Retail Pickup Packaging

[JGundry]

I have a few retail shops interested in carrying my humbuckers. I'm trying to locate a source for clear plastic cases, foam inserts and silk screening. Is there a one stop shop for all three or do they have to be sourced separately. I have found a few sources for the cases but the sizes tend to be way too big or just too small. For the foam I just want a small a thin piece to put in the bottom of the case. I assume the silkscreening could be done by the box vendor but the vendors I have run across don't offer silk screening. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Satamax]

Try to be creative and cool!

A wooden box would look cool, and potheads musicians could keep their stash of buds in there after And other ones could keep their plecs in there. As for silk screening, why don't you buy some "stickers" sheets and print some with a printer? For the foam, any shop who does kniting and sewing should have some kind of foam that you can recut.

[Steve Conner]

Have you tried looking for jewelry gift boxes on eBay? Nice site btw!

[David Schwab]

I decided to use small craft boxes.. they are brown cardboard and have a folding flap lid. I then put a label with my logo on the top.

I figured they were more environmentally friendly, and cheaper than plastic boxes too. Plus I couldn't find any plastic boxes to start with.

I wrap the pickup in a little bubble wrap first.

[Just Bob]

www.usbox.com has those plastic hinged boxes in most any size and type of plastic. They tend to be fairly expensive, like a dollar a box for pickup sizes. Silk screening is way expensive. Screen charges plus setup jigs and stuff. Large minimums, like a couple gross. A folded card insert is a more usual. With a diecut hole so you can see the item inside or just folded so the top doesn't cover the whole box. . Or, a transparent self-stick label. Any time you talk printing, it isn't cost effective until you do thousands. I just print my own on clear self-stick labels.

[JGundry]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Keep them coming. www.usbox.com has been the best deal on boxes I have found so far. I ordered some clear acetate stickers from them a couple of weeks ago to stick on the outside of a clear box. They look pretty good but the adhesive is not quite crystal clear. I still think silk screeing might be the way to go.

[Just Bob]

Packaging is an art in itself and can be pretty expensive for anything nice. I suspect a lot of time the package is more expensive than the item inside. I did some package design years ago for high-volume stuff. We spent a couple dollars per unit just on the package. Makes a big difference in sales to have a slick package.

Somebody must do it, but I've yet to find anybody who actually does screening onto boxes. Probably a lot of labor. You can't just put a stack of stuff into the press. A lot of what you see isn't screened. Its' printed on a flexographic printer. Looks similar but its a whole different animal in terms of costs. Cheap per piece, but expensive setup.

What you see fairly often is plastic sleeves. Print on a clear plastic sheet and wrap it around the box. Commercial ones are usually heat sealed, but you see them taped too. That has the extra benefit that it makes it harder for people to open the box in the store and loose pieces. Some of those blister packs need a crowbar and chisel to get them open.

[David Schwab]

www.usbox.com has those plastic hinged boxes in most any size and type of plastic.

That's where I ended up getting my boxes from.

Brown Kraft Cardboard Paper Gift Boxes

[Sock Puppet]

I'm with David on the environment there but if you need a cheap box that'll last 20,000 years then I've seen them on ebay (u.k.) by the hundreds.

They're a clear two part box used for business card package and display.

You could get them hot foil printed or use a card insert...

.... and use popcorn for the disposeable packing.

S.

[Beef Coon]

Old thread, but wanted to see if anyone could share what they're using for retail packaging.

I'm thinking a one-piece kraft box with a large label that goes over the part where the box closes. The label would actually be 2 identical designs so that if you looked at the box from the front with another box on top you would see the same label as if you were looking directly down at it from the top. - This way if someone's looking through the front of a glass counter they see it and if they're looking down through the top of a glass counter they see it... if a pickup isn't out on top of the box of course.


Thanks!
Bobby

[mr fab]

I work in packaging and the so-called silk screening is called in mould-labelling. this is a plastic label which is inserted into the mould at the time when the box is moulded. the label becomes part of the container itself. you see this type of labelling everywhere, its indelible. setup costs are expensive.

the containers that Duncan uses are polystyrene (HIPS). you may consider using something cheaper like the containers used in confectionary (ie for chocolates), they generally will be cheaper and I am sure you will find something suitable out there.

[Beef Coon]

Thanks Mr. Fab.

This place looks like it has good prices for cardboard boxes: Corrugated Boxes | Mailing Boxes | Corrugated Sheets

[Jim Shine]

I would find a box you like then design a label and have the labels made by a sign shop. They will give you your options. If you find yourself in a place where you are packaging a lot of product, you can look into buying machines that the shop is using and bring it in house.

FWIW, I do not do this sort of thing for pickups, but I do in another business. When buying in quantity, the pricing isn't that bad. You can get razor crisp graphics that are durable without screening. We ended up buying a machine to move that operation in house. Not so much because it is cheaper, but we have full control. If we need one off runs, want to experiment, or need to make a batch in a hurry, we can do it and not have to rely on a shop to get the job done quick.

Anyway, just find a good sign shop and talk to them. Show them what you want. See what they can do for you. There are even machines that print on lexan.

[mr fab]

my general experience is that if you buying carton boxes... its much cheaper to get printing on the box rather than applying a label. the general idea is to have a generic print with business name, contact details etc.. and also a blank area allowing specific content details to be added.

a good quality printed label will label will cost approx. 20c, wheras I can get pre-printed carton boxes with printing for 40c (1000 lots)

application of labels is also a pain to put on straight if done manually

[ken]

I put my pickups in tube boxes with multicolor labels I print myself, and havenīt had a complaint yet. The cardboard boxes are recyclable aka īgreenī, and since I write the pickupīs data on the front labels they are all unique anyway. Also, I can change my labels for each model without racking up multiple color print charges for every change I make or worry about running out of Strat specific boxes when I have Tele pickup boxes instead.

The dancers out front donīt care about that snazzy stashbox you just got for your guitar case, they only care for what they hear. If the way your box looks to your customers is more important than what your pickup inside sounds like... something is wrong.

Iīd rather spend my money on buying the very best materials possible for my pickups.

ken