Packaging specification — what to provide to get a quote

Before a manufacturer can price your packaging, it first has to know exactly what to quote — and this is where everything is decided by the packaging specification, an ordinary brief with specifics. It’s not a formality or bureaucracy: the more you give up front, the less guesswork on our side, the faster the offer comes back to you and the fewer rounds of corrections stand between you and the finished product. Below we break down what’s worth gathering before you send an enquiry, what missing detail most often blocks a quote and why you don’t have to know everything to get going.

Why a good specification speeds up the quote

Pricing packaging is a puzzle of several variables: size, construction, material, colours, quantity. When we have to guess or ask about each of them by email, the process stretches into days instead of hours. A good specification boils it down to a single conversation — you get a more accurate price because we’re pricing a real product, not an approximation of it. Specifics also work in your favour when comparing offers: the same brief sent to several companies gives quotes you can actually line up side by side. We cover separately what else to look at when choosing a supplier — but it always starts with what you yourself bring to the enquiry.

What to give the manufacturer — 9 elements of the brief

You don’t have to fill in the form to the last dot. Treat the list as a cheat sheet: the more fields you complete, the fewer questions come back to you.

• Product — what you’re packing, its dimensions and weight, and whether it’s delicate, greasy, damp or loose. This decides the material and construction, so a single sentence about the contents tells us the most.
• Packaging dimensions — if you know them, give length × width × height and note whether it’s the internal dimension (for the product) or external. This one detail most often saves a quote from a round of follow-up questions.
• Construction / type — slotted box, die-cut, with a window, paper bag, lid-and-base… And if you don’t know — write “advise us”, that’s what we’re here for.
• Material — white or kraft board, approximate paper weight, or simply the goal: “it should be eco” or “it should look premium”. A direction is enough, we’ll pick the rest.
• Print — colours (CMYK or a specific Pantone), just a logo or full coverage, one side or both. If you don’t have a design yet, preparing the artwork is included in the price.
• Print run — the number of units and whether it’s a one-off or a repeat order. Quantity decides the unit price more than anything else.
• Deadline — when you need the finished goods. If you’re chasing a launch or a season, say so right away.
• Budget — optional, but genuinely helpful. A range or a target unit price lets us pick the material and technology so as not to shoot wide.
• Use / channel — e-commerce shipping, shelf display or food service. Courier packaging and shelf packaging play by different rules.

The packaging specification in a table

The table below organises the most important points of the brief — treat it as indicative, a starting point for the conversation rather than a rigid form to fill in a hundred per cent:

Common gaps that delay a quote

Most enquiries get stuck on the same three gaps. Close them and the offer will come back much faster:

• Missing dimensions or “which side” — the box type alone isn’t enough. Without the size and information on whether the given values are internal or external, every price is just guesswork.
• Missing print run — without the number of units we can’t calculate the unit price, because the cost spreads out completely differently at 500 versus 5,000 units.
• Missing product information — “I want a box” doesn’t say whether heavy ceramics or a light cosmetic is travelling inside. That changes the material and thickness.

You don’t have to know everything

The most common worry is: “I don’t know cardboard, so I don’t know what to ask for”. Relax — advising is our job. Give us what you’re sure of (most often: the product, the approximate print run and the deadline), and we’ll fill in the missing pieces with a proposal. We’ll advise on the construction and material for your contents, pick the paper weight and point out where it’s worth saving and where it isn’t. Before anything goes to print, we’ll prepare a visualisation to approve, so you see the look, the dimensions and the print layout rather than buying blind. Design and visualisation are included in the price, we produce from 500 units.

The minimum brief we’ll start from

If you want to get going right away, a three-sentence message is enough. The rest will fall into place in conversation:

• What you’re packing and roughly how big — even “250 ml jars, 6 to a pack” gives us an anchor for the construction.
• How many units and by when — an approximate print run and deadline let us tell you off the bat whether the idea is realistic within your constraints.
• What effect and channel — “eco for shipping” or “premium for the shelf” is enough for us to pick the material and propose a graphic direction.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to know the exact packaging dimensions?
You don’t. If you know the product’s dimensions, we’ll pick the packaging size ourselves. Just tell us what and in what quantity you’re packing, and note whether you want a snug fit or some spare room.

What if I don’t know which construction will be best?
Write “advise us” in the brief. Based on the product, the print run and the channel we’ll propose a packaging type — from a slotted box to a die-cut one or a bag — and show the difference in price and production time.

Is it worth giving a budget?
Yes, if you have one. A price range or a target unit price isn’t there to “inflate” the offer, but to pick the material and technology within your constraints. Without it we sometimes propose a solution that’s pricier than you need.

How long does a quote take after the specification is sent?
With a complete brief we usually come back with a price the same or the next working day. The biggest brake is gaps — chasing dimensions or the print run can stretch the process by a few days.

Will I see the packaging before production?
Yes. For every design we prepare a visualisation to approve — you’ll see the look, the dimensions and the print layout before anything goes to print. Design and visualisation are included in the price.

Send the specification and price your packaging

The simplest way to start is with specifics: give us the product, the approximate print run and the deadline, and we’ll pick the rest — construction, material and look — together and prepare a visualisation and a preliminary quote:

→ Send the specification and price your packaging

See also

Before you send the brief, check what to look at when choosing a supplier in our article how to choose a packaging manufacturer, estimate the spend in the guide how much packaging with a logo costs and see how many units we start from with the minimum order quantity (MOQ). Designing from scratch is broken down by the guide how to design packaging with a logo, and you’ll find real production times in our article on packaging lead times. We are a packaging manufacturer from Warsaw — design and visualisation are included in the price, we produce from 500 units and ship across all of Poland.