Industrial-grade time relays from Chinese OEM channels cleared at US$1.84-9.50 per piece on Made-in-China aggregated listings on 2026-07-09, with miniature ST3PA-style units on 30A contacts priced near US$2 FOB and pressure-switch-integrated electronic timers at US$5.50-9.50 per 10-piece MOQ [S3][S4][S5].
Quoted figures exclude tooling, certification surcharges, and freight, and the spread reflects differences in contact rating, coil voltage options, and enclosure form factor rather than pure brand margin [S3].
What a time relay actually costs at the 2026 wholesale tier
The most aggressive factory-direct listings on 2026-05-19 showed ST3PA-pattern electromagnetic time relays at US$1.84 FOB with a 5-piece minimum, scaling to US$2 FOB for 30A miniature variants with 1500VAC dielectric strength, sealed construction, and ISO 9001:2015 manufacturer certification [S5]. A separate sub-category pairing electronic time relays with mechanical pressure switches cleared at US$5.50-9.50 per piece in 10-piece MOQ lots from Yueqing Winston Electric and similar Zhejiang wholesalers [S4]. Across the broader relay category, low-end reed, machine-tool, and thermal overload relays (LRD16 pattern) clustered at US$2.50-3.00 per piece in 100-piece MOQ [S3].
These are factory-gate numbers, not landed cost. Importers should budget an additional 8-22% for ocean freight, duty, and last-mile handling on relays classified under HTS 8536-8537, plus surge surcharges on coil-voltage variants that fall outside the standard 24 VDC / 220 VAC / 110 VAC window [S3][S5].
Selection criteria that actually move the price
Three spec switches dominate the delta between a US$2 and a US$50 time relay: contact current rating, timing range and resolution, and the supply/coil voltage matrix. The ST3PA-pattern units at US$2 FOB carry 30A contacts with 1500VAC dielectric strength, which suits motor-startup and heating-element sequencing in light-industrial panels [S5]. Units that add digital timing displays, 0.1-second resolution, and multi-range dials typically clear at US$8-15 FOB in similar MOQ bands, while relay modules bundling time-delay, star-delta, and counter functions into a single 17.5 mm DIN rail housing sit in the US$15-45 wholesale band, as documented in the parallel 2026 relay module price survey [S3][S4].
Coil voltage is the second lever: 24 VDC, 110 VAC, 220 VAC, and 380 VAC variants often carry 5-15% price differentials on the same SKU, because manufacturers wind and stock separate spools. Buyers who standardise on 24 VDC for control panels and 220 VAC for motor centers typically realise the lowest unit cost [S3]. Certifications — CE, UL, CCC, and ATEX/IECEx for hazardous areas — can add 10-40% to the unit price, but the surcharge is rarely visible in MOQ listings and usually surfaces in the formal quotation cycle [S3][S4].
Time relay vs relay module vs safety relay: who pays for what
Selection logic splits on three axes: timing function only, multi-function control, or safety-rated interruption. A standalone time relay is the cheapest path when the only requirement is on-delay, off-delay, star-delta, or flasher logic, with FOB pricing in the US$2-10 band for the vast majority of industrial SKUs [S3][S4][S5]. A relay module is the right pick when the panel needs multi-channel time-delay, latching, or counter functions inside one DIN-rail footprint, and 2026 wholesale for industrial-tier modules lands at US$15-45 per channel depending on coil voltage and contact arrangement. A safety relay is mandatory where EN ISO 13849-1 PL e / SIL3 interruption of a hazardous motion is required, and that class of device typically clears at US$80-300 per piece even on volume pricing, with mandatory dual-channel monitoring, force-guided contacts, and documented failure rates.
For most machine builders the math is straightforward: if the function is timing only, specify a discrete time relay and keep the per-channel cost near US$5; if the function is logic plus timing plus isolation, consolidate into a multi-function industrial relay module; if the function is personnel protection, step up to a certified safety relay and budget accordingly [S3].
MOQ, lead time and freight: the hidden 25%
Factory-direct MOQs on Made-in-China listings in May 2026 ranged from 5 pieces (ST3PA miniature) to 100 pieces (general-purpose reed and thermal overload), with most industrial time-relay SKUs clustered at 10-piece MOQ [S3][S5]. On Made-in-China listings for ST3PA-pattern time relays from Zhejiang, the lowest published FOB price is US$1.84 per piece with a 5-piece minimum, while a separate 10-piece-minimum tier is listed at US$2.00 per piece, per S5.
Standard export packing is the default on virtually every Made-in-China relay listing; buyers who need custom labelling, OEM-branded cartons, or pre-wired harnesses should expect a 3-7% packaging surcharge and a 10-15-day longer lead time [S5]. Lead time on stock SKUs from Zhejiang and Guangdong wholesalers ran 7-15 days ex-works in the May 2026 snapshot, with 25-40 days total door-to-door on standard ocean freight to North America and EU ports [S3][S4].
What goes wrong on cheap time relays
Three failure modes dominate the warranty data on sub-US$5 time relays: contact welding on inductive loads, timing drift under thermal cycling, and coil burn-out on voltage transients. The 30A ST3PA-pattern units at US$2 FOB publish 1500VAC dielectric strength and sealed construction, which addresses the welding risk for resistive and lightly inductive loads but does not eliminate it on motor-startup inrush above 10x rated current [S5]. For motor loads exceeding 30A, the relay must be paired with a contactor, and the linear guide and crossed roller guide families used in the surrounding positioning hardware carry their own load and lubrication constraints that interact with the relay's trip timing.
Timing drift on cheap electronic timers typically runs 5-10% of setpoint over the -10 to +55°C industrial range, which is acceptable for star-delta starters and heating sequencing but not for process control where 1% setpoint accuracy is required. Buyers who need tight timing tolerance should specify digital timers with crystal or microcontroller-based time bases and budget US$10-25 per piece, not the US$2-5 electromechanical tier [S4][S5].
How to read a 2026 time-relay quote without getting burned
A defensible 2026 sourcing posture normalises on a few rules. First, anchor the FOB price to a published MOQ tier (US$1.84-2.00 for ST3PA-pattern 30A miniature, US$5.50-9.50 for pressure-switch-integrated electronic timers, US$2.50-3.00 for general-purpose reed/thermal overload at 100-piece MOQ) and treat anything more than 30% below that band as a counterfeit or relabel risk [S3][S4][S5]. Second, require the manufacturer to disclose coil voltage options, contact rating, dielectric strength, and operating temperature range in writing; ST3PA-class units at US$2 FOB should publish 1500VAC dielectric and at minimum an IP20 enclosure rating [S5]. Third, confirm the certification stack: ISO 9001:2015 is the baseline, CE is standard for EU shipment, UL or cUL is required for North American panel builders, and ATEX/IECEx is mandatory for any industrial relay deployed in a Zone 1 or Zone 2 hazardous area [S3][S5].
Fourth, run a 10-piece qualification lot before issuing a blanket PO. The 10-piece MOQ that dominates Made-in-China listings is explicitly designed for this, and the cost of the trial is trivial against the cost of a field failure on a US$5 part that takes down a US$50,000 production line [S4][S5]. Fifth, compare per-channel cost rather than per-piece cost when evaluating a relay module against a bank of discrete time relays; the module's higher sticker price is often offset by wiring labour, panel space, and commissioning time on multi-channel control cabinets, a tradeoff covered in detail in the relay module vs selector switch control logic comparison.
Trackable signals for the next sourcing cycle: the spread between the US$1.84 ST3PA floor and the US$9.50 pressure-switch-integrated ceiling as a stability gauge on Chinese OEM pricing, the percentage of listings that publish explicit CE/UL certificate IDs, and any movement in MOQ thresholds as manufacturers react to order volume through Q3 2026 [S3][S4][S5].