The reason low minimums matter is not that small orders are cheap per unit. They are not. It is that a 100 unit minimum lets you find out whether a box is right before you own a year of it. This page sets out exactly what 100 units gets you and where the real costs sit.
What 100 units covers
One design, one size, printed to your artwork on the board you specify. Change the size and it is a second design with its own minimum, because a different size means a different die. Change the artwork on the same dieline and you are in the same territory as a reprint, which is far less disruptive. That distinction is the single most useful thing to understand when planning a first order: dielines are the expensive part of variety, artwork is not.
Included, and not billed separately
| Item | Status on an iBox order |
|---|---|
| Die (the cutting tool for your box shape) | Included |
| Printing plates | Included |
| Design support and dieline setup | Included |
| US shipping | Included |
| Digital proof before anything prints | Included |
This matters most at low volume. Tooling billed as a separate line lands hardest on a 100 unit order, because it is spread over the fewest units. With the die and plates included, the money in a small order goes into board and print.
Why the per unit price still moves
Press setup, makeready and the first sheets of a run cost the same whether you print 100 boxes or 10,000. So the fixed portion of the job divides across fewer units at 100, and the per unit price is higher. Pricing starts from about $0.48 per unit at bulk volumes, and where your job lands depends on quantity first, then board area, board grade, print coverage and any finish. Ask for two or three quantity breaks on one quote. Seeing 100, 500 and 1,000 side by side tells you more about your own economics than any general guidance can.
Making a small order behave like a big one
- Standardise sizes. Three products that fit one box is one die and one minimum, not three.
- Put variable information on a label or a sticker, not on the printed board.
- Keep seasonal changes to a sleeve or a band around a standard box.
- Order the size you are confident about deeper, and the experimental one at the minimum.
Lead time and how to start
Turnaround is stated per product across three lanes: rush is expedited production plus air freight, standard is air, and cost saver is sea, which is the cheapest and slowest. The floor is from about 7 business days plus 2 to 5 for delivery, and specialty imported items can run up to about 12 weeks. Rush carries a premium of about 7 to 25% depending on the job. Production runs at two plants, West Chicago in the US and Guangzhou in China.
There is no sample kit to purchase. If you want to see or feel material before committing, raise it in the quote conversation and we will tell you what is possible for your job.
If you are packaging a brand new product, custom packaging for startups covers the order of decisions. To see how the numbers are built, read how much custom boxes cost. When you are ready, send your size and quantity through the quote form.
