced almost exclusively through specialty channels such as GRW, Kaydon and Boca Bearing [S1].
Tolerance grades follow ABEC 1 / ABEC 3 / ABEC 5 / ABEC 7 / ABEC 9 (or the ISO equivalent P0 / P6 / P5 / P4 / P2). A 6204 stepping from ABEC 3 to ABEC 7 on a premium European brand commonly multiplies the unit price by 3-5x due to grinding, gauging and clean-room overhead, while a Chinese brand on the same jump typically multiplies by 2-3x [S2]. For comparison, the precision-engineered linear guide market applies the same ABEC ladder with a steeper premium for the ABEC 5 to ABEC 7 step.
Seal, Shield and Lubrication Premiums
An open 6204 2RS ships at the catalog baseline; the same part with 2Z metal shields adds 5-10%, while 2RS rubber contact seals add 10-20% because of the molded seal groove and grease pack [S2]. Premium low-noise electric-motor grades carry factory-packed premium grease (e.g. polyurea or ester-based) and super-finished raceways, both of which Timken flags as standard features of its long-life, low-torque motor line [S2].
Snap-ring (NR) and flanged outer race executions add another 5-15% on identical bore/OD because of the extra machining or pressing step. The economic logic mirrors the crossed roller guide market, where each added sealing or pre-load feature compounds the same way across the bill of materials.
MOQ, Lead Time and Logistics Cost
DirectIndustry listings show MOQ typically anchored at 1 piece for sample / catalogue buys and at full-pallet quantities for OEM contract runs [S1][S2]. Okorder's 6208 listing sets the lead time at 15-25 work days for export packing (carton, then pallet when required) [S8]. Linqing Xinda Bearing and Zhongtuo Bearing both list deep groove ball bearings as a main product alongside motor, spherical and tapered roller lines, with the same kind of mixed-pallet export workflow [S6][S7].
Sea freight from Shanghai or Ningbo to Long Beach or Rotterdam on a 20-foot FCL runs roughly US$2,000-4,000 in mid-2026 spot terms; for a 6204 at roughly 5 kg per 100 pieces, a full pallet holds around 1,000 pieces, so landed cost per piece is dominated by unit price for anything below 2,000-piece shipments. Compare this with the logistics model used for aluminum extrusion pricing, where the same FCL economics apply but unit weight is higher.
Total Cost of Ownership: Price Is Not the Only Number
For an electric-motor duty point at 3,600 rpm, a US$3 chrome-steel 6205 2RS C3 and a US$12 premium-brand 6205 2RS C3 will both meet the fit, but the premium unit typically delivers 2-3x the L10 life under contamination exposure, cutting the cost per operating hour well below the baseline [S2]. Timken's motor-grade spec list, including super-finished raceways, C3 clearance and premium grease, is engineered around that exact trade-off [S2].
For a high-cycle conveyor or fan application, the total cost calculation is dominated by unplanned-downtime cost, so the economic optimum typically lands on a US$5-15 mid-tier unit with documented ABEC 3 / ISO P6 conformance rather than the cheapest open-bearing 2RS. The same total-cost discipline shows up in industrial spring sourcing, where unit price is rarely the deciding factor once cycle life is counted in.
Selection Quick Map
For light-duty (appliance, hand tool, toy, e-bike hub at sub-500 W): 6000-6204 chrome-steel 2RS, open tolerance, FOB US$1-5 [S3][S5]. For general industrial (fan, pump, conveyor, small gearbox): 6204-6208 chrome-steel 2RS C3, ABEC 3, FOB US$5-15, with 15-25 work day lead time [S8]. For electric-motor OEM: 6204-6210 with brass cage option, C3, super-finished raceways, premium grease, FOB US$10-30 [S2].
Cross-reference the spec and load-rating logic in the ball screw and ball spline encyclopedia pages when sizing a deep groove ball bearing as a back-up or locating element in a rotary table, since the dynamic-load and speed limits interact the same way.