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What to Send a Packaging Factory to Get a Quote You Can Compare

A quote built on an incomplete brief is a guess with a number attached.

Most packaging quotes cannot be compared, and it is rarely the supplier’s fault. Two factories quote two different boxes because the brief left room for interpretation. The fix is on the buyer’s side: send enough that the specification is fixed before anyone prices it.

The six things that decide the price

1. Inner dimensions, in millimetres

Inner, not outer. Outer dimensions are the result of board thickness plus wrap, and two factories using different board will produce two different outer sizes from the same outer spec. Give the inner size the product needs, plus its weight.

If you only have the product, send the product dimensions and say so. A factory that understands rigid construction will work out the box. A factory that does not will ask you for the box dimensions, which tells you something.

2. Quantity, and the shape of the repeat

First order quantity sets the run. Repeat volume sets whether tooling is amortised or charged separately. Saying “500 now, likely 2,000 a year” produces a different and better quote than saying “500”.

3. Board and wrap, or the reason you have no preference

If you have a reference box you like, say so and send its board thickness if you know it. If you have no preference, say what the product weighs and how it will be handled — that is enough for a supplier to propose, and it is more useful than “standard board”.

4. Finishing, named individually

“Premium finish” is not a specification. Matte lamination, soft-touch film, gold foil on the logo only, blind emboss on the lid, spot UV on the pattern — each is a separate line with a separate cost. List them.

Also state whether the inside is printed, lined, or left as bare board. Interior treatment is one of the most commonly omitted cost lines.

5. Insert, or explicitly no insert

Foam, moulded pulp, velvet tray, folded paperboard, or nothing. If the product is fragile or has a protruding part, say which part. An insert designed after the box is drawn is a redesign.

6. Destination and Incoterm

Ex-works and door-to-door are different numbers and different responsibilities. Name the destination country and who clears customs. Without this the quote is not comparable even if everything else matches.

What a complete brief looks like

One page is enough:

Product: what it is, dimensions, weight, and a photo
Box: inner dimensions, or “work it out from the product”
Structure: two-piece, magnetic book, drawer, round, window, handle, double-layer — or open to suggestion
Board and wrap: preference, or the product weight
Finishing: each operation named
Insert: type, or none
Quantity: first order and expected repeat
Destination: country and Incoterm
Artwork: ready, in progress, or needed

Why this matters more than comparing prices

A quote built on an incomplete brief is a guess with a number attached. When two guesses come back 30% apart, the gap is usually the specification, not the supplier. Fix the brief and the numbers converge — and then the comparison means something.

The same brief also becomes the production specification. Nothing gets lost between the person who asked and the person who wraps the box.