Paper gift bags · MOQ 300 pcs
Kraft carriers, printed art paper and the premium laminated build, with rope, ribbon, flat tape or die-cut handles. Every bag is built to your dimensions and quoted against the load it has to carry — and we will tell you plainly which end of this market has a margin and which one is a commodity.
Range
The kraft end is a commodity quoted on cents; the laminated, ribbon-handle end is where a paper bag programme actually earns. We quote both, and we tell you which one we would lead with.
Uncoated kraft with a single-colour print and a flat tape or die-cut handle. Constant demand from takeaway, grocery and give-away programmes — and the most price-competitive corner of the paper bag market. Quoted honestly as a commodity.
Printed art paper with a matte, soft-touch or gloss lamination, reinforced top edge and a foil or spot UV brand mark. This is the build that looks like the product it carries, and the one we would lead the range with.
A ribbon or cotton-rope handle threaded through a reinforced top edge — the first thing a customer touches, and the clearest signal that a bag is a gift bag rather than a carrier. Specified against the load it has to hold.
One retail programme usually needs three or four bag sizes that share a board, a handle and a print. Quoting them together is what keeps the range consistent on the shelf and keeps the smaller sizes affordable.
A cotton rope handle anchored behind a folded, glued and tape-reinforced top edge, on a printed paper body with a board base insert. Rougher in the hand than ribbon, and the handle to specify when the bag has to carry real retail weight — bottles, footwear or a multi-item gift set.
No separate handle component: the grip is punched through the paper itself. The flattest and cheapest paper bag to ship, and the right answer for light retail purchases — with the honest caveat that the aperture is also the first thing to fail under load.
Materials 01
An uncoated kraft carrier at 500 pcs lands at $0.10–0.22 a piece. It is the most competitive corner of the paper bag market: factories are numerous, the print is usually one flat colour, and buyers compare on unit price alone. A supplier who leads with basic kraft is competing on cents.
That does not make it useless. Takeaway, grocery and give-away volumes are constant, they reorder on a schedule, and a plain kraft bag with a one-colour mark is often exactly the right answer for a product that will be thrown away. We quote it, and we quote it honestly. What we would not do is build a bag programme around it and expect a margin to appear.
Where kraft earns its keep is as the low-cost half of a two-tier programme: plain kraft for the everyday purchase, a laminated and foiled gift bag for the seasonal one. Same brand, two price points, and the customer sees the difference.
Materials 02
Move from uncoated kraft to printed art paper with a matte or soft-touch lamination and the bag stops being a carrier and becomes part of the product. The surface goes smooth and dense, colours stop looking muddy on brown, and the structure stands up in the rack instead of folding in on itself.
The premium build also changes the load path. It is normally heavier stock with a folded and glued top edge, a card or board base insert, and a handle attached through that reinforced edge. Rigid, structured, and the one that gets photographed — which is why it is the build we lead with for retail, beauty and gifting, and the one we would put forward first for a Q4 or Ramadan programme.
Published factory numbers cover the kraft end well — $0.43–0.73 for a mid-weight kraft carrier at 500 pcs — but there is no dependable public price for the premium ribbon-handle build. Rather than publish a number we cannot stand behind, we quote that build on your specification.
Handles
The handle is the part that fails, and it is also the part that decides whether a bag reads as retail or as takeaway. There are four standard options and they are not interchangeable.
Die-cut handles are punched through the paper itself: cheapest, flattest to ship, and the weakest under load, so they suit light purchases. Flat tape handles are folded paper strips glued over the top edge and are the workhorse for grocery and general retail. Twisted paper or cotton-rope handles run through a reinforced top fold and carry much more, which is what heavier retail and gifting programmes specify. Ribbon is the decorative premium option and still needs a properly reinforced top edge, or it pulls straight through the paper the first time the bag is used.
Whichever you choose, ask what load it was specified for. A bag quoted for a lipstick and a bag quoted for a pair of shoes should not be the same bag, even if the artwork is.
Engineering
A paper bag carries its load down the two side panels and across the base, which is why the base and the top edge matter far more than the print. A card or board base insert spreads the weight of a boxed product and stops the bottom creasing. A reinforced top edge — an internal tape or a glued strip — stops a rope or ribbon handle tearing out of the paper.
We would rather quote a load figure than a feeling. Tell us what the bag has to carry and we will specify the stock, the base and the handle attachment around it, then sample it so you can test it with the real product. A physical sample is the point at which a paper bag programme is either right or wrong, and it costs far less than a season of split bags.
Freight is the other half of the calculation. Paper bags are bulky for their weight, so how they fold and nest inside the carton can move the landed cost more than a cent of unit price. Ask for carton dimensions and packed volume alongside the quote and compare landed cost, not ex-works price.
Finishing
Each technique is quoted as its own line, so you can decide where the budget goes.
A film bonded over the printed art paper. Matte reads expensive and hides fingerprints, soft-touch is the velvet feel premium retail uses, and gloss is the cheapest way to make colour pop. Lamination also protects the print from scuffing in the bag rack, which on a paper bag handled in a shop is not a small thing. Spot UV is a gloss varnish laid over selected areas — a logo or a pattern — for a raised, contrast finish on a matte surface.
Metallic foil pressed into the surface under heat. It is the single most effective premium signal on a paper bag, because it catches the light as the bag moves. Gold, silver, rose gold and holographic foils are standard, and the cost is driven by stamped area rather than by the number of logos.
The handle is the first thing a customer touches, so it is a finish as much as a structural part. A ribbon threaded through a reinforced edge, or a cotton rope with a stitched anchor, reads as gifting before the print is even seen. It is quoted per bag against the load it has to hold, not added as a decorative afterthought.
Pricing
The ranges below show what each specification lands in at each quantity tier. Your quote will be itemised against your own size, board or fabric, finishes and insert.
| Bag | MOQ / tier | Indicative ex-works | Assumed specification |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic kraft carrier bag | 500 pcs | $0.10 – 0.22 | Uncoated kraft, one flat colour; the commodity end of the market |
| Kraft carrier bag, mid-weight | 500 pcs | $0.43 – 0.73 | Published factory price: heavier stock, stronger handle |
| Custom printed kraft or shopping bag | 500 pcs | $0.10 – 0.50 | Listing band that moves with size, stock and print coverage |
| Premium laminated gift bag, ribbon or rope handle | 300 pcs | Quote on request | Lamination plus foil, reinforced top edge; no dependable public price exists |
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Paper bag FAQ
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Keep reading
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