There is no single UK price for business packaging, because the cost of a pack is driven by specification, quantity and format rather than by a list price. What you can do is understand the five variables that move the number - board or film specification, size, quantity break, print or tooling, and how much protection the product genuinely needs - and get quoted against a specification rather than a guess.
- Why nobody can quote you a price over the phone
- The five variables that actually set the price
- What you should be asking for instead of a price
- Where the real money is, and it is not the box
- Budgeting without a price list
- Standard, bespoke and printed: what changes
- The short version
- Frequently asked questions
Why nobody can quote you a price over the phone
It is a reasonable question and it has an unsatisfying answer. Two businesses buying 'a cardboard box' can pay very different amounts per unit for entirely legitimate reasons: different internal dimensions, different board construction, different order quantity, one printed and one plain.
Any supplier who quotes before asking about those is quoting for something, just not necessarily for what you need. The useful conversation starts with what you despatch, not with what you currently buy.
The five variables that actually set the price
| Variable | What it means | Effect on unit cost |
|---|---|---|
| Specification | Board wall and flute, film gauge, foam density | Higher grade costs more per unit - and under-specifying costs more per delivery |
| Size | Internal dimensions, and therefore material area | More material per unit, plus more air to ship if it is oversized |
| Quantity | How much is produced in one run | Setup is spread across the run, so short runs carry a disproportionate share |
| Print or tooling | Plates for print, cutting forms for die-cut shapes | A one-off cost amortised over the run - significant on small runs |
| Protection | Inserts, foam, void fill, edge protection | Adds to material cost and frequently reduces damage and carriage cost |
What moves a packaging price, and which direction.
Notice that three of the five can push the delivered cost in the opposite direction to the unit cost. That is why reviewing the whole picture tends to find more than negotiating one line of it.
What you should be asking for instead of a price
- A quote against a written specification - dimensions, board or film grade, format, quantity and finish, so you can compare suppliers on the same thing.
- The quantity breaks, so you can see where the price actually steps rather than guessing at the economic order quantity.
- Whether any setup is included or separate, and over what run it is spread.
- The delivered price, because carriage on bulky, low-value-per-cubic-metre goods is not a rounding error.
- What happens to the price if the specification is reduced - which is how you find out whether you are currently over-specified.
Where the real money is, and it is not the box
For most businesses the carton is a minority of the delivered cost of getting a product to a customer. The larger numbers sit in carriage - particularly where carriers charge on volume - in the labour at the pack bench, and in replacing anything that arrives damaged.
That is why a business can have an excellent price per carton and an expensive packaging operation. The box ladder, not the box price, is usually where the cost is decided. See postal and parcel packaging for the carriage side and packaging for fulfilment for the bench.
Budgeting without a price list
If you need a working number before you have a quote, build it from your own despatch data rather than from a market average.
- Take a month of despatches and group them by pack format.
- For each format, note the materials used per pack - carton, tape, fill, label.
- Price each material at whatever you currently pay, per pack rather than per unit of purchase.
- Add the pack time at your own labour rate.
- Add the carriage band each format falls into.
That gives you a defensible cost per order per format, which is the number a supplier's quote should then be tested against. The arithmetic is set out in more detail in our guide to calculating packaging cost per product.
Standard, bespoke and printed: what changes
- Standard lines are the cheapest to buy and the least likely to fit. Best where the product is robust and roughly cuboid. See packaging supplies.
- Bespoke formats carry design and tooling but remove fill and air from every order. Best where a stock size leaves a real gap - see bespoke packaging.
- Printed packaging adds a setup per design and gives you a branded outer on every despatch. Worth modelling across the whole run rather than per unit - see custom printed packaging.
If you despatch in more than two or three carton sizes, printed tape is usually the cheaper route to a branded outer than printed boxes.
The short version
- No supplier can price packaging without a specification.
- Five variables set the price: specification, size, quantity, tooling and protection.
- Ask for quantity breaks and whether setup is included.
- Build a cost per order from your own despatch data before comparing quotes.
- The carton is usually the smallest number in the delivered cost.
Frequently asked questions
Can you give me a rough cost per box?
Not honestly, without the specification. Internal size, board construction, quantity and whether it is printed all move the figure materially. Tell us what you despatch and we will specify it and quote it - see packaging supplies.
Is bespoke packaging always more expensive?
Per unit it can be. Per despatch it frequently is not, because a fitted pack removes void fill and the volumetric air a carrier charges for. Compare delivered cost per order, not price per box.
What is a sensible order quantity?
Wherever the quantity break falls for your specification, which is a question for the quote. If the economic run is more than you can store, stockholding lets you keep the price without the space.
Why do two suppliers quote such different prices?
Usually because they have quoted different specifications. Ask both for board grade, internal dimensions and quantity break in writing and the gap generally explains itself.
How do I know if I am over-specified?
Compare the board grade and film gauge against the weight, the stack and the journey. Over-specified board is common and costs on every unit; a review is the structured way to find it.