How to choose a custom packaging supplier

Every custom packaging website says the same six things. Low minimums, fast turnaround, free design, premium quality, eco friendly, trusted by brands. None of it is a lie and none of it helps you choose. These are the questions that actually separate suppliers, including the ones that are awkward for us to answer.

1. Do you own a press, or do you broker?

Both models work. Printers who own their equipment can be cheaper at volume and control their own schedule. Brokers, and we’re one, place your job with a vetted manufacturer, which means we can match the job to a factory that’s good at that specific thing rather than putting everything through the one press we happen to own.

What matters is that they tell you straight. If a supplier gets evasive here, that’s the signal, not the answer itself. We put it in our about page because you’ll find out eventually and it’s better coming from us.

2. What is the real minimum, per size and per design?

A stated minimum of 100 can quietly mean 100 per size, per colorway, per SKU. If you sell three variants, that’s 300 boxes, not 100. Ask how the minimum applies when you need more than one version, and whether they can gang several designs onto one run.

3. What is the lead time from artwork approval, not from order?

These are different dates and the gap between them is where schedules die. Design revisions can add a week on their own. Ask for the production time measured from the moment you approve the final proof, then add your own honest guess at how long you’ll take to approve it.

4. Is a physical proof available, and what does it cost?

A digital proof checks layout. A physical proof checks reality: color on your actual board, how the fold sits, whether your product fits. For a first order on a design that matters, pay for the physical one. Any supplier who discourages it is optimising for their schedule, not your outcome.

5. Who owns the dieline and the artwork afterwards?

This one gets skipped and it bites later. If you want to move suppliers, or get a second quote next year, you need your dieline and your print ready files. Some suppliers treat those as theirs. Ask before you order, and get the answer in writing. Ours go to you, no argument.

6. What happens when the run is wrong?

Ask directly: if the color is off, or the size is out, or 10 percent arrive crushed, what is the process. A supplier with a real answer has had it happen and has a policy. A supplier who says it never happens is either new or not being straight with you.

Worth knowing that print has an accepted overs and unders tolerance, often around 10 percent. Order exactly 500 and 470 is a normal delivery, not a shortfall. If you need at least 500, say so up front.

7. Is the quote for everything?

Check whether the number includes tooling or plate charges, the dieline, shipping to you, and any finish you discussed. Tooling is a one off cost for a custom shape, so it hurts on run one and disappears on the reorder. A quote that’s cheaper because it quietly excludes freight isn’t cheaper.

8. What does the reorder look like?

First order pricing is a marketing number. The one that matters is what the same box costs you in six months. Ask whether tooling is kept, whether the price holds, and how quickly a repeat run turns around. A supplier who is much cheaper on run one and much slower on run four isn’t the bargain it appeared to be.

9. Can I talk to a person, and is it the same person?

This sounds soft. It is not. Packaging goes wrong in small, specific ways that are painful to explain over a ticket form to somebody new each time. Ask who you’ll actually be dealing with.

Where we’re genuinely not the right choice

If you’re ordering 25,000 of one carton and price per unit is the only thing you care about, go direct to a large manufacturer. They’ll beat us and they should. We’re built for brands ordering 100 to 500 boxes who want somebody to do the thinking with them.

If that’s you, get a quote or grab a free sample pack and judge the boxes rather than the website. And take this checklist to whoever else you’re considering. If they answer better than we do, use them.