Packaging Terms in a Quote
A packaging terms glossary for a buyer holding a quote full of words they did not choose. These are the terms that change what it costs.
Four groups in the order a quotation is read. The board group uses the trade’s vocabulary; the structure, print, finishing and tooling entries describe what this factory runs and charges. The board we run: white card 200–450 gsm, coated art paper up to about 375 gsm, kraft bag paper 80–200 gsm, kraft board 250–450 gsm in E (about 1.5 mm), B (about 3 mm) and EB (about 4.5 mm) flute, greyboard 1.0–3.0 mm for rigid boxes. A quote names the exact grade for your job.
Grouped the Way a Quote Is Read
Four groups, in the order they usually appear on a quotation. A term read wrong in any of them costs money in a different way: structure sets tooling, board sets whether the pack survives transit, finishing adds lines you did not price, and tooling decides what a reorder costs.
A rigid box is board wrapped in printed paper and does not fold flat. A paper tube is a cylinder with a lid; we run tubes from 30 to 150 mm diameter with 1.0–3.0 mm walls and lids in paper, tinplate or acrylic. Structure sets the die and the tooling.
General industry usage. Corrugated board is a fluted layer glued between liners, and the flute letter is the wave size: E is fine and prints well, B is coarser and takes more crush, EB is the two combined for heavier goods.
The gsm ranges and flutes this factory works in are published per family on our product range. Finished dimensions, handle load and ECT are quoted per job.
Spot UV is a gloss varnish on part of the design. Foil stamping presses metallic film; we run gold and silver. Embossing raises the board, debossing presses it in. Windowing cuts an opening. Each is a separate line.
On the packing half: an inner pack is how many units go into the first wrap, a master carton is the outer box those wraps ship in, and the carton count is units per master carton – the number your warehouse plans receiving around, and one a quote does not always show.
| Structure: what shape it is. | All four are ours. A folding carton ships flat and is glued or tucked at assembly. A mailer box is corrugated and folds around the product with a tuck closure. |
|---|---|
| Board and material: what it is made of. | General industry usage. gsm is grams per square metre, the board’s weight and the usual shorthand for its stiffness. Caliper is its thickness, a different property: two boards at the same gsm can differ in bulk. |
| SBS | is a bleached white board that takes photographic print. kraft is unbleached and brown, and prints with the board colour showing through. C1S means coated one side, so the outside prints and the inside stays uncoated. |
| ECT | is a laboratory crush figure quoted on corrugated; it is a test result, and a pallet is not a laboratory. Imposed describes how many copies of your design are laid out on one printing sheet, which is why quantity moves the unit price in steps. |
| Print and finishing: how it looks. | These are the ones this factory runs.CMYK is four-colour process for images. Pantone is a mixed spot ink for a brand colour. Lamination comes matte, gloss or soft-touch. |
| Tooling and packing: what is charged once. | Our own charges. A die cuts the shape, a plate carries the print, a foil or emboss die shapes the finish. From about USD 50 each, charged once per design, and a printed and finished box can carry several. |
What You Decide and What We Propose
Yours to decide.
Structure, quantity, brand colours, which finishing effects the product needs, artwork.
Ours to propose.
Board and grade for the job, die layout, how the run is imposed, packing for the destination.
Agreed together.
Anything with a tolerance (colour, fit, finish depth) is settled on the sample.
Terms That Get Misread
A structure name read as a size.
“Mailer box” is a shape, not a dimension. Two mailer boxes can differ by a factor of ten in volume.
A finishing effect assumed to be included.
Spot UV, foil and embossing are separate lines. A quote that does not mention them has not priced them.
Tooling assumed to be per run.
It is per design. This matters most on a reorder: while the die and plate for that artwork are still held, the second order does not pay for them again. How long they are held is worth confirming on the quote rather than assuming.
What These Terms Mean Here
The finishing terms above describe what Zhypacking actually runs: CMYK and Pantone printing, matte, gloss and soft-touch lamination, spot UV, gold and silver foil, embossing and debossing, windowing and die-cutting.
Entries marked general industry usage explain how the trade uses a word without implying we supply it. That marker sits on the board group, where the vocabulary is the industry’s. The structure, print, finishing and tooling entries describe what this factory actually runs and charges.
Board gsm ranges are published per family on our product range.
Where to Go Next
The quote checklist covers which of these terms you have to decide before a quote can be produced, and which the factory proposes. Leaving one of yours blank is what turns a quotation into a questionnaire.
Pantone or CMYK for packaging covers the colour decision in more detail, including what counts as a colour reference. Print proof approval covers where the finishing terms stop being words and get checked on a proof: the point after which a change means new tooling and a restarted production clock.
The two terms this page keeps invoking have their own pages. MOQ by product covers the 200 pcs minimum and what the tooling split does to it, and sample and lead time covers the clock a reorder is planned against.
Once the words are settled, our product range is where the structures in the first group actually live, and custom packaging services covers how a brief turns into one.
Send Us the Quote
Send a quote and we will read it back in plain terms: which lines are yours to decide, which the factory proposes, and which costs are charged once per design instead of on every run.
That last distinction changes what a reorder costs. Send the quote before you sign it.
A term misunderstood at quoting stage surfaces as an unexpected line at proofing stage, when a change means new tooling, a restarted production clock and a delay you did not plan for.