A custom packaging quote is a specification with a price on it. If it is only a price, it is not a quote, because two suppliers quoting the same number can be describing quite different boxes. Here is what should be on the document, and what is included in ours.
The line items that should be named
| Line | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Unit price at your quantity | Priced at the quantity you asked for, with the quantity stated. Custom packaging is quantity-sensitive, so a price without a quantity means nothing. |
| Minimum order | Ours is 100 boxes. Pricing starts from about $0.48 per unit at bulk volumes, confirmed on the written quote. |
| Construction and dimension | The box style and the internal dimension in length x width x depth, explicitly marked internal |
| Board or stock | Flute grade for corrugated, caliper or weight for folding carton, and any specialty stock |
| Print and finish | Number of colours or full colour, coverage, and any lamination, foil, spot gloss or emboss |
| Turnaround lane | Which of the three lanes the price assumes, since they carry different costs and dates |
| Freight terms | Where it is shipping to and what is included |
What is included and not charged separately
- The die. The cutting tool for your specific dimension. This matters more than it sounds: because the die is included, an internal size cut to your exact product costs no more to tool than a near-standard one, so there is no financial reason to compromise the fit.
- The printing plates. The other tooling line that normally appears as a setup charge.
- Design support. Send a sketch, a photo, or an existing box, and we will work it into a dieline.
- US shipping.
- A digital proof before anything prints. You see the artwork laid out on the dieline, with the folds where the folds will be, and you approve it before the job runs.
What genuinely does move the price
Quantity is the biggest lever, then ink coverage, then finishing. Full-bleed coverage on a white liner costs more than one or two colours on natural kraft. Lamination, foil stamping, embossing and spot gloss are each a separate pass. Board grade follows the load: a heavier or higher-stacked product needs more board and costs more. And the turnaround lane matters, because rush means expedited production plus air freight rather than a queue jump, and it adds about 7 to 25% depending on the job.
Turnaround, stated honestly
We quote turnaround per product rather than as a single site-wide promise, because it genuinely varies by construction and by which of our two plants, West Chicago in the US or Guangzhou in China, runs the job. The three lanes are rush (expedited production plus air freight), standard (air) and cost saver (sea), and the floor is from about 7 business days plus 2 to 5 for delivery. Specialty imported items can run up to about 12 weeks. Any supplier quoting one flat number for every product in a catalogue is rounding.
What to send so the quote comes back complete
Internal dimension or the product measurements, quantity, board or stock if you know it, print and finish, your delivery location and your date. If you do not have the dimension yet, the method is on sizing a corrugated shipping box, and if you want to check the proof properly when it arrives, how to read a dieline covers what each line means.
Send what you have through the quote form, including the parts you are unsure about, and we will come back with a written quote that names every line above. If a spec decision is still open, say so and we will price the options side by side.
