Which box suits your product? Box sizes for jewelry, cosmetics, and small gifts
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by Verpakkingdeals.nl
7 min reading time
A ring in a box that is too large rattles, a set in a box that is too small won't fit. This guide links specific box sizes to product types and explains the limits of what fits through a letterbox.
A ring in a 15 by 15-centimeter box rattles with every movement. A gift set in an 8 by 6 box won't fit without the lid bulging. Somewhere between these two extremes lies the size you need, and you won't find it by guessing, but by starting with your product.
Below, you'll find the questions that determine the box size: how big is your product really, how much space do you need for filling, and what is the letterbox limit. By the end, you'll know which three to five sizes you need to cover most of your orders.
Measure your product, not your gut feeling
Take the product you ship most often and measure it in three directions: length, width, and thickness. Do this including the box or bag it's already in, and including any voucher or card you're sending with it. The latter is often forgotten, and it's precisely the thing that makes a box just too full.
Add about half to a full centimeter in each direction if you're using filling. For a fragile product, this can be more. For something flat and sturdy, like a cosmetic palette or a card, a few millimeters is enough. The number you end up with is your target size, not your exact size: you're looking for the next standard box size that exceeds it.
The letterbox is the most important limit
For small products, there is exactly one size limit that makes a financial difference, and that is the thickness of your packaging. PostNL's letterbox package has a maximum of 38 x 26.5 x 3.2 cm and 2 kg (see PostNL's customer service page; always check the conditions with your own carrier, as they may change). If you stay under 3.2 cm, your shipment falls into a different category than a parcel that needs to be delivered in person.
If you work in bundles, the recycled letterbox boxes are more practical: the A6 size of 180 x 115 x 28 mm costs €17.95 per 100 pieces and the A5+ of 255 x 160 x 28 mm costs €24.00 per 100 pieces. Both remain at 28 mm and thus under the limit.
Box sizes linked to product types
This table is not a rule, but it does cover most small items that are sold through a webshop or gift store.
The 15 x 10 x 4 cm shipping box is also available in red and pink, both €1.99. Handy if you want a different color per product line or per season.
Window or solid cardboard?
A window is a presentation choice, not a protection choice. It works well if the product itself is the selling point: a soap, a piece of jewelry, a chocolate. The buyer immediately sees what's inside, and the box doesn't need to be opened before it's on the shelf. That saves time in a store or at a market.
There are also disadvantages. The foil window does not provide extra sturdiness, it scratches, and for a shipment that goes through four hands, it's the first thing that looks messy. If you ship by mail and the arrival condition is more important than the shelf moment, choose solid cardboard. The Black Luxury Gift Box with Window of 11 x 10.5 x 12.5 cm (€2.99) is a good example of a box that is primarily intended for display, not for shipping.
The rule of thumb is that a product should not slide around when you shake the closed box. For a sturdy, flat item, a sheet of tissue paper will suffice. For something with a fragile part, such as a bottle with a pump or a glass jar, you want padding on all sides.
Bubble wrap is the cheapest option per package for this. A Bubble Wrap Roll of 500 mm x 500 m costs €12.95 and lasts a very long time for small products. If you ship less volume, a Green Bubble Wrap Roll of 50 x 500 cm for €5.00 is more practical than a half-kilometer roll that you'll never use up.
Pay attention to the interaction with the letterbox size: filling adds thickness. If you want to stay under 3.2 cm and your product is 1.5 cm, you only have 1.7 cm left for the box plus filling. This is usually enough for one layer of bubble wrap, not three.
Build an assortment of four sizes, not ten
The temptation is great to find a suitable box for every product. In practice, this costs more than it yields: more purchasing rules, more storage space, more hesitation during packing. Four to five sizes usually cover 80 to 90 percent of your orders.
A small flat box for jewelry and loose small items.
A flat size around 12 to 15 cm that stays under the letterbox limit.
A medium box around 15 x 10 x 4 cm for combinations of two or three items.
A cube around 12 to 15 cm for anything with height.
What doesn't fit in there, you ship in a larger box with filling. This happens so rarely that it's worth the extra filling. And if you buy sizes in bundles, you can be sure that the box you pick today is the same as last month's – handy if you've agreed on shipping rates based on fixed sizes.
In short
Measure your product including inner packaging and enclosed printed materials.
Keep an eye on the thickness: the limit for PostNL's letterbox package is 3.2 cm and 2 kg.
Choose a window for presentation, solid cardboard for shipping.
Include filling in your height calculation, not as something that can just be added.
Limit yourself to four or five standard sizes.
View the full range in the Boxes collection, Letterbox Packaging and Packaging & Shipping for tape, filling, and the rest of your packing station. Do you doubt which size suits your product or do you want to know what's possible for larger quantities? Email your product dimensions to info@verpakkingdeals.nl and we'll help you think it through.
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