Discrete packaging and shipping: this is what a neutral shipment looks like
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
Neutral boxes, plain tape, VOID seals and a sender that reveals nothing. This is how you make discreet shipping standard practice in your webshop.
A customer who orders a personal care product, a gift, or something from the 18+ range from you rarely wants their neighbor to be able to tell what's inside the package. Yet, many small webshops ship their orders in boxes with conspicuous printing, tape with a company name, and a packing slip sticking halfway out of the seal. This won't cost you sales today, but it will lead to emails starting with "can it be more discreet next time?".
Discreet shipping is not a separate shipping method. It's a series of small choices: which box, which tape, which sender, which description on the label. Below is what you can actually adjust, along with the materials you'll need.
What makes a shipment recognizable?
There are four places where a package reveals what's inside or who it's from:
The packaging itself — printed boxes, colored envelopes, or transparent material.
The closure — tape with a logo or slogan runs along the entire length of the box and is most noticeable.
The label — the sender's name and sometimes a product description or return address with a catchy company name.
The contents you include — flyers, discount vouchers, and packing slips with full product names.
You don't have to tackle them all at once. Start with the packaging and the tape: that's what someone sees without even touching the package.
Choose a plain box in the right size
Brown or white uncoated cardboard without printing is the most neutral base available. Such a box looks like any other package. For flat products, letterbox boxes work best, as they fit through the letterbox, meaning no one is at the door with a package in their hands.
Be careful with metallic bubble envelopes: they are cheap and offer excellent protection, but they stand out precisely because of this. The metallic bubble envelope of 33 x 23 cm (€0.80) is a great choice if discretion is not an issue — but not for a neutral shipment.
Tape and seal: closing without shouting your name
Printed tape is the fastest way to make your brand visible, and therefore also the fastest way to make it unintentionally visible. Plain tape solves that. A roll of KINZO packaging tape of 50 meters x 48 mm costs €3.00; if you send dozens of packages a week, the box with 36 rolls of tape of 48 mm (€108.00) is more economical per roll.
If you want the recipient to be able to see if the package has been opened en route, use a security seal with a VOID sticker (60 pieces for €9.95). When removed, the text VOID remains on the cardboard. This also serves as your proof in a discussion about a shipment that arrived "empty": stick the seal over the closure, photograph the package before it leaves, and keep the photo until the return period has passed.
Filling that reveals nothing
A package that rattles invites shaking. Fill the space so that the product doesn't move and the box maintains its shape. Bubble wrap is the easiest for this:
Wrap the product completely, so that its shape is not recognizable through the film. A bottle or small box tightly wrapped in film appears from the outside as "something rectangular" and nothing more.
Sender, packing slip, and accompanying printed matter
Your sender's name is on the label. If your webshop uses a name that immediately clarifies what you sell, you might consider putting your statutory company name as the sender instead of your trade name. However, check what your carrier allows and ensure that returns still reach you — an address that no one recognizes is more often rejected.
The same applies to the packing slip: a description like "item 63-00044" means nothing to the delivery person and everything to your warehouse. Also, put the slip inside the box and not in a document sleeve on the outside. If you prefer to send invoices digitally, you don't have that consideration at all. Including flyers or samples is fine, but choose printed matter without images that your customer would rather not leave lying on the kitchen table.
Discretion is mainly a matter of being consistent. Determine once which box size goes with which product type, which tape you use, and what goes in and out of the box. Put these agreements on an A4 sheet at your packing station, so that a substitute on a busy day makes the same choices. In addition, check your own shipment once a quarter: order something from yourself and see what arrives.
Two more practical points. Check the current maximum dimensions and weights for letterbox post with your carrier before purchasing a box size — these conditions vary by carrier and change occasionally. And buy packaging materials in bundles if you use them structurally anyway: boxes lying in your attic only take up space, while an empty stock on a peak day always turns out to be more expensive.
Get started
Do you want to set up your shipping area neutrally all at once? Look in the Letterbox Packaging collection for plain letterbox boxes, in Packaging & Shipping for boxes and void fill material, in Tape for plain rolls, and in Value Packs for Webshops if you buy in bundles. Do you doubt which box size suits your product or how much you need per month? Email your dimensions and quantities to info@verpakkingdeals.nl — and we'll help you find the combination that is least noticeable and least expensive for you.
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