Sara Greasley

Sara Greasley

Sara has been in the packaging industry for over 15 years, not only on the design and manufacturing side, but also as a packaging buyer. She has intimate knowledge of all facets and perspectives of the custom packaging industry.

How Much Does Packaging Cost in 2023?

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How much does packaging cost in 2023? Most packaging professionals are hesitant to offer a quick answer. That is because packaging costs vary from one type of packaging to another. Some types of packaging are naturally more expensive than others, but all usually benefit from higher volumes in order to reach lower unit costs.

And each type of packaging has its set of components that influence costs. Labor, materials, tooling, set-up fees, design work, prototypes, testing, freight, shipping, fulfillment, storage, and of course, volume, are all aspects of packaging manufacturing that add to the unit cost of packaging.

Because there are so many variables that affect unit cost, and manufacturers, salespeople and brokers are often reluctant to give you an answer to this seemingly simple and straight forward question (and it truly is a tough question to allow for a quick definitive answer) I will attempt to offer some ball-park figures that should give you a rough idea of the cost of different types of packaging.

So…How Much Does Packaging Cost in 2023?

Boxes

There are three common types of boxes in the world of packaging, folding cartons, rigid (set-up) boxes, and corrugated boxes. Folding cartons tend to be the least expensive, followed by corrugated, then rigid boxes generally being the most expensive.

A good price for a box should be under $1 for a folding carton, and under $2-3 for a fully printed labeled corrugated box, and $4-5 for a rigid set-up box. If I were buying packaging, these would be my goals.

To get to these goals, you have to have the volume or you’ll pay 3-10x per unit. And as packaging is so intrinsically tied to volume, these comparison charts below are focussed on volume vs price. Here is where the balance lies:

Prototypes: 1-100 Units

Tooling Costs:

$0

Investment:

$200 – $500 TOTAL
Digital Print: 1-100 Units

Tooling Costs:

$0

Investment:

$380 – $480 TOTAL
Short Run: 500-1000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$250 – $300

Investment:

$2.30 – $4.40
Mid Run: 2500-5000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$350 – $500

Investment:

$0.56 – $0.96
Mid-Large Run: 10,000–25,000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$350 – $500

Investment:

$0.28 – $0.49
**Large Run: 50,000-100,000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$550 – $950

Investment:

$0.09 – $0.17

NOTE: Numbers are based on 4 color process printing on 18pt caliper of SBS paperboard. **Volumes larger than this may require a fully integrated packaging supplier to bring your unit cost even lower.

If you are looking for custom folding cartons, I proudly recommend Refine Packaging. They have years of experience in customizable packaging and provide reliable, high-quality services to startups and Fortune 500 companies alike. Visit Refine Packaging

Prototypes: 1-100 Units

Tooling Costs:

$0

Investment:

$250 – $1000 TOTAL
Digital Print: 1-100 Units

Tooling Costs:

$0

Investment:

$350 – $400 TOTAL
Short Run: 500-1000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$550 – $2000

Investment:

$2750 – $6600 TOTAL
Mid Run: 2500-5000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$550 – $2000

Investment:

$2.75 – $3.30
Mid-Large Run: 10,000-25,000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$550 – $2000

Investment:

$1.38 – $1.93
Large Run: 50,000-100,000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$550 – $2000

Investment:

$1.21 – $1.27

NOTE: Numbers are based on 4 color process printing, 80# label on 200# E – C fluted kraft material. **Volumes larger than this may require a fully integrated packaging supplier to bring your unit cost even lower.

Prototypes: 1-100 Units

Tooling Costs:

$0 – $1500

Investment:

$500 – $5000 TOTAL
Short Run: 500-1000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$550 – $1500

Investment:

$5.50 – $12
Mid/Large Run: 2500-100,000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$800 – $1200

Investment:

$5.50 – $11

NOTE: Numbers are based on 4 color process printing, 80# laminated label mounted to 60pt grey chipboard. Prices remain constant in spite of increased volume as rigid set-up boxes involves a lot of hand labor.

Flexible Packaging

Flexible packaging refers to any of the following: bags, stand-up pouches, woven poly.

Pouches and other flexible packaging have much higher minimum volume requirements than folding cartons for example. The lowest minimums that I commonly see are 5000 units for roll-stock, 10,000 units for a bread bag, and 25,000 units for a finished pouch. Price ranges can be anywhere from $0.25 for 25,000 units, and $0.75 for the 5000 roll-stock.

Prototypes: 1-10 Units

Tooling Costs:

$0

Investment:

$350 – $550 TOTAL
Short Run: 5000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$600-$1800

Investment:

$0.83 – $1.10
Mid Run: 25,000-100,000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$600 – $1800

Investment:

$0.25 – $0.59
Large Run: 100,000+ Units

Tooling Costs:

$850 – $2000

Investment:

$0.06 – $0.28

Thermoform Packaging (Blister Packaging)

Blister packs involve two types of materials: the backer cards that are paper based and the blister itself that is a thermoformed plastic container.

The thermoform is the deciding factor, where 1,000 units is extremely expensive, about $2-3 for just the thermoform tray. You may want to consider at least 5000 units to have a good price for a blister pack, and you’d still be looking at about $1.65. This is because this type of packaging also involves someone to insert your product before they seal the blister pack. So either the manufacturer of the blister packaging must do it or another company that does fulfilling and has blister pack machinery.

Prototypes: 1-10 Units

Tooling Costs:

$600

Investment:

$5 – $10 EACH
Short Run: 50,000-100,000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$4400 – $5500

Investment:

$0.09 – $0.12
Mid / Large Run: 100,000-500,000 Units

Tooling Costs:

$4400 – $5500

Investment:

$0.05 – $0.07

Additional Thoughts

Besides the number of colors printed, materials, volume, and size of your packaging, another major factor that affects unit cost is the size of the machinery.

Smaller machines require smaller, less expensive tooling. Larger machines have larger tooling costs, however, these costs usually mean a smaller total unit cost because you can fit more units on a larger piece of tooling, if that makes sense. So a larger folding carton cutting die can cut out a greater number of boxes with each motion.

The last and most significant factor is where the box is being produced, North America (USA, Canada, Mexico) or Asia (China, Taiwan, India). The charts reflects USA manufacturing only.

Any add-ons to enhance the packaging will shift all of these numbers, from 10% and up to 50% or more.

If you do not have a budget that fits any of this, your product’s volume may not be ready for custom packaging.

Also, check out my Packaging Price Spectrum. It is designed to give buyers, at a glance, a rough idea of how much packaging costs. This spectrum ranges from simple plastic bags to rigid boxes and is based on quantities of around 10,000.

This has been a part of my tutorial series called How to Buy Packaging 101. So click the link below to head back if you haven’t finished reading it yet. 🙂

How to Buy Packaging 101 Part 3 – Budgeting for Packaging Costs

40 Responses

  1. Hello Sara

    My name is Carlos and I’m looking for packaging for a product, about the size of a 3D printer, and I have no clue where to start. I’m searching for “Packaging Goods” in Google, but no companies pop on the results page. I’m located in NYC.

    Any help or contacts will be appreciated.

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Carlos, sorry for the late reply as I didn’t see your comment until today. Try looking up “digital printers” or look for big brand names like Kodak digital printers. You can try the printers associations such as http://www.printing.org as these companies sponsor/advertise at their events.

  2. Benjamin Hain says:

    Also wondering what modified atmosphere plastic packaging costs.

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Benjamin, “modified atmosphere plastic” is not a common term used in the packaging industry. When talking about packaging shelf life, the term can be “transmission rates”. To answer your question, I would need to know the actual material/shape of plastic being used – there is a lot of different types of plastics that look the same. Costs vary dramatically between these plastics, much like the car industry.

  3. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

    Hi Benjamin, typical order sizes change from company to company, based on their overhead, or material set-up. Prototype companies can start you from 1 – 250 units (maybe) done by hand, then it will make sense to move to a small “production” company that can do 1000 units comfortably. Other companies will require 3000 units to start up their machinery, and yet mid to larger companies may require 5000 units to 20,000 units for them to consider you as a potential customer. Some bottle companies may require 100,000 units to start their machinery. To answer your question and in my experience its been 5000 units.

  4. Hi Sara,

    Thank you for the information! I have a question on who would be responsible for the raw material in the packaging process.

    For example: A snack chip manufacturer wants to have its product bagged and packaged at a packaging facility. Does the packaging company have to purchase the raw material to form and package the bags, or is it up to the snack chip manufacturer? What is the more typical scenario in the packaging industry?

    Thank you

  5. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

    Hi Mark,

    There is no right or wrong answer here – either company can do it. In most cases if the manufacturer has “privatized” or licensed machinery, they will need to buy the packaging raw material from their equipments company due to the particular style that is needed is only available through them only. If snack chip company is familiar with where to go to buy their packaging, they can buy direct and ship it to the manufacturer. Its really the buyers preference/knowledge whomever the buyer is. Hope this makes sense.

  6. Hi Sara,

    I am currently doing a project for my international business class. In my project, I am shipping nail polish from OPI’s headquarters (North Hollywood, CA, USA) to a store called Rituals (Madrid, Spain). I was just wondering how much packaging would cost. I would send about 200 units monthly. The nail polish is fairly small (0.5 fluid oz). If you could help in any way that would be great. Thanks!

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Emily,

      Thanks for writing in. I need a lot more information as my mind can run wild with potential ideas, but mainly these are the questions I or anyone would need in order to better help answer your question:
      What type of packaging? A box or plastic mailer?
      How many bottles are you shipping at one time?
      Will you require an insert of some kind to hold items in place during shipment, if so what type?
      What is the size of each bottle (if different) and what would the packaging size need to be based on the bottles size? (can’t go by fluid oz as the shapes can be different).
      How many will you order at one time? This is important because I’m not interest in what you will order in the future or what you hope to order, I need to know your initial order. If it depends on the price breaks, that’s fair enough, but each different type of packaging will have different volume price breaks.

      All of these questions, unless you are working with a packaging broker, are different manufacturers. A lot of these types of packaging can also be stock items found on websites like http://www.Uline.com for small volumes and stock (readily available) items. For custom printing or custom shapes, its best to work through a packaging broker or the manufacturer themselves as you’ll need design/engineering help and a custom sample.

      Based on the quantity alone I don’t think you would require anything custom made, so potentially it can cost several hundred dollars for stock items. Use custom printed labels until your monthly volumes get bigger.

      I don’t know if I confused you more or helped 😉

  7. Tami Saucedo says:

    HI, I am starting a new company making a dry salsa. I am purchasing a filling machine that will form, fill and seal and 15 gram product. I am hoping to gain some knowledge about food packaging films and pricing. Any help would be appreciated.
    Thank you, Tami

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Tami,

      The very first company you should contact and inquire about the films should be your form fill and seal sales rep – they may not know themselves (although a good reps should know), but they would know who to contact about films and what types are good for which products.

      Or you can go straight to a manufacturer of poly film and inquire there. One of the main suppliers for food packaging is DOW http://www.dow.com/en-us/packaging/, your machine sales rep may have a contact name/number of who to speak with. These big companies are hard to attract attention when you are a small company.

      Lastly, if you are using customized and printed film, your printer would be your first resource as they have to ensure the right materials for your product’s chemistry with the film.

      There are charts that can show you which plastics are good for which things – these are known as “barrier” charts (barriers against water and oxygen to help prolong store shelf life). Here is a good presentation I came across http://www.slideshare.net/henkywibawa/barrier-properties-of-films-03-12.

      If you need additional support please contact me via my contact me page.

      Thanks,
      Sara

  8. Hi Sara! Thanks for the article. I skimmed through it but will read it thoroughly later. =) I was wondering if I could get some advice. Someone reached out about purchasing a design I did for egg packaging, actually a set of 5 designs. They said they were interested in purchasing, trying out, and testing the designs. What would be the process in charging this company? And am I selling them the rights just to try out the design? How does this work? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Look forward to hearing back! Thanks!

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Chris,

      Are your 5 designs patented? Is this just for exploring or for actual reproduction in mass quantities? If you could patent it, I would do that first.

      In packaging, nothing is really patented unless it is really unique – but even then, if one designer can create the same thing in a slightly different way, then what’s the point? Truly creative packaging is usually hard to mass produce and or require huge machinery and investments that the manufacturer may not want to pursue. Is this egg packaging easy to mass produce or will it require a lot of hand labor? When it comes down to the numbers (cost to produce), that could be the deciding factor.

      Thanks for writing in!
      Sara

      1. Hi Sara! Thanks for your response! They want to purchase to explore. They want to try it out to see if can be shipped. To be honest its not made for shipping unless its packed properly. The packaging is fragile by itself and is currently made for display. However they are interested in purchasing to try it out after seeing pics of them and mentioned if they can successfully test ship they would be interested in buying in bulk. The packaging is unique but could be remade slightly different if a designer wanted too. It is complicated though and would be hard to mass produce and could require a lot of hand labor. I don’t have experience when it comes to manufacturing but I would think it would cost money to do so because it is complicated packaging. Did you want to see it? I can share a link with you.

        In mentioned to then that I would possibly just sell them the design and the current prototypes and they got all excited. =) That tells me doing that could possibly be the wrong choice to make on my part.

        I will be speaking to a patent lawyer tomorrow for a few minutes. We’ll see how that goes.

        Thanks again for your response/s!

        Best,
        Chris

        1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

          Hi Chris,
          I have two hearts about creating something and giving it away (or selling it). If you are comfortable with selling it, then don’t be upset if something hits big. If you are concerned with the “what ifs”, then patent it and make a contract with a clause stating “if they are successful then they owe you royalties”. But you have to understand how something like that can’t have longevity because of how difficult it is to manufacture. Its more of a novelty piece that will have its day in the sun, then just as quickly be kept in the dark.

          Best of luck to you!
          Sara

          1. Hi Sara, thanks for your reply! I spoke with a package patent attorney and he gave me some advice plus your input, I’m leaning towards just selling it. I guess I can’t patent it because it’s over the time frame to get it patented since I published it to view, and copyrighting won’t be possible because of it’s simplicity I was told (although they are somewhat complicated packages, but in a certain sense has a simplicity) it’s not worth copyrighting or might not be copyrightable. But the company interested doesn’t want to pay what I’m asking, so I need to deciding if I want to lower the price or go through the headache of letting them try it out even though I only have one prototype. I think I just will sell the idea to them to do with as they please. I’m gonna think about it. Thanks again for your time and your input and great article!

            Best,
            Chris

  9. hey Sara.

    My name is Kitso. i am designing a system and want to be packaged using boxes and is 1000 units. how much can i be charged with for packaging? i want the company that is doing the prototyping to package it

  10. Hello dear Sara.
    I’m working on a new cosmetic hair products and will need to pack them. Just wanted to know if you have any idea of the costs and if you have any recommendations on where is the best country to by from.
    My products are
    500 ml hair shampoo
    500 ml hair mask
    100 ml oil treatment
    The products will be around 1000-2000 units each product.
    I also had some thoughts about making a costume made bottle for shampoo and costume made jar for the mask.
    Those will be made from plastic.
    Have any idea on how much will it cost?

    Thank you for your time.

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Gil,
      There are several points to cover here:
      1) Choose the country you will be filling and distributing. If these are 2 different countries, stick with the country and nearest location to where you are filling to buy your packaging.
      2) The volume size of your product doesn’t tell me the actual size of bottle you are looking for. Typically describe the bottle by the shape and how wide the neck area is to be,
      3) Custom bottles have a big minimum, it could be 100,000 units for a custom size plus the molds. And the mold could be $10,000 or $30,000.

      Bottle packaging have a wide range but should still be $1 or less for a shampoo bottle, and you’ll have to go through a distributor of bottles since the volume is too low to buy directly from a manufacturer. Bigger half gallon sized bottles will be about $2 and up to $5. The cap or pump is sold separately and could be an additional $.50 depending on the type ect.

      I’m uncertain of other countries, so this is a rough idea based on my experience in the USA. Asian countries will have cheaper prices, but you’ll have to budget your time accordingly because it will take a long while to arrive.

  11. Hi Sarah,

    I’m doing a university project about vaccine production and I was wondering how much would it cost (per box) a pharmaceutical company with their own packaging building to produce a packaging box which would contain 10 x 1ml vials? Is $1 per box too cheap? Do you know where I can find information for this?

    Any help and contact will be very much appreciated!

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Jane,

      A box manufacturer or packaging broker would be the people to contact for this information, but there is too little detail about the actual box itself, they would need to know dimensions (1ml doesn’t say how thick or style the vial is), and especially quantity.

      That being said, I would guess $1 is way too much unless the order is less than 1500 units. I’m assuming vaccines would be high volume – in the several tens of thousands, so a box cost should be minimal and probably less than $.25 cents.

  12. Sara, your blog has been incredibly helpful in sourcing packaging for our consumer product. Well done!

    I’m curious about your opinion on the quotes I’ve received from a few American-based custom packaging companies. We’re asking for a 18cm x 13cm x 8cm, 24pt folding carton with 4-color process for a children’s toy product. We’re open to almost any paperboard short of chipboard. But here’s the thing… we are asking for the top to be an vertical incline to prop a smartphone over the edge so it’s camera can see the floor/play space. To create this incline, one side has 8cm height, another has 17cm height, and the two adjacent sides slope from 8cm to 17cm.

    Assuming you understand these unique dimensions, I’m wondering if you think a quote of $4.99/box for 600 is reasonable (plus $342 for tooling)? According to your ballpark estimates above, it appears this quote is not even remotely competitive. How do you recommend I confront one of the manufacturers (who we like best) about the extremely high cost?

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Brendan, with only these facts, yes I’d say this is out of the norm. However, is there any hand assembly they are doing as a part of this since its a unique shape? Is there only 1 set-up on press or do you have any inserts that may require an additional set-up? Does it include shipping? If none of these factors, this company may be just too big for your current needs. This tells me that their overhead requires a starting cost of $3000. Although you may like them, you are not their ideal customer. If you walk away now, will they charge you for time/samples? If they do, it may still save you some money if you go somewhere else. If you are not crunched for time, I personally don’t think its worth negotiating at this point. The tooling fee isn’t that much, so unless they are willing to throw that in or other additional services, like free shipping or free graphic design, or a free mockup, I would keep shopping it.

      One last bit of info, if its an American company, why are the dimensions in metric? This also tells me they may be brokering instead of manufacturing it.

      1. There’s no hand assembly and there’s only one set-up press. But they said it takes 3-4 hours of “make ready” to start the job. I think you’re right in saying we are not their ideal customer.

        I chose cm metric, but good thinking on the brokering possibility.

        Thank you very much for your expert opinion!

  13. Hi,
    I’m making handmade soap and bath bomb for USA. I have two layer packing. Inner layer box carrying soap which is made of FBB folded paper box( Food grade material with lamination).
    I want to make outer box for pack of 4 inner boxes. Can I use different packaging material for outer box?
    Can it be acceptable for USA law of FDA?
    Which types of material I can use for outer box so that it can be cheap?
    Please suggest.

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Sandy,
      There isn’t enough information here and I’m not sure about FDA regulation for hand soap – is it the same as food? There are many materials to choose for an outer box and recycled folding board is generally the cheapest way to go (it’s grey on one side, white on the other side) but not very pretty. If you are shipping these individually however, you need a corrugated no question about it. The cheapest corrugated would be an unprinted E or F flute brown or kraft color, and only if these flutes are readily available in your area. Best of luck!

  14. Hello Sara;
    I’m not sure if this is still an active blog.
    I have been producing (Hand fabricating) ornamental iron planters (plant holders / stands.) typically bicycles and tricycles but other shapes also and have come to the point where I am turning away or loosing orders because of packaging expenses.
    I began this as a hobby and was unprepared for the potential need to pack and ship items.
    Example product. A bicycle is 32″ long x 14 ” wide x 29″ tall with w weight of 21 lbs.. I have been purchasing pre made corrugated boxes that approximate the size ( 200psi @ 36x36x18 @ $8.72 ea.) but the cost between paying retail at a vendor and the void filling combined with shipping costs is unattractive to customers and eats away too much profit to cover on my end. As I’m still only shipping a few each month.
    My question is what would be my best option cost wise for low order volume to be able to infill the boxes and should I seek a supplier for raw corrugated sheet and form my own boxes (trying to consider my own time here), Find another vendor that can provide boxes and fill materials cheaper on low volume orders. Or eat the retail prices for now.
    Also the product is in finished condition (welded construction) that does not break down for more compact shipping.

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Mikk,
      Sounds like you are onto a niche product people are liking – which is half the battle. The other half is having it arrive in good condition with packaging that speaks to them about your brand. Firstly, these are the things I would NOT recommend you do:
      -Create your own box
      -Have someone else fulfill – until your volume is several thousand units at a time – unless your item was small and easy for Amazon to fulfill.
      -Eat the cost – break even is best

      The best option would be to buy at least 1000 boxes at at time and store them safely in case it takes you a long time to go through them.
      The reason being is that
      a) an engineer would have guaranteed the box material to muster transit
      b) custom boxes are always better than a pre-made or “stock” box. The better fit will support the product weight during transit and protect it while reducing materials and space within the box
      c) the bulk-custom-volume in the long run will reduce the cost
      d) if you only wanted 100, 200, or 500 units it will be about the same cost as 1000 units, so might as well get more for your money even though you may not use it all.

      When shipping large heavy items, the protective packaging is usually between 1/4 and 1/2 of the cost of the unit. Corrugated is expensive, especially if using thick materials and lots of it to support the product internally. You may find that $8.72 is your best option for now.

      You can contact a corrugated converter with a structural design department, pay for an engineered sample, and tell the designer or rep that you are trying to figure out which way is more cost effective (the way you have been doing it or buying in bulk for custom boxes). If you tell them you will pay for the sample incase you don’t use their services, they are more likely to help you. This service is usually free with the order. This may be the best way to evaluate if custom is the right path for now.

  15. Hi Jesse here. Looking to get boxes for perfume. nice ones that have a good feel to them. something noticeable when its received. 100ml bottle x 2000.
    Will this be a ridged box?
    What options are they to make it fancy?

    regards
    JD

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Jesse, when it comes to folding cartons and rigid boxes, there is a massive price difference. You can get fancy looking folding cartons at half the price of a rigid. I would start with setting a unit costs budget: if your unit budget is between $1-3 for a folding carton, then you will be fine and will need to compromise on how fancy you want your box to look. If your unit cost budget is between $5-7 for 2000 units, then you can consider a rigid box.

  16. Hi Sara,

    I’m doing a research project on packaging and I am curious how much you think walmart/amazon pay for the cardboard boxes they use to ship plastic storage totes (like the ones you’d put your winter clothes or christmas decorations in). I looked at your chart and it looks like for big volumes of 100,000+ they’d cost about $1.10-$1.15. Do you think this number would change based on a box roughly 26″ x 16″ x 16″? Any help would be great!

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Hannah, the answer it is depends on the materials and process. I think you can get boxes to be at that range (and I’m assuming you are talking about a corrugated box) if you have that kind of volume and are working with an integrated manufacturer (that owns their forest and/or can make corrugated paper on the same machine, “in-line” as they print and die cut it). It also depends how much art is on the box, if you only have half of the box with art that requires a label instead of the entire piece etc., there are so many scenarios. I think finding a company with the right machinery and expressing upfront your expectations, will help the representative determine if they are a good fit or let you know what is possible with their machineries.

  17. Cristian Rojas says:

    Hi.
    I learn a lot From you blog. Thanks.
    But I have some specefics question.
    I hope you can helpme.
    I am From Chile, south América.
    I started a small bombón and chocolate bussines.
    The first option was glass, i think glass always is use full in houses and is durable packaging. But in general was bad idea, the bombons suffer damage, and was no practical.
    Clients say, the product is premium but the packaging is poor, not premium.
    My final solution was:
    Cnc láser cut wood box. (5 7/8 x 5 7/8 inch, 2.5 usd)
    Stamp logo on the tape. (marginal cost)
    Custom Ribbon and wax seal. (0.3 usd per box).
    2.8 usd per box, is 16% of the price of my product (16 bombóns box, 17 usd)
    For no retail, is reasonable?
    Thanks for your time!

    1. Sara - How to Buy Packaging Sara Greasley says:

      Hi Cristian,
      I do think the price you received is good. If you want to reduce the cost, you’ll need to order more, plain and simple. Its not uncommon for the price of a box to be up to 30% of the retail price of your product, and if its corrugated material, it can be more like 50%. You may also try using premimum paper rather than plain white paper for boxes, this would be less than a wooden box.

  18. Nicholas Matthews says:

    Hey Sara,

    I’m looking for advice on packaging chips. I consult for an NFT company and as a part of our rollout, we want to release some snack size chips. I’ll be purchasing the chips in bulk, but I need packaging that can either be customized or come white label so I can attach the branding afterward. Any suggestions?

    I’m looking for the brown paper bag packaging that tortilla chips usually come in.

    Any advice?

  19. Sandra J Zajacek says:

    Hi,
    I teach a 3-D design class at our Community College.
    I start my class with box building since boxes start with 2-D to 3-D. I talk about economy of materials in make boxes. I also talk about the need for Designers and how important it is to the sales of the product and the safety of the contents.
    I am not a box designer I just believe that 3-D design class can give these students a possible career.
    Any insight or interest you have in sharing to these students as a first hand designer would make a big impact on them, as they will know there are a gamut of jobs for artistic designers.
    I use you site here as a navigation to cost and need for good design to keep cost down.

    Questions they ask is where did you start being interested? What education did you need or path you took?
    What does it take to be a packaging designer?

    I know your very busy but your insight would be valuable to us.
    Thank you,
    Sandra
    (Adjunct Professor, I teach only one class a semester because it’s fun, I do believe in the value of 3-D designers)

    1. Hi Sandra, I would be open to a zoom call with your students. Please use the contact me form. Sara

  20. Hi Sara,
    Your blog is amazing, and it has helped us a lot! I have a new project to manufacture MDF corn hole boards. 4ft x 2ft x 0.40ft and 3ft x 2ft x 0.40ft. My idea is to use corrugated boxes. I’m a little ambitious and I’m thinking about 25K units. How can I find out this cost? Do you think this material is ideal for this product? All with 4 collor processes printing

    1. Hi Caesar, I appericiate your comments! There is no other type of packaging suitable for this project other than corrugated my friend. Corrugated comes in different paper weights, although the fluting may remaind the same, the paper the creates say a C flute can be thicker or thinner which means flexibliblity on how strong you need the packaging to be. Any corrugated factory will need to first roughly design a preliminary packaging (meaning they use the softare to build a rough layout without cutting any physcial samples) then it can be quoted based on your print requirements. I suggest you start with 1 company, then use that information to bid a couple of more factories.

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