Where to Buy Custom Boxes

Custom boxes deliver branded impact that online customers appreciate, remember, and oftentimes share via social media. We looked at the most popular options and rising stars and decided to review Packlane, Packaging by Salazar, and Tag & Label.

These companies covered the range for small businesses in terms of price, box variety, printing options, and ease of purchase. Read on for our comparison and review of these three options, as well as our top recommendations.

Best Custom Box Solution for Small Businesses & Startups: Packlane

For a variety of reasons, Packlane is our #1 choice for bespoke boxes for small companies and startups. In almost every one of our evaluation categories, it outperforms the competition thanks to unlimited printing possibilities, ultra-low minimums, and a fantastic online design tool. And, based on TrustPilot ratings of 9.1/10 stars and 4.2/5 on Facebook reviews, it seems that their consumers agree.

Packlane

Packlane gives the goods, plain and simple, in terms of box diversity, printing possibilities, simplicity of use, and startup-friendly minimums. I’m not the only one that thinks so. Packlane has a 9.1/10 TrustPilot rating and a 4.2/5 rating on Facebook customer reviews. Packlane certainly serves this demand to near perfection, given that the majority of reviews are small internet merchants searching for the most bang for their dollars.

Packlane’s website is by far the most user-friendly of the three. It has the best online box design, price, and ordering procedure I’ve seen. Packlane allows you to build the box of your dreams directly on your desktop, with anything from logos to full-color covering hues to bespoke typography. You may even save your design and return it later without having to buy anything.

Packlane also outperforms our other top selections in terms of minimum purchase numbers. You may purchase as little as ten bespoke boxes – that’s right, TEN. In the realm of bespoke box printing, this is nearly unheard of. Packlane is able to do so because they employ digital printers to produce all of their boxes. Digital printing allows you to print even small numbers in whatever manner you desire, but it comes at a cost.

Packlane is the most costly of our three best options. Expect to pay $3-$7 per box for the most regularly used sizes, depending on the quantity requested. Price isn’t an absolute apples-to-apples comparison with these three firms, however. Packlane offers a full-color bespoke box product, while our other top selections provide a variety of printing alternatives to suit a variety of budgets.

Another area where the other two outperform Packlane is in customer assistance over the phone. Packlane only provides email assistance, but our other two top selections both provide excellent phone support. Packlane’s response time is up to one business day, however, they responded to my email inquiries within a few hours. They certainly keep consumers pleased even without phone help, based on their ratings.

In the end, Packlane is the best option if you require an eye-catching splash, the flexibility of tiny box sizes, or both. However, printing with our other top selections, who employ less costly printing technologies, is likely to cost you more for each box.

Best Custom Box Solution for High Volume & Multibox Shippers: Packaging by Salazar

Packaging by Salazar is at the top of the list when it comes to completely branded unpacking experiences with unique boxes and packaging. They design and print some of the most well-known bespoke box programs for some of the internet’s most well-known companies. By contrast, there’s just one thing they can’t do, and that’s Packlane-style full-color digital printing.

Packaging by Salazar uses the more conventional flexographic printing technology to create personalized boxes. Although it is less expensive than digital printing, it does not allow for the printing of full-color photographic pictures or tiny box quantities. Packaging by Salazar’s bespoke box minimum order is 1000 pcs. However, if you order 1000 boxes, you can obtain great-looking boxes printed in two or three colors for as low as $1 to $3 for each piece, depending on size. Packaging by Salazar is the perfect option if you require a lot of colorful boxes.

Packaging by Salazar’s website is a veritable goldmine of imaginative packaging concepts. You can’t create and purchase bespoke boxes online, unlike our other top selections. Salazar only accepts and rates projects by quotation, which I first found off-putting. However, one phone call to Customer Service changed my mind. Their representative conducted a series of questions to ensure that he knew my box needs and budget. The next day, I got an email with a pricing quotation.

Packaging by Salazar’s educated representative went above and above. I learned all I needed to know about printing boxes in that one phone conversation. He also showed me how, instead of upselling a more costly multicolor option, I could create a high-end appearance utilizing their lowest 1-color printing choices. Nice!

Best Custom Box Printers for Budget Boxes: Tag & Label

I stumbled across Tag & Label when pricing labels recently and was pleased to find they also offer great deals on simple logo-printed boxes. After comparing them to similar budget box printers, Tag & Label claimed our top spot for budget custom boxes for several reasons.

Tag & Label prints your logo and/or branded message in one or more colors on a wide variety of shipping boxes and mailer sizes. Like Packlane, but unlike Packaging by Salazar, you can price and order boxes online on Tag & Label’s user-friendly website. However, they don’t have the cool online box design tool that Packlane offers.

You may submit your own logo design or input your information on their website and they will create your box for free. This is a fantastic benefit! They offer you proof of displaying the location of your logo and message before printing your personalized boxes. For $25, you can even have a single printed sample. If you need a prototype for a product pitch, this is an excellent option.

When ordering online, Tag & Label only displays options to print in one color, on one side of your box, but they can do much more. If you want to print in more colors or on multiple sides of a box, just give them a call. Plenty more print options are available at additional costs, but these add-on charges are very reasonable. Expect to spend under $1 to about $3 per box with Tag & Label, depending on the size, number of colors, and quantity ordered.

Speaking of quantities, Tag & Label has very low minimums. You can order as few as 50 boxes or mailers printed with your logo or branded message. That’s not quite as low as Packlane’s 10 box minimum, but it beats Salazar’s 1000 box minimum and most others whose minimums range from 250 to 500.

In-Depth Review: Packlane vs. Packaging by Salazar vs. Tag & Label

Pricing

The cost of a box is determined by many variables, including box size, kind (fold-over mailer or shipper), amount of colors printed, and quantity requested. I analyzed all of the firms’ custom print pricing using a normal 12x12x12 shipping box that was just printed on the exterior.

We suggest keeping the following five factors in mind when evaluating cost for your own bespoke box project:

1. Digital printing is more costly, but it has a wider range of color selections and cheaper minimums. Additional colors do not cost more, unlike traditional printing processes.
2. To conserve money, try to stick to normal packaging sizes. Custom sizes are far more costly, and they’re generally only viable if you’re printing tens of thousands of boxes.
3. When you purchase big volumes of custom boxes from any custom box printer, your pricing per box reduces. Order the maximum amount your budget permits if you believe you’ll need them.
4. You should go through your design proof over and again. In custom box printing, there are no reimbursements for errors. Expect small color differences from what you see on-screen as well.
5. Shipping your printed custom box order might be costly, so keep that in mind when comparing custom box rates.

Packlane is the most expensive of the three bespoke box options, with popular box sizes ranging from $3 to $7 per. However, since they print digitally, your printing possibilities are almost limitless. The pricing is the same whether you print your box in one color or cover it with a full-color picture.

Here’s how much it costs to print a 12x12x12 shipping box in different numbers. An order for ten of these boxes costs over $6 apiece, as seen in the red highlighted part below. As you scroll down the pricing list, you’ll see that the price reduces as you purchase more boxes, down to $3.46 for an order of 1500 boxes.

Plus, Packlane’s shopping cart includes a shipping estimate, so you’ll know exactly how much it will cost to send your bespoke boxes to your location.

Packaging by Salazar’s cost, unlike Packlane’s, is based on the number of colors you print. You’ll also be paid a plate fee for each color, which for our 12x12x12 box is roughly $500 per plate. If I wanted to print my 12x12x12 box in two colors, for example, I’d have to pay a $1000 plate charge plus the cost of the print run. Salazar, on the other hand, may print your full box at no extra charge. There are no restrictions on the amount of space you may use or the margins you must adhere to. So, here’s a glimpse at much it’ll cost to print a 1-color allover design on a 12x12x12 box with Salazar, according to my example quotation. Remember! A minimum purchase of 1000 bespoke boxes is required:

The cost of a plate for a one-color print run is $ 500. The cost of printing and packaging 1000 boxes is $1100. The total cost of printing is $1600. Price per print in a box: $1.60

Estimated freight to my location: $320.00 The total cost of a 1000-box purchase is $1920.00. $1.92 per box is the final total.

Tag & Label: Like Packlane, Tag & Label lets you price and order custom boxes online. However, if you want to print in multiple colors or on more than one side, you’ll need to call them for pricing and to add these options to your order. Below is the cost breakdown for printing various quantities of our 12x12x12 shipping box with a 1-color logo on one side of our box. Remember that Tag & Label also has small minimums, but the more you order, the less you pay per box. So for 50 12x12x12 boxes, you’ll spend around $2.33 per box. But at 500, that drops to $1.50 per box.

Like Packlane, Tag & Label also provides a shipping estimate in their shopping cart, so you’ll immediately know the cost to ship your custom boxes to your location.

Minimum Quantity & Turnaround Times

If you need a small number of boxes, Packlane and Tag & Label are the clear choices. But remember, quantities affect pricing. If you think you’ll need more long-term, consider ordering more if your budget allows. Turnaround times refer to the time it takes for custom boxes to be printed but does not include the time it takes to ship them to you. Depending on your location, shipping times can be as few as three days to as long as a week.

Packlane:

• 10 bespoke boxes are the minimum order quantity.
• After final clearance, the average turnaround time is 2-3 weeks.
• Yes, at an extra fee, rush orders are available. This option is available in your shopping basket throughout the checkout process. Rush order will still take roughly two weeks to print.

Packaging by Salazar:

• 1000 bespoke boxes are the minimum order quantity.
• After final approval, the average turnaround time is 1-2 weeks.
• Availability of rush orders: Depending on the manufacturing schedule, orders may be hurried upon request. This may be discussed with their representative on an order-by-order basis.

Tag & Label:

• 50 bespoke boxes are required as a minimum order quantity.
• After final clearance, the average turnaround time is 2-3 weeks.
• Availability of rush orders: Depending on the manufacturing schedule, orders may be hurried upon request. This may be discussed with their representative on an order-by-order basis.

Various Printing Options for Custom Boxes

Packlane is the only one of our custom box top picks that offers full-color digital printing. Salazar and Tag & Label both print using less expensive spot-color printing methods which can produce multicolor designs, as we’ll show you below. But neither prints the full-color, photographic-like images like Packlane offers. Here’s a look at the different types of custom boxes each offer.

Packlane

Packlane’s full-color digital custom box printing allows you to create whatever design you want. Print your unique logo and message in one color, several colors, or a full-color photographic-style splash, as displayed in the middle of the image above. Choose from kraft brown or crisp white boxes to create a variety of themes, ranging from earthy eco-inspired aesthetics to brilliant hues that stand out.

Packaging by Salazar

The only thing Packaging by Salazar doesn’t offer is digital, full-color printing, like Packlane. Anything else you want, they can do. Salazar uses flexographic printing which prints in one or more colors. This is often called spot-color printing. Each color requires that a plate be made, and each different color adds a plate cost to your order.

Each plate rate for the 12x12x12 box we estimated was $500, thus extra color expenses may easily build up. Salazar’s helpful salespeople, on the other hand, are eager to provide suggestions for making boxes more appealing and cost-effective, such as the colorful 1-color CrateJoy box seen above on the right. It’s no surprise that they produce unique boxes for several of the internet’s most well-known firms!

Tag & Label

Tag & Label offers the simplest and least expensive custom box print method, screen printed spot color in limited areas. You can print more than one color, but the space on the box you can print is limited. That means no full-box coverage like Packlane and Packaging by Salazar offer. But sometimes a logo is all you need to make a statement, plus you can order smaller quantities if you’re on a tight budget.

Ease of Use

Both Packlane and Tag & Label let you order custom boxes online, but only Packlane offers an online designer, so it’s our top pick for this category. With Packaging by Salazar, all ordering and design are done the old-fashioned way: via phone and email.

Packlane

Here’s a glimpse at Packlane’s user-friendly online box design tool, which automatically changes your cost as you create your box:

Packaging by Salazar

For an online box-building tool, there’s nothing to see here. However, their internet gallery (shown below) is a terrific place to get ideas for unique box designs. They are simple to use in their own right since all it takes is one phone call to their fantastic customer care professionals to get your bespoke box project started.

Tag & Label

Like Packlane, Tag & Label has a great website for online pricing and ordering, but it doesn’t have an interactive online custom box design tool. You can upload your logo (circled below), but you can’t see how it will look online. Or, if you don’t have box art or a logo, Tag & Label will lay out your box at no additional cost using the information you provide. Either way, you’ll receive proof via email to approve your custom boxes before printing.

Number of Box Size Options & Styles

Each of our top picks offers a wide variety of standard box sizes and styles, from fold-over mailers (below left) to standard shipping boxes (below right), in both white and kraft brown base colors. You also can order custom box sizes with Packlane and Packaging by Salazar, but these tend to be more expensive if a cutting die is required. If you can stick with standard box sizes to save money.

Packlane:

• There are four sizes of shipping boxes.
• 20 sizes of fold-over mailers
• Yes, you may get custom sizes.

Packaging by Salazar:

• There are about 100 different sizes of shipping boxes.
• Over 100 sizes of fold-over mailers
• Yes, you may get custom sizes.

Tag & Label:

• 18 shipping boxes
• Mailers that fold over 20
• Custom sizes are not available:

Custom Boxes Design Services

None of the three offer custom box artwork design services. However, Packlane has a great online design tool that may be all you need, and Tag & Label will lay out your logo and slogan for you. If you don’t already have a logo and artwork, consider using a freelance graphic designer on Fiverr to create an eye-catching custom box designed to your specifications.

Packlane is a great online box design tool, however, there are no bespoke design services available.

Packaging by Salazar: No custom design services, but they can provide you with a list of freelance box designers with whom they work.

Tag & Label: Tag & Label will lay out your box design for free. When you place your order, simply upload your logo and/or include any company information and slogan that you want to appear on your box. They’ll take it from there and send you proof to approve:

Custom inner packaging

Customized internal packaging completes the branded unboxing experience, plus it contains and protects your packed products enroute. Of our three top picks, only Packaging by Salazar offers a full range of internal packaging.

Packlane

Packlane focuses only on bespoke box printing. They do, however, print lightweight paperboard boxes in addition to shipping boxes and mailers, as illustrated in the middle picture below. To fit into your mailers and shipment boxes, they may be printed as complementary inner product packaging.

Packaging by Salazar

Packaging by Salazar offers a full range of inner packaging products that create a fully customized unboxing experience. If you’re in the market for a completely branded custom box program, contact them via phone or email to discuss options and get pricing.

Source: Packaging by Salazar

Tag & Label: Tag & Label doesn’t print custom packaging per se, but they do print custom labels and tags. Plus, they sell a variety of plastic and paper bags that can be used for branded inner packaging.

Customer Service

All of our top picks offer responsive Customer Service. However, unlike Packaging by Salazar and Tag & Label, Packlane doesn’t offer live phone support.

Packlane: Packlane offers email and online form Customer Service only. Both my email and online form queries were answered within a few hours. Plus you can find an informative FAQs page here and art guidelines and answers to artwork setup questionb here.

Packaging by Salazar: Packaging by Salazar offers excellent phone and email Customer Service. All of their contact information can be found on their website.

Tag & Label: Tag & Label offers excellent phone and email Customer Service. All of their contact information can be found here. Plus you can find an informative FAQs page including the types of artwork files they accept here.

All Printing Options for Custom Boxes

Our top three recommendations, out of all the custom box printers we looked at, best met the demands of most small companies in terms of pricing, box variety, printing options, and convenience of purchase. There are, however, a number of bespoke box manufacturers on the market. Here’s a list of all of the bespoke box businesses we evaluated if you want to look around and see what they have to offer:

Final Thoughts

A personalized box combined with intelligent inside packing offers an unboxing experience that consumers love, remember, and often post on social media when done correctly. However, the expense of a personalized box may quickly mount up, and every dollar you spend on a flashy box means a dollar less in revenues.

So be sure the increased advertising value is worth the higher cost, keep box size in mind to avoid dimensional weight upcharges, and always keep your bottom line in mind! Consider all of your custom box possibilities and seek for strategies to maximize your return on investment, such as:

• Printing tiny minimums initially allows you to test your program and client reaction. Packlane is an excellent choice for short-run test programs that need a full-color splash.
• When you’ve decided on a final bespoke box plan, purchase in bulk to receive the best per-box pricing.
• Take a tip from the experts at Packaging by Salazar and consider printing high impact 1-color designs on standard box sizes to make a branded statement for less
• Consider printing a simple logo box at Tag & Label. Then get creative with inexpensive inner packaging to make your shipments memorable — and shareable!

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you design box packaging?

I think the best way to design a box is just by thinking of what kind of product it is and how that product will fit into an environment. For example, if you were designing a music player with a hard case, it might be best to have rounded corners or edges on the packaging so that there’s no chance for people to get cut when handling this item.