Sizes of Shipping Boxes

[MellonFriend]

This might be a kind of dumb question, but does anyone have any recommendations on how to know what sizes of shipping boxes I should have on hand? As in, I will be selling soap, lotion, honey, ect. and a box that fits one of those things is going to be a lot different than a box sized for all three. I figured I'd order some free shipping boxes from the post office and UPS since they are the services I will be using, but I feel at a loss for knowing what sizes to buy. Maybe I'm not looking at this the right way. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[basti]

This is very much a your mileage may vary sort of question.

My go to sizes are 6x4x3 and 6x4x4 (inches) because my average order is 5-8 soaps and those boxes fit that perfectly with a little room for a sample and some fill. I use 6x9 mailers for smaller orders and have a stack of 9x6x3 boxes for larger orders. Only very rarely do I have an order that needs a box larger than that, in which case I'll usually reuse a box instead.

Figure out your average order size, pick a mock order (say, 4 soaps, a lotion, etc) and see how much size it takes up, then go slightly larger than that.

 

[MellonFriend]

This is very much a your mileage may vary sort of question.

My go to sizes are 6x4x3 and 6x4x4 (inches) because my average order is 5-8 soaps and those boxes fit that perfectly with a little room for a sample and some fill. I use 6x9 mailers for smaller orders and have a stack of 9x6x3 boxes for larger orders. Only very rarely do I have an order that needs a box larger than that, in which case I'll usually reuse a box instead.

Figure out your average order size, pick a mock order (say, 4 soaps, a lotion, etc) and see how much size it takes up, then go slightly larger than that.

That's really helpful, thank you. I just had no idea how to go about getting some boxes on hand without ordering a bunch of each size!

Good for you having an average of 5-8 soaps per order! I don't think my order sizes will be that large, at least to start out.

 

[Carolyne Thrasher]

This might be a kind of dumb question, but does anyone have any recommendations on how to know what sizes of shipping boxes I should have on hand? As in, I will be selling soap, lotion, honey, ect. and a box that fits one of those things is going to be a lot different than a box sized for all three. I figured I'd order some free shipping boxes from the post office and UPS since they are the services I will be using, but I feel at a loss for knowing what sizes to buy. Maybe I'm not looking at this the right way. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

UPS boxes are really expensive. I buy boxes online from papermart. I generally only use USPS flat rate which encourages customers to not order just one bar of soap at a time. And I can use the flat rate mailers provided by USPS. I don't do much shipping though as most of my business is local.

 

[Ephemerella]

So here is a 100 pack of good sized boxes for under $40

I actually repurpose all of my boxes that arrive with materials. As I do probably just as many candles as soap at this point, its a considerable amount of boxes for all the vessels.

 

[MellonFriend]

UPS boxes are really expensive. I buy boxes online from papermart. I generally only use USPS flat rate which encourages customers to not order just one bar of soap at a time. And I can use the flat rate mailers provided by USPS. I don't do much shipping though as most of my business is local.

UPS boxes are expensive to purchase or expensive to ship? Because I think you can get free boxes off the website.

I'm planning on trying to go for USPS flat rate shipping at this point, but I wanted to keep UPS as an option in case their rates were better.

So here is a 100 pack of good sized boxes for under $40

I actually repurpose all of my boxes that arrive with materials. As I do probably just as many candles as soap at this point, its a considerable amount of boxes for all the vessels.

I will definitely be repurposing boxes, but I don't have a whole lot of smaller boxes at this point. Thanks for that link.

 

[lucycat]

Consider Pirate Ship, an intermediary for purchasing/printing your postage. They are usually cheaper than the flat rate boxes because they can use a priority mail cubic rate that isn't offered to individuals. Actually, start an account (free) and calculate rates on various "orders" and box sizes. I would also go to the USPS site and look at the shipping supplies section for the various sizes of USPS Priority mailboxes that you can order for free.

I sell at craft fairs and my customers are those that purchased from me first at a fair. Most live fairly close and my shipping is mostly within 300 miles and orders of 6-12 bars of soap. I use priority mail (USPS free boxes) using Pirate Ship for most with the Priority box 7.25 x 7.25 x 6.5. Shipping costs vary between based on weight/zip code distance but for me about $6.75-$9 compared to the $10.65 small flat rate box (holds 3 bars of my soap) or $19.25 medium box flat rate.

I also use USPS ground advantage (for long distances & my own box) for a few large/heavy orders.

 

[AliOop]

Consider Pirate Ship, an intermediary for purchasing/printing your postage. They are usually cheaper than the flat rate boxes because they can use a priority mail cubic rate that isn't offered to individuals. Actually, start an account (free) and calculate rates on various "orders" and box sizes. I would also go to the USPS site and look at the shipping supplies section for the various sizes of USPS Priority mailboxes that you can order for free.

I sell at craft fairs and my customers are those that purchased from me first at a fair. Most live fairly close and my shipping is mostly within 300 miles and orders of 6-12 bars of soap. I use priority mail (USPS free boxes) using Pirate Ship for most with the Priority box 7.25 x 7.25 x 6.5. Shipping costs vary between based on weight/zip code distance but for me about $6.75-$9 compared to the $10.65 small flat rate box (holds 3 bars of my soap) or $19.25 medium box flat rate.

I also use USPS ground advantage (for long distances & my own box) for a few large/heavy orders.

+1 for PirateShip. It saves a ton of money over going to the counter at USPS.

 

[justsomeguy]

+1 for PirateShip. It saves a ton of money over going to the counter at USPS.

+1 more for pirate ship