Wallets are deceptively hard to size because they are soft, uneven and sold on presentation. The box has to be tight enough that the wallet does not slide around on opening, and loose enough that a packer can seat it in one motion. Here is how to land on that.
Measure the wallet as it ships
Close the wallet, stuff it the way it will be presented (many brands ship with a card or a tissue insert inside), and measure:
- Length and width of the closed wallet, at the outer edges of the leather.
- Thickness at the thickest point. On a bifold that is usually the folded spine. On a trifold it is one of the fold lines. On a card holder the thickness is nearly uniform and much smaller.
- Thickness at the thinnest point, because the difference between the two tells you whether the wallet will sit flat in the box or tilt. If it tilts noticeably, a shaped insert is worth specifying.
Add roughly 2 to 3 mm of clearance on the length and width and a little more on the depth than you would for a hard product, because leather compresses and relaxes. Write the result as internal length x width x depth and mark it internal on the quote.
Rigid box or folding carton
This decision changes the sizing arithmetic, not just the price.
| Rigid two piece | Folding carton | |
|---|---|---|
| Wall thickness | Chipboard typically specified in the 1.5 to 3 mm range, on both sides, so internal and external differ noticeably | Board in points, one point being a thousandth of an inch, so the wall barely affects your arithmetic |
| Feel | Weight in the hand, a lid that lifts with resistance | Light, retail, ships flat |
| Best use | Gifting, premium leather goods, boxed sets | Volume retail, multipacks, replacement and refill lines |
| Freight | Ships assembled, so it takes more space | Ships flat, far denser to freight |
Insert or no insert
A wallet in a bare box slides. Three common fixes: a foam pad underneath that lifts the wallet to the lid and takes up the tilt, a die cut paperboard platform with a retaining band, or a fabric or tissue wrap that fills the slack and adds an opening step. Each of these consumes internal depth, so decide before you fix the dimensions rather than after. If you want the wallet visible in retail, a window on the lid works, but keep the window smaller than the wallet footprint so the edges are hidden.
Ordering, minimum and lanes
Minimum order is 100 boxes. Pricing starts from about $0.48 per unit at bulk volumes and is confirmed on your written quote, since rigid construction, foil and inserts push above that floor. Die and plates, design support, US shipping and a digital proof before anything prints are included, so cutting to your exact wallet costs nothing extra in tooling.
Turnaround is stated per product in three lanes: rush (expedited production plus air freight, a premium of about 7 to 25% depending on the job), standard by air, and cost saver by sea. The floor is from about 7 business days, plus 2 to 5 days for delivery. Rigid and specialty imported items can run up to about 12 weeks, which is the number to plan a gifting season against. We produce in West Chicago, US, and Guangzhou, China.
Send the closed wallet's three measurements and tell us whether you want rigid or carton, and we will confirm the internal size and the insert on a written quote at /quote/. To order the format itself, see wallet boxes.
