Box too small? Bulging flaps, torn corners, and packages that spring open
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
A box that's just a bit too small only becomes noticeable when the package arrives damaged. This is how you spot it in time and how you solve it without your order having to be sent out twice.
You have three box sizes in the cupboard, and the order just doesn't fit in the middle one. You press the flaps down, hold them shut with your knee, and tape an extra strip over them. It's closed. Two days later, the customer emails a photo of a box with a torn corner.
This almost never happens due to poor cardboard. It happens because the box is under internal tension. Below is what exactly happens, how to recognize it at the packing table, and what you can still do at that moment.
Why a box that's too small gives way at the corners
A cardboard box is strong in the direction of the flutes and on the four vertical ribs. These ribs bear the weight if something is placed on top. As soon as the contents push against the walls, these ribs are bent outwards, losing the exact shape from which they derive their strength.
At the same time, the glue seam comes under tension. This is the vertical seam where the box was assembled, and it is by definition the weakest point. For a bulging box, it is almost always this seam or one of the top corners that opens first.
The third problem lies in the flaps. If the top flaps do not meet but are taped shut with a gap between them, the entire package hangs from the tape instead of the cardboard. Tape stretches. Tape comes loose in moisture and cold. And tape tears over the edge of a flap that wants to spring open.
Four signs that your box is too small
The top flaps don't meet. They should meet each other, not overlap, and certainly not have a gap between them.
The side walls visibly bulge. Place a ruler along the wall: if you see light in the middle, there's too much inside.
You have to push to tape. If you need a hand or knee to hold the box shut while you pull tape, the tape is doing work the cardboard should be doing.
You can feel the contents through the wall. If you can follow the shape of the product with your finger, there's no room for void fill, and thus no buffer in case of an impact.
What you can do at that moment
You're at the packing table with an order that doesn't fit. There are four solutions, in this order.
1. Go up a size. Boring, but almost always the cheapest. A box costing a few euros is less expensive than a return plus a new shipment. The Cardboard Shipping Box 15x15x15 cm (€1.99) is such an intermediate size that accommodates many loose items. For larger or heavier orders, use the Action Moving Box 480x430x330 mm of 50 liters (€3.50).
2. Choose a different shape instead of a larger volume. Many products are not too big, but too flat or too long for the box you grabbed. A Red Shipping Box 15 x 10 x 4 cm (€1.99) or the Holographic Shipping Box 20x13x3 cm (€3.99) carries the same item flat instead of rattling around in a cube.
3. Split the order. Two small boxes that can both be properly sealed are sturdier than one overstuffed one. Make sure to clearly number them so the recipient knows a second package is on its way.
4. Switch to an envelope. For clothing, textiles, or something soft, a box may not be necessary. The Metallic Bubble Envelopes 22x17 cm cost €0.90 each and flex rather than tearing.
A size range that accommodates most orders
Most problems arise because there is a gap between two sizes. Three or four neatly successive sizes often cover the majority of your orders.
Size
Internal dimensions
What it usually works for
Price
Letterbox box A6
180 x 115 x 28 mm
Small and flat: jewelry, pins, keychains
€17.95 per 100
Letterbox box A5+
255 x 160 x 28 mm
Book format, thin clothing, multiple small items
€24.00 per 100
Flat shipping box
150 x 100 x 40 mm
One item with some void fill around it
€1.99
Cube box
150 x 150 x 150 mm
Irregular shapes, mugs, multiple items
€1.99
The recycled letterbox box A6 and the A5+ version are both 28 mm high. This is deliberate: if the product doesn't fit in there, it's no longer letterbox mail and you need a box.
Measure the internal dimensions, not the product
Allow about one to two centimeters extra per side for void fill, and more if it's fragile. Measure your product at its widest point, including any protruding parts: a handle, a cap, a sticking-out corner. That last centimeter is precisely where the box tears.
Tape and void fill: what helps and what doesn't
More tape on a box that's too small doesn't solve anything. It just shifts the tension to where the tape ends. What does help: one good tape, neatly applied with a dispenser, over a box that closes without forcing.
For the space you gain when you choose a larger size: a roll of Bubble Wrap 50 x 500 cm (€5.00) is enough for a home office, while the Bubble Wrap Roll 500 mm x 500 m (€12.95) is intended for those who ship dozens of packages weekly. If you also want to see if anyone has tampered with the box during transit, you can apply a VOID security seal (€9.95 for 60 pieces) over it.
The calculation you make once
A box one size larger often costs you an extra euro or less. A damaged package costs you the purchase value of the product, a second shipment, the handling time, and usually also the review. This is not a matter of doubt; it's a difference of a factor of ten or more.
Therefore, keep track for a week: how often do you grab the box that just doesn't fit? If you're doing that more than two or three times, there's a size missing in your range, not in your tape.
Getting the right size in-house yourself
All sizes are grouped together under Packaging & Shipping. For individual boxes, look in Boxes, for flat shipments in Letterbox Packaging, and for sealing and void filling in Tape and Protection & Void Fill Material. If you are unsure which size is right for your product, email the dimensions of your item to info@verpakkingdeals.nl; we are happy to help you find a set of sizes that covers your orders without having to stock ten of them.
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