Custom mailer boxes are the folded corrugated boxes that carry ecommerce and subscription orders through the courier network and turn a delivery into an unboxing. We print them inside and out, build them to your exact product size, and there is no minimum order. Most custom mailer box suppliers set a floor somewhere between one hundred and two hundred and fifty units. We do not, which is why brands launch here and stay here once the volume grows.
Mailer box styles, and when each one earns its place
StyleHow it worksBest for
Roll end tuck frontShips flat, snaps together without tape, front flap tucks into the bodyThe default ecommerce mailer. Fast to pack, strong walls, prints well inside and out
Roll end tuck topSame rolled walls with a full lid that tucks along the top edgeRetail ready presentation and subscription boxes that sit on a shelf
Ear lock mailerSide flaps lock into cut ears rather than tuckingHeavier contents, and orders that get handled more than once
Tuck top mailerSeparate lid over a tray baseGift sets, hampers, anything that benefits from a lift off reveal
Sleeved mailerPlain mailer with a printed sleeve wrapped around itSeasonal campaigns, where the sleeve changes and the box does not
Standard mailer box sizes
Size is set by the product, never the other way round. A snug box protects better, uses less void fill and costs less to ship, because carriers price on dimensional weight as well as actual weight. Start from your item, add a small allowance for protection, and give us length by width by depth.
Size (in)Typically holds
6 x 4 x 2Jewelry, single cosmetics, small electronics accessories
8 x 6 x 2Skincare sets, candles, small gift sets
9 x 6 x 3Books, coffee bags, mid size cosmetics
10 x 8 x 4Subscription kits, accessories, multi item cosmetic orders
12 x 9 x 4Folded apparel, larger subscription boxes
14 x 10 x 4Shoes and multi item orders
16 x 12 x 6Homeware, bundled kits, bulkier apparel
18 x 14 x 6Larger retail items and hampers
These are common starting points, not a stock range. We build to your exact size at no extra cost, which is the whole reason to order custom rather than buy a stock carton. Measure the product, not the box you use now, and if you fall between two sizes, size down to the snug fit and let us confirm it protects the product before you print.
Board and flute
The board decides how the box survives the network and how the print looks on it.
BoardThicknessUse it when
E fluteAbout 1/16 inYou want the finest print surface. Best for retail presentation and lighter contents
B fluteAbout 1/8 inYou want more crush resistance and stacking strength. Best for heavier or fragile goods
Double wallThicker againHeavy contents, or long transit legs where the box gets stacked
Single wall mailer board is commonly rated around 32 ECT, an edge crush measurement of how much stacking load the board takes. Tell us the shipped weight of a full box and we will confirm the board and flute on your quote rather than guessing.
Buying mailer boxes wholesale and in bulk
Wholesale here means the unit cost falls as the run grows, not that you have to buy a pallet to get through the door.
No minimum order. One box or one hundred thousand. The per unit cost is higher on a tiny run, but there is no floor and no minimum order fee.
Free design, free dieline and a free digital proof. Send a logo or a rough idea. You approve the proof before we print.
Free samples so you can hold the board before you commit a bulk run.
Production in about 10 to 14 business days for most orders, depending on board, print and finishing. A plain kraft mailer moves faster than a box with foil or spot UV.
Reorders run from your approved file, so the second order does not repeat the setup work.
Free shipping with tracking.
Price match. Send a written quote for the same size, board, print and quantity and we will beat it.
Popular in this category, all with no minimum order: Custom Mailer Boxes, Kraft Mailer Boxes, Luxury Mailer Boxes, Ear Lock Mailer Boxes, Tuck Top Mailer Boxes, Sleeved Mailer Boxes, Vinyl Record Mailers and Custom Bubble Mailers.
Related: mailer boxes with no minimum order, types of mailer boxes, mailer boxes vs rigid boxes, subscription boxes, kraft boxes and retail packaging.
Where we ship
We are a national supplier rather than a local one. Custom mailer boxes ship to every US state, shipping and tracking are free, and the quantity you order matters far more to the price than the address it goes to. If a search for a packaging supplier near you has only turned up stock carton distributors, that is because printing your brand on a box is a different business from selling plain cartons off a shelf. Send us your size and artwork and we will quote it wherever you are.
A mailer box is a one piece corrugated box that ships flat and folds into shape without tape. The walls roll over on themselves, which is what gives it strength, and a front or top flap tucks in to close it. It is the box style most ecommerce and subscription brands use, because it packs fast and it prints well on both faces.
A shipping box is usually a regular slotted carton that needs tape across the top and bottom and is built to be a plain outer. A mailer box needs no tape, arrives folded flat, and is designed to be seen by the customer. If the box is the first thing your customer touches, you want a mailer.
Yes. There is no minimum quantity and no minimum order fee. Most custom mailer box suppliers set a floor somewhere between one hundred and two hundred and fifty units. The unit cost is higher on very small runs, which is simply how printing works, but nothing stops you ordering a short first run to test the size and the artwork before you commit to bulk.
Common sizes run from about 6 x 4 x 2 inches for small accessories up to 18 x 14 x 6 inches for larger retail items, with 10 x 8 x 4 and 12 x 9 x 4 doing most of the work in ecommerce. We build to your exact dimensions, so treat the standard sizes as a starting point rather than a menu.
Measure the product itself, length then width then depth, and add a small allowance for protection or an insert. Do not measure the box you use now, because most brands are shipping in something slightly too big. Send us the product dimensions and we will suggest the size and tell you what it does to your shipping weight.
It depends on the board rather than the box. Single wall E flute, about one sixteenth of an inch, suits lighter retail goods. B flute, about one eighth of an inch, takes more crush and stacking load. Double wall handles heavy contents. Single wall mailer board is commonly rated around 32 ECT. Tell us the full shipped weight and we will specify the board for it.
Yes, full colour inside and out. The outside works for the courier and the doorstep. The inside works for the two seconds after the customer opens it, which is the part people photograph.
No. Send your artwork or your idea and we produce the dieline for you at no cost, then send a digital proof so you can see exactly how the print falls across the folds before anything is made.
Yes, that is what it is built for. A mailer box goes into the courier network as it is, with a label on the outside. That is why the print on the outside matters and why the board has to be specified for the weight.
Three things drive it: the tooling for your size, the print setup, and the run length. Plain stock cartons carry none of the first two and are made in enormous volumes. The gap closes quickly as your quantity rises, and it closes further on reorders, because your dieline and print file already exist. If you have a written quote from someone else, send it and we will beat it on the same specification.
Send the size, the board if you know it, the quantity and your artwork, or just tell us what you ship. You get a free quote on your exact specification, a free dieline and a free digital proof. Most bulk orders produce in about 10 to 14 business days, and reorders run from your approved file.
There are only three failure modes in the mail: crushing, puncture, and water. Every mailer format is a different answer to which of the three you care about, and picking the wrong one is usually a matter of protecting against a risk your product does not face while ignoring the one it does.
| Mailer box | Rigid, protects against crushing, and the only format where the packaging is part of the product experience. Corrugated, so it is also the heaviest option. |
|---|---|
| Bubble mailer | Cushions against impact, resists puncture from the inside, and folds around irregular shapes. No defense against crushing. |
| Poly mailer | Lightest and fastest to pack, fully waterproof, no protection at all against impact. Right for soft goods and nothing else. |
Weight is the argument people underrate. A mailer box, a bubble mailer and a poly mailer holding the same t-shirt are three quite different parcels on a carrier invoice, repeated across every order you ship.
A printed mailer box is the only packaging most direct-to-customer brands ever put in a customer’s hands, and it arrives at the one moment they are paying full attention. That is worth something real, and it is worth nothing at all if the product does not need the protection and the customer is not the sort to notice.
The honest test: if a photograph of the opened parcel would help you sell, the box earns its weight. If the order is a replacement part or a repeat consumable, it does not, and the money is better spent on getting it there faster.
E flute keeps the wall thin and prints cleanly, which suits retail-facing mailer boxes and lighter contents. B flute adds crush resistance for heavier items and for anything that will be stacked. If you are shipping something with real weight, say so and we will specify rather than default.
Tuck top mailer boxes are the most common structure and the general starting point. Ear lock mailer boxes hold shut without tape, which reads as more considered on arrival. Sleeved mailer boxes let you change a printed sleeve seasonally over a plain base, and luxury mailer boxes bring rigid-style finishing to a shipping format.
Kraft mailer boxes carry the natural look — there is more on that material in custom kraft boxes. Gift mailer boxes are built for the parcel that is itself the present, and white shipping boxes give the cleanest print surface.
Custom poly mailers are the lightest option for soft goods, waterproof and quick to pack. Custom bubble mailers and poly bubble mailers add cushioning for small items with corners.
Vinyl record mailers are a genuinely different engineering problem: the disc must not move, the corners take every impact, and a standard mailer will not do it. CBD mailer boxes carry the additional label area regulated products need.
No minimum order, so a launch run or a seasonal design can go out without committing to volume. Mailers are built to your product rather than picked from a fixed list. Design is free, samples are free, and shipping is free. Reorders run from the approved file.
Ask what the product is at risk from. Crushable and fragile goes in a box. Small with corners, needs cushioning but not rigidity, goes in a bubble mailer. Soft, unbreakable and everything to gain from arriving light goes in a poly mailer.
Not here. That floor exists at most suppliers because of how their tooling is set up, and it is the commonest reason a brand ends up with three thousand boxes of a design they have already outgrown.
Measure the product with whatever protection sits around it, then add clearance rather than fitting exactly. A box that is snug empty is a box that will not close once tissue or an insert goes in. Send us the product dimensions and what goes in with it.
You can, and it will arrive marked. A printed presentation box traveling alone through a courier network collects scuffs on the corners and the lid, which is exactly what the customer looks at. A plain shipping outer around the printed box is the usual answer.
More than most brands calculate. The difference between formats is small on one parcel and large across a year of them, and carriers bill on dimensions as well as weight, so a box that is bigger than it needs to be is charged twice over.
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