Shipping Boxes

The Everyday Parcel Box

Shipping boxes are the workhorse of UK online selling and trade. Most of what we cut for this is the regular slotted carton, with four flaps at each end whose long pair meets along a centre line ready for tape. Each run is cut to your internal measurements, so goods sit close to the walls and need hardly any packing material.

The style has stayed the same for generations for a reason. It folds flat for storage, makes up in seconds, uses board efficiently and survives conveyor belts, sorting hubs and the back of a van far better than its light weight suggests.

Which Board Should a Shipping Box Use?

Single wall B flute suits most parcels. C flute is slightly thicker and adds cushioning for larger boxes or softer goods. For heavy, fragile or palletised loads, choose double wall BC flute boxes, which pair two flutes for much greater crush strength.

Regular Slotted, Full Overlap or Lid?

A regular slotted carton is the default and the most economical. On a full overlap carton the outside flaps each span the whole box, doubling the board top and bottom, which helps with dense loads and long, slim cartons. A box with a separate lid is handy where the same box is opened and closed many times, such as storage or returns.

Plain or Printed With Your Logo?

Plain kraft boxes are the lowest cost option and are perfectly normal for trade deliveries. A 1 colour logo on two side panels is a small step up that makes every delivery look branded and helps a customer spot their parcel on a busy doorstep. Two-ink and full colour designs are offered as well, on outer faces, inner faces or both.

• Plain: lowest cost, quickest to approve
• 1 colour: logo or web address on chosen panels
• 2 colour: logo plus a second colour for handling marks
• Full colour: artwork across every panel

How Do You Size a Shipping Box?

Measure the item at its widest points, or measure the inner pack if the product goes into a gift box first. Then add room for protection. A rigid item that cannot be scratched might need only 5 mm a side; something fragile wrapped in bubble or paper might need 20 to 30 mm a side.

1. Measure length, width and height of the item or its inner pack.
2. Decide how it will be protected inside the box.
3. Add that allowance to each dimension.
4. Round to the nearest millimetre and send it as the inside size.
5. Check the outside size if the box must fit a shelf or locker.

What Affects the Price of Shipping Boxes?

Size and board are the big two, because they decide how much corrugated sheet each box uses. Print adds set-up per colour, and quantity spreads that set-up across the run. A plain single wall carton in a common parcel size is about as economical as a box gets, from £0.20 a box.

Do Shipping Boxes Need Inserts?

Not usually. Most products travel well with crumpled paper or air pillows around them. If you send several items together, such as bottles, jars or glassware, a set of cardboard dividers stops them knocking against each other and can replace loose fill entirely.

Getting Boxes Made Up Quickly

Every box arrives flat and banded in bundles. Fold the bottom flaps in, run tape along the centre seam and a short strip up each end, and the box is ready. For high volumes, many packing benches keep a stack of made-up boxes beside the station so the packer never waits.