Packaging & Label Design
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Packaging guide
The Packaging Guide.
Formats, dielines, barcodes and marketplace requirements - and the size-tier trap that quietly costs more than anything else.
The Packaging Guide.
The five formats, and when each one fits
Minimal kraft suits eco retail and keeps cost down. A retail box works on a shelf and photographs well. A rigid gift box carries a higher price point and is the natural home for a mixed-product SKU. An Amazon-ready pack handles barcode and warning requirements at the factory. A wholesale master carton is what everything else ships inside. Most first orders use two of these, not five.
Dielines and artwork
A dieline is the flat template a printer works from. Ask for one whether or not you use our design team, because it is what makes your artwork portable to any printer. Send vector files for logos - AI, EPS, SVG or PDF with outlined type.
Barcodes and labels
EAN or UPC for retail, FNSKU for Amazon. All can be applied during packing at the factory, which costs nothing if specified at quotation stage and costs a prep-centre line charge if specified afterwards. Warning and compliance labelling varies by market: tell us the destination.
The size-tier trap
Marketplace fulfilment fees step at defined package dimensions. A package a few millimetres over a boundary pays the next tier's fee on every unit you ever sell, and over a year that dwarfs anything saved on the product. Check dimensions against current size tiers before production. A slightly smaller box or a different inner arrangement can move you down a tier - free at the design stage, impossible after 5,000 boxes are printed.
Why the packaging minimum is higher
Printers set it, not manufacturers. Setting up a print run costs about the same for 500 boxes as for 5,000. For a small first order, a stock box with a printed label removes the problem entirely and looks considerably better than a cheap custom box.
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Amazon Sellers
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Want this as a PDF?
Tell us where to send it and we will email the current version, plus the size chart for your market.