How much does package box cost in 2021? Most packaging professionals are hesitant to offer a quick answer. That is because packaging costs vary from one type of packaging to another. Some types of packaging are naturally more expensive than others, but all usually benefit from higher volumes in order to reach lower unit costs.

And each type of packaging has its set of components that influence costs. Labor, materials, tooling, set-up fees, design work, prototypes, testing, freight, shipping, fulfillment, storage, and of course, volume, are all aspects of packaging manufacturing that add to the unit cost of packaging.

Boxes
There are three common types of boxes in the world of packaging, folding cartons, rigid (set-up) boxes, and corrugated boxes. Folding cartons tend to be the least expensive, followed by corrugated, then rigid boxes generally being the most expensive.

A good price for a box should be under $1 for a folding carton, and under $2-3 for a fully printed labeled corrugated box, and $4-5 for a rigid set-up box. If I were buying packaging, these would be my goals.

To get to these goals, you have to have the volume or you’ll pay 3-10x per unit. And as packaging is so intrinsically tied to volume, these comparison charts below are focussed on volume vs price. Here is where the balance lies:

NOTE: Numbers are based on 4 color process printing, 80# laminated label mounted to 60pt grey chipboard. Prices remain constant in spite of increased volume as rigid set-up boxes involves a lot of hand labor.

And we have good rigid box machines to help you save the cost of rigid boxes.