Corrugated Mailer & Shipping Boxes · MOQ 500 pcs

Folding cartons, the everyday box on the shelf

A cardstock carton printed and die-cut for retail: straight or reverse tuck, a window, a hang tab, or a sleeve. Indicative $0.05–0.65 per piece at 500 pcs; windows, hang tabs, specialty boards and inserts are quoted as their own lines.

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Minimum order

500 pcsper size and print

Indicative price

$0.05 – 0.65per piece at 500 pcs

Lead time

12–18 daysafter sample approval

Sample

3–5 dayscredited on bulk orders

Overview

About this folding carton / retail carton

A folding carton is a die-cut, creased sheet of coated or uncoated cardstock that folds into a box: straight tuck, reverse tuck, a tuck-and-sleeve, or a tray and lid. There is no flute in it, so it is inexpensive per unit, it stores and ships flat, and it takes print well — which is precisely why retail packaging is built on it. It is a shelf structure rather than a shipping structure: it protects a product from handling and dust, carries the identity, the barcode and the on-pack copy, and lets the retailer merchandise it. Sizes are worked back from your product and the retailer's planogram, with a window, a hang tab or an insert added where the product needs to be seen or held in place.

We will say the awkward part plainly: folding cartons are the most price-compressed category in packaging, there are thousands of suppliers for them, and artwork is where almost all the differentiation sits. The indicative figure above is this range's factory band for this category at the 500 pc tier, and in practice a plain carton without a window or a specialty board usually lands toward the lower end of it, while volume-standard cartons can fall to a fraction of it. So buy this from us when it is part of a wider packaging programme, where one board specification, one colour standard and one QC process cover the carton and the gift box or mailer alongside it. As a standalone lowest-price tender, it is a race you should expect to lose somewhere.

✓Straight tuck, reverse tuck, sleeve or tray-and-lid formats in cardstock
✓Window, hang tab and shelf-ready options, each quoted as its own line
✓Flat-packed: the cheapest structure in this range to store and to freight
✓Designed to your barcode, your on-pack copy and your retail planogram
✓Honest positioning: a price-compressed category, bought for consistency not margin

Specification

What you are ordering

Item	Detail
Board	Coated folding boxboard (GC1 / GC2) or uncoated/kraft carton board; recycled and certified fibre options on request
Format	Straight tuck, reverse tuck, tuck-and-sleeve, or tray and lid; hang tab and window variants quoted separately
Size range	Any custom size, worked back from the product and the retailer's planogram; each size is its own die
Print	Outer face as standard in one or two colours or full colour; interior print is a separate pass and is priced on coverage
Finishing	Matt or gloss varnish, water-based coating, spot UV, foil or emboss on non-contact surfaces, all quoted as their own lines
Inserts	Die-cut board platform or divider where the product has to be held in place; cut to your product rather than to a stock grid
Packing	Supplied flat and banded — the least freight-sensitive structure in this range, and the easiest to store
MOQ	500 pcs per size and print; window, hang tab, insert and any finishing are quoted separately
Lead time	12–18 days after sample approval, plus 3–5 days for the sample

Variants

Retail carton formats

The format follows the retail fixture: shelf, peg, counter or mailer. Fix that first and the carton almost specifies itself.

Straight tuck

Both flaps tuck the same way — the standard retail carton and the cheapest of the four. Trade-off: slightly less stack rigidity than a reverse tuck.

Reverse tuck

Flaps tuck in opposite directions, which closes more positively and holds shape on a shelf. Trade-off: marginally more board and a fractionally higher unit cost.

Tuck-and-sleeve

A tray with a printed sleeve: the tray stays plain and the sleeve carries the artwork, which is the cheapest way to print a carton inside and out. Trade-off: two components to assemble.

Tray and lid

A two-piece carton for gift and confectionery retail. Trade-off: more board and more assembly than a tuck carton, and it is usually replaced by a rigid box at the premium end.

Window

A die-cut aperture with a film or paper window so the product is seen before purchase. Trade-off: a film window adds a material your market may restrict, and a paper window avoids that but shows less.

Hang tab

A Euro-slot or rack tab where the retailer merchandises on a peg rather than a shelf. Trade-off: it uses board area that would otherwise carry print, and the hanging weight has to be considered.

Materials

Carton board, coating and finishing

On a carton the board is chosen for the print and the finish, not for protection. That means the artwork decision and the board decision are the same discussion.

Cartons are not food-contact packaging as standard, even though many of them hold food. Where that applies, the board, coating and ink need a specification change and the destination market's declarations — tell us at brief stage and we will quote the food-grade route rather than assume a standard carton board is acceptable.

Option	What it means
Coated folding boxboard (GC1 / GC2)	The default carton board: prints well, creases cleanly, inexpensive, and available in the calipers retail requires. Trade-off: not a barrier, and it is a shelf structure rather than transit protection.
Uncoated or kraft carton board	A natural, tactile look with an honest material story for artisan and food brands. Trade-off: print colour is less vivid and shows oil or moisture marks sooner, so it usually needs a coating or a liner next to food.
Recycled or certified-fibre board	Available where a retail listing or a claim requires certified or recycled fibre. Trade-off: the sheet is slightly darker, so pale artwork and white panels read differently — approve a physical proof, not a screen.
Matt or gloss water-based varnish	Protects the print through handling on a shelf and changes how the carton feels. Trade-off: a film lamination is more durable but adds a material some markets now restrict.
Window film or paper window	For products that have to be seen. Trade-off: film is the component most likely to conflict with a packaging rule, and a paper window resolves that at the cost of visibility.
Foil and emboss	Lifts a carton for gifting and seasonal ranges, priced by stamped or embossed area. Trade-off: another press pass, and foil area is where the cost quietly grows — keep it off any food-contact surface.

Best for

Where a folding carton belongs

Retail and FMCG-style products

Shelf products that need identity, a barcode and on-pack copy. The carton is doing merchandising, not protection.

Beauty, wellness and supplements

Small, high-value items that travel inside a shipper or a fulfilment process, with the carton as the retail face.

Tea, coffee and pantry retail

Where the carton carries the range and the barcode. Where the product is oily or loose, a barrier or a liner is a separate specification.

Brands already buying rigid boxes or mailers

The case where buying the carton from us pays: one board specification, one colour standard and one QC process across the whole programme.

Seasonal and limited retail ranges

Short runs of printed cartons for a fixed date, where the artwork changes but the structure and size stay fixed.

Sizing

Sizing to the shelf

A carton is sized to the product, the shelf and the fixture — in that order. If the retailer merchandises on a peg, the hang tab and the hanging weight constrain the size before anything else; if it is a shelf, the planogram does. Give us the product dimensions and the fixture and we will show you the carton that fits rather than the biggest one that looks good in a mockup.

The indicative figure above is the published factory band for folding cartons, taken at the 500 pc tier. Treat it as a planning reference: a plain carton usually lands at or below it, windows and specialty boards push it above, and at high volume standard cartons can fall well below it. If carton volume is central to your programme, ask for the volume tiers in writing.

Dimension	Guidance
Product plus clearance	Product dimensions plus the insert or the retail bag it sits in, plus 2–3mm. A carton that is tight against a product bulges at the crease
Shelf or peg	Hang tabs and pegs constrain the size and the hanging weight. Tell us the fixture before we draw anything
Planogram and facing	Retailers often specify a height and a depth for the facing. Sizing to the planogram avoids a listing the product cannot be merchandised under
Board caliper	A larger carton needs a heavier board to hold its shape on a shelf. That is a board change, not a price negotiation
Flat-packed volume	Cartons ship and store flat with almost no volume, which is why this is the easiest structure in the range to stock for a seasonal run

Free quote

Quote a folding carton / retail carton

Send the basics and you will get an itemised price plus a 3D mockup with your branding.

Your name *

Work email *

Company / brand

Shipping destination *

Product type *

Quantity needed *

Approx. size (L × W × H cm)

WhatsApp / phone

Project details *

Reply within one business day · 24 hours mockup · sample before bulk production · no obligation.

✉Prefer WhatsApp? Message us and get an answer in minutes. @info@cwpacking.com

What you get

Quoted line by line, not as a lump sum

✓Structural dieline (PDF) and a 3D mockup with your artwork
✓Board or fabric, printing, each finish and the insert priced separately
✓A physical sample before any bulk run, credited on your order
✓Photo and video updates every two days through production
✓Freight quoted for your route — sea, air or express

Reply within one business day. No obligation, and no design files needed to start.

✉WhatsApp @info@cwpacking.com

FAQ

Questions about folding cartons

This is the most price-compressed category we make, so the honest answers matter more than the pitch.

Is a folding carton the cheapest box you make?

Per unit, yes — it is a die-cut cardstock sheet rather than a laminated or rigid structure, and it ships flat. But cheap per unit is not the same as good value, and this is the most price-compressed category in packaging: there are thousands of suppliers, the structure is fully standardised, and artwork is where nearly all the differentiation lives. Buy it from us because it belongs to a wider packaging programme — one board specification and one colour standard across the carton, the mailer and the gift box — rather than in a lowest-price tender you should expect to lose somewhere.

Why is a folding carton priced so far below everything else here?

Because there is far less in it than in a rigid box: a die-cut cardstock sheet with no laminated board, no rigid shell, no hand wrapping and no assembly. Treat the figure as a planning reference: a plain cardstock carton without a window or a specialty board usually lands at or below it, finishing and specialty boards push it above, and high-volume standard cartons can fall well below it. Ask for a size-specific number before you budget from this page alone.

When is a folding carton the wrong choice?

Whenever the carton is the pack that protects the product in transit. It is a shelf structure: it holds a product, it does not guard it against being dropped or stacked, so anything shipped on its own needs a mailer or an RSC around it. It is also the wrong choice where the product is oily or moist and the board is not specified for it, and where the packaging is the gift — a carton will not feel like a rigid box, whatever finishing you add.

Can a carton be food-safe?

A carton can be specified as food-contact packaging, but it is not one as standard, and the requirement attaches to the exact board, coating and ink rather than to a general claim. We will supply the destination market's required material declarations and migration test documents for the specification you approve, and you should ask for the current certificate for that exact specification. If the product is greasy or moist, expect the answer to include a coating or a liner, which we quote as its own line.

Keep looking

Other formats in this range

Volume driver

Corrugated Mailer Box

A one-piece corrugated box that closes without tape and opens without a knife, supplied flat so it costs almost nothing to ship or store. E-flute is the printed, foldable profile; B-flute is the stronger one for boxes that travel with little inside. This is the highest-repurchase line we make and one of the most competitive, so we hold a specification stable between runs — but it is a volume line with a moderate margin, and it only becomes a good one once the box carries your own artwork inside and is right-sized to the product.

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Inside print

Subscription Box with Printed Interior

A corrugated mailer built the way a brand product is built: full-colour litho-laminated artwork outside and inside, a printed insert card, and a size that matches the assortment rather than a stock carton. The interior print is the reason to buy it — it is the surface the customer photographs when the box opens, and it is the single cheapest thing that turns a parcel into a brand. The honest trade-off is the MOQ: litho lamination starts at 1,000 pcs, so this is a format for a programme, not a first test order.

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Tamper-evident

Tear-Strip Mailer Box

A corrugated mailer with a perforated tear strip built into the die, which gives the customer a single-pull opening and gives you a tamper-evident pack. Marketplaces, returns-heavy categories and subscription programmes ask for it, and it is the opening that makes an unboxing video look deliberate. The trade-off is honest: the strip needs its own die, the unit cost is higher than the self-locking version, and the opening is single-use — once it is torn, the box does not close again.

View details WhatsApp

Get a free quote

Send your spec. Get a number in 24 hours.

Tell us the product, the quantity and the destination. You will get an itemised factory-direct price, a recommended structure and a 3D mockup — no design files needed to start.

✓Itemised pricing, not a single lump sum
✓Structural dieline and 3D mockup included
✓Physical sample before any bulk run
✓Photo and video updates through production

WhatsApp us Email info@cwpacking.com

Free quote

Free quote in 24 hours

Two minutes to fill in. No design files needed to start.

Your name *

Work email *

Company / brand

Shipping destination *

Product type *

Quantity needed *

Project details *

Reply within one business day · 24 hours mockup · sample before bulk production · no obligation.

✉Prefer WhatsApp? Message us and get an answer in minutes. @info@cwpacking.com