Packaging when you don't have a webshop: the regular stock of a studio, practice, or caterer
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
6 min reading time
Even without a webshop, you can hand out products, send items, and deliver goods. You can put together one fixed packaging station with two box sizes, a letterbox size, and the corresponding tools.
You don't have a webshop. You sell in your studio, at the counter, by appointment, or on-site. And yet, a few times a week, you find yourself packing something: a cake going out the door, a ring a customer is picking up, a sample for a supplier, a set you're mailing to a customer because they forgot it. Usually with whatever is handy—a box from a supplier, a piece of newspaper, tape from home.
That works, until it doesn't. The box is too big, the tape comes undone, or it looks sloppy while your product isn't. One dedicated cupboard with a handful of sizes solves that. Below is what should be in it—and especially what shouldn't.
First: when do you actually pack?
Before you order anything, it's useful to distinguish between four moments. Most small businesses experience two or three of these:
Handing over. The customer is in front of you and takes it with them. The packaging needs to look good and survive one car ride.
Shipping. It goes by post or parcel service. It needs to be sturdy, sealed, and as flat as possible.
Storing. Work in progress, semi-finished products, samples. Dust and sunlight are the enemies here, not drops.
Delivering. You deliver a batch to a store, restaurant, or client. Then multiple small packages go into one outer box.
Each moment requires a different type of box. But not a separate size per product—that's precisely the pitfall.
Two box sizes, not ten
Anyone looking for the perfect size for every product will end up with ten types of cardboard, four of each in stock, and always have the wrong one. It's better to choose two sizes that together cover eighty percent and make the rest fit with filler.
For small, flat items—jewelry, samples, a set of cards, small parts—a flat shipping box works well. The black shipping box of 15 x 10 x 4 cm costs €1.99; the same size in red also costs €1.99, handy if you want to keep two product lines separate without labeling.
If you regularly send small items, the letterbox size is the only size worth stocking separately. The height of 28 mm is not arbitrary: these boxes are designed to fit through a standard letterbox, so your customer doesn't have to be home.
The recycled letterbox box of 180 x 115 x 28 mm (A6) comes in a bundle of 100 for €17.95. That's an investment of less than twenty euros for one hundred shipments—at three shipments per week, you'll have more than half a year's supply. If your product just doesn't fit, the A5+ of 255 x 160 x 28 mm (bundle of 100, €24.00) is the next step.
Measure your product at its thickest point, including the bit of padding it needs around it, before you order. Not in the middle.
Protection: one roll is enough
You don't need four types of void fill material. For most small businesses, one roll of bubble wrap from which you cut pieces is sufficient. A large roll is by far the cheapest per meter: the 500 mm wide bubble wrap costs €12.95. If you want to start small or have limited storage space, the bubble wrap of 50 x 500 cm (€5.00) is a handy roll for occasional use.
Rule of thumb for thickness: if you can hear the product move in the closed box when you shake it, there's not enough around it. Two layers of wrap all around and a wad in the corners is enough for most products.
Tape, and why the dispenser makes all the difference
Tape is the item people save money on, and that's where things go wrong. A roll of KINZO packaging tape 50 meters x 48 mm costs €3.00. If you pack more often, the set of 6 rolls 48 x 66 mm (€21.00) makes more sense: you always have a spare roll at hand and order less frequently.
More important than the brand is the dispenser. Pulling tape by hand takes at least ten seconds per box and results in crooked strips that come loose at the edges. A Kinzo tape dispenser with 2 rolls (€9.95) pays for itself in reduced frustration—and ensures you truly seal the seam along its full length in one go.
Caterers and bakers giving something out the door benefit most from a box with a handle: the yellow treat box with handle of 15 x 8 x 8 cm costs €2.99 and stays upright in a bag or on a passenger seat.
Do you supply to a shop or client?
Then all those small packages go into one outer box. You don't need to buy a fancy box for that: a sturdy, large box that you can reuse a few times will suffice. The moving box of 480 x 430 x 330 mm (50 liters) costs €3.50 and is large enough for an entire delivery. Write what's inside and for whom on the side—not on the top, because you won't see it if three are stacked.
The cupboard list
For most studios, practices, and kitchens, a workable stock looks like this: two shipping box sizes, one letterbox size if you ship, one roll of void fill material, two rolls of tape in a dispenser, a large outer box, and something neat for what goes over the counter. Replenish if you notice one size is consistently out of stock, not because another size looks nice.
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