This is the specification sheet beside custom foundation boxes, which is where you place the order. Work down the fields, answer each one, and the quote you get back will be a real price rather than a range.
Specification fields
| Field | Options and notes |
|---|---|
| Internal dimensions | From the filled, labelled bottle with its closure fitted, sitting in the insert. State internal. |
| Bottle format | Squared glass, round glass, airless pump, dropper, tube. Each measures differently. |
| Structure | Straight tuck end, reverse tuck end, auto bottom, sleeve and tray, rigid two piece. |
| Insert | Paperboard collar, folded platform, foam cradle, moulded tray. |
| Board | Coated white board for colour accuracy, kraft for a natural read. |
| Number of colours, coverage, whether the interior prints. | |
| Finishing | Matte or gloss lamination, soft touch, spot gloss, foil stamping, embossing. |
| Shade range | Number of SKUs sharing the bottle, which determines how many artworks run off one die. |
| Master carton | Units per case, and whether the case is printed. |
Notes on the fields that cost money to get wrong
The widest point. On a squared glass bottle the widest dimension is the diagonal across the corners, not the face width. Measuring the face is the most common reason a foundation carton comes back too tight.
The closure. Measure to the top of the pump or dropper in the position it ships in. A pump that does not lock down is your height, whatever the bottle shoulder measures.
The insert. Glass in a plain cavity moves, and movement scuffs labels and chips necks. Whatever insert you choose becomes part of the internal dimension, so measure the loaded assembly.
The shade range. This is the commercial field. If twenty shades share one bottle, you tool one die and run twenty artworks. Ask to proof the lightest and the darkest artwork rather than a representative one, because the extremes are where ink behaviour on board shows up.
Finishing on beauty cartons
On a small carton, finishing moves the unit price more than board or size does. Soft touch lamination, foil stamping and embossing are the usual prestige cues and each has to be built into the artwork rather than added at proof stage. Decide the finish list before your designer finalises the file, because foil needs its own layer and embossing needs artwork that can carry it.
Commercial terms
Minimum order is 100 boxes. Price starts from about $0.48 per unit at bulk volumes and is confirmed on your written quote. The cutting die, the printing plates, design support, US shipping and a digital proof before anything prints are included, so a cavity cut to your exact bottle carries no tooling penalty against a near-standard size. Production runs from two plants, West Chicago in the US and Guangzhou in China, in three lanes: rush is expedited production plus air freight at a premium of about 7 to 25% depending on the job, standard moves by air, cost saver moves by sea. The floor is from about 7 business days, plus 2 to 5 for delivery, and specialty imported finishes can run up to about 12 weeks.
For the measuring method behind the first field, see foundation box dimensions. If your line also carries jars and tubes, the cream box guide covers those containers. Fill in the fields above, send them through the quote form, and order at custom foundation boxes.
