Buying apparel boxes at wholesale is mostly about getting two numbers right: the size, which decides how much board and how much freight you pay for on every unit, and the quantity, which decides your per unit price. Everything else is a preference.
Size comes from your fold, not from a chart
Different packing teams fold differently, and the difference is large enough to change a box size. Fold a real garment the way your packers will do it, stack it, and measure. As a starting point to check yourself against, a folded t-shirt tends to sit around 12 by 9 by 1 inch and a folded hoodie around 13 by 10 by 3 inches. If you ship two or three items together, measure the stack rather than multiplying the single item, because garments compress.
| Contents | Approximate folded footprint | Structure that suits |
|---|---|---|
| Single t-shirt | About 12 x 9 x 1 in | Flat mailer or a shallow shirt box |
| Hoodie or sweatshirt | About 13 x 10 x 3 in | Corrugated mailer with a deeper wall |
| Multi item order | Measure the stack packed | Corrugated mailer, or a shipper around retail boxes |
| Gifted or premium single piece | Garment plus tissue | Two piece lidded box or a sleeve over a tray |
Corrugated or paperboard
This is the decision that costs money when it goes wrong. If the box itself will be handed to a carrier, it has to be corrugated: a paperboard shirt box in a parcel network arrives with crushed corners. E flute keeps the print quality close to a retail carton while giving you the corrugated structure. If the box is a retail or gifting piece that travels inside a shipper, paperboard or rigid board is lighter, cheaper and prints better.
What moves the wholesale price
- Quantity. The largest single factor, and the reason bulk pricing starts from about $0.48 per unit at bulk volumes, confirmed on your written quote.
- Size. You pay for board area. An inch of unnecessary depth across thousands of units is real money, and it follows you into freight.
- Board. Corrugated costs more than folding board; double wall costs more than single.
- Ink coverage. A full flood color across every panel costs more than a printed logo on kraft.
- Finishing. Lamination, foil and spot gloss each add an operation.
The die, the print plates, design support and US shipping are included, so there is no separate tooling line to negotiate.
Practical notes for apparel programs
If you run seasonal drops, a single unbranded box plus a printed sleeve or sticker lets one purchase order cover several releases. If you sell wholesale into stores as well as direct, check whether the retailer needs a barcode on the outer, and put it on a flat panel with clear space around it. And if returns are a real part of your model, a box that can be closed a second time without tape saves you a support conversation on every return.
Lead time
Count from about 7 business days in production on the standard lane, then 2 to 5 for delivery. Cost saver moves freight to sea and is the cheapest lane if you are planning a season ahead. The rush lane combines expedited production with air freight, at a premium of about 7 to 25% depending on the job. A digital proof is issued before anything prints.
Get a wholesale quote
Send your folded measurements and the annual or per order quantity to the quote form for a tiered price. For the full range see custom apparel boxes, and for standard sizing see apparel box dimensions.
