Custom Black Friday Boxes
Custom Black Friday boxes — black mailers and cartons with the sale message, printed digitally for a short run, from 100 — ordered in October and on the doorstep in November. Proof and price the same working day.
A box for the busiest weekend of the year, then never again
- Board
- Black-lined E flute; white-top for full-black digital; kraft option
- Builds
- Self-locking mailer; tuck carton for small items
- Digital, no plates; opaque white and accent on black; inside-lid print
Get a price for Black Friday Boxes
Send the size and quantity — we reply the same working day with a price, a dieline and a date. Artwork optional at this stage.
- Free dielineThe flat drawing comes with the quote, before you commit.
- Proof before pressNothing is printed until you have seen it laid on the dieline.
- Die kept for reordersTooling is paid once. Every reorder skips straight to press.
- Quoted in four marketsUS, UK, Canada and Australia, in the delivery currency.
What a Black Friday box says
- Black board with white or one accent color — it reads as the event from across the room.
- The offer or a "you got the deal" line inside the lid.
- A code for the next purchase on the insert — the reason to send a box at all.
- The brand, small; the weekend is the star.
Black board, printed or lined
Our mailer boxes for e-commerce orders are the construction underneath; the season is a print and a liner.
| Black-lined E flute | A black liner; white and accent inks print opaque; the mailer standard |
|---|---|
| White-top printed full black | Digital full coverage; lets the black fade into an image; costs more ink |
| Kraft with black print | The cheapest; reads as kraft with a black design, not as a black box |
Why digital, why now
A sale weekend uses a few hundred to a few thousand boxes in a few days. Digital print needs no plates, so a run of 300 costs about the same per box as a run of 3,000, and the artwork is a file that is retired on Monday. Flexo makes sense only for a brand that ships tens of thousands over the weekend. Ordering in October gives the run time to be made and delivered before the rush.
Order the peak-day count plus 15%. Running out on the Saturday means shipping the sale in plain boxes.
The same box for Cyber Monday and the rest
One design covers Black Friday through Cyber Monday. A December variant — the same box in red or with a holiday line — runs from the same die and the same file with the colors changed, which is how a brand has a seasonal box for every peak at digital cost.
Sizes and the order profile
Sale orders skew to multi-item baskets, so the Black Friday box is often one size up from the standard mailer. Two sizes — the usual and the larger — in the sale design cover most baskets, and the plain shipper handles the rest.
Black Friday Boxes — specification
The rows that are specific to this build first, then what applies to every job we run. Anything not listed is a question, not a limit — send the brief.
This build
- Board
- Black-lined E flute; white-top for full-black digital; kraft option
- Builds
- Self-locking mailer; tuck carton for small items
- Digital, no plates; opaque white and accent on black; inside-lid print
- Sizes
- Standard mailer and one size up for sale baskets
- Timing
- Order October; delivered before the weekend
- Reuse
- Same die and file for Cyber Monday and December variants
- Minimum
- 100 boxes
On every job
- Print process
- Digital below about a thousand, offset above it. One side or both, with spot colors where a match has to hold.
- Color
- CMYK as standard. Uncoated and kraft stocks print lighter and warmer; a spot color is the only exact match.
- Tolerance
- Cutting plus or minus 1 mm, creasing plus or minus 0.5 mm, confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Tooling
- A cutting die per size, made once and kept. Foil and emboss dies per artwork, also kept.
- Food contact
- Food-grade board and inks where the carton touches food, with the interior left plain.
- Sustainability
- Mono-material board wherever the product allows; recycled-content and FSC stocks; no claim printed the pack does not earn.
- Artwork
- Vector PDF or AI, 3 mm bleed, 4 mm safe area, fonts outlined. We check every file and send a proof before press.
- Dieline
- Supplied free with the quote, before you commit. Yours whether or not you order.
- Sample
- A plain unprinted sample at the finished size on request, for fit and construction.
- Reorders
- Skip the tooling and go straight to press at a lower unit price.
- Lead time
- Quoted with the price against your fill date rather than promised before we have seen the spec.
- Markets
- United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia — priced in the delivery currency, freight included.
Boards and films we build black friday boxes on
A folding carton is one sheet of board, so the board is the product. These are the stocks we run for cartons, what each is good at, and where it lets you down.
Natural kraft
Unbleached folding board. Warm, hides marks, costs least. Mutes color — one or two flat colors print well, photographs do not.
250–350gsm sleeves; 14–24pt cartonsWhite SBS
Solid bleached sulfate: bright, coated, the retail carton standard. Takes accurate color and every finish. Shows scuffs sooner than kraft.
14–24ptWhite lined chipboard
A recycled gray core under a white printing face. Cheaper than SBS and slightly duller; the back of the sheet stays gray.
16–24ptKraft-look coated
A kraft face over a coated inner. The natural look with a barrier behind it — the answer where oil, grease or moisture would mark plain kraft.
14–20ptRecycled-content board
Post-consumer fiber with a gray-brown cast. Right for outers and inner components; poor for bright whites and photography.
16–22ptMicro-flute E and F
A fine corrugated layer where a carton needs structure it cannot get from board — a large panel, a heavy product, a box that ships alone.
E 1.5 mm; F 0.8 mmUncoated and textured
No clay coat, or a linen or laid grain. Print reads softer and warmer; a deboss goes deeper. Photographs do not sit well on it.
280–350gsmMetallised and pearlescent
A metallic or pearl face for a shelf that needs to catch light. Costly, and it fights a photograph — a mark or a pattern suits it better.
16–20ptNot sure which? Say what goes in it and where it is sold — the material follows from that. Our notes on recycled, recyclable and compostable cover which claims each stock can honestly carry.
- 01
Send what you have
A dimension, a photograph beside a ruler, or the product itself. No technical drawing needed — that part is ours.
- 02
We quote and draw
A price, a dieline and a date come back together. If a different build would suit the product better, that is in the reply too.
- 03
Approve the dieline
The flat drawing is yours to check: which panel is the front, where the folds fall, how deep the cavity really is.
- 04
Artwork on the dieline
You place your design on the flat we sent, or we place it for you, and you see a proof before anything goes to press.
- 05
A sample if you want one
A plain unprinted sample at the finished size shows fit and construction — the things a drawing cannot.
- 06
Cut, printed, shipped
The die is cut once and kept, so every reorder skips the tooling and goes straight to press at a lower unit price.
Format
Vector PDF or AI where possible. Raster artwork at 300dpi at final size, in CMYK.
Bleed
3 mm past every trim line, so a fraction of drift on the cutter never leaves a white edge.
Safe area
Keep type and anything important 4 mm inside the cut and away from every fold.
Color
Convert to CMYK before sending. Uncoated stock prints lighter; a spot color is the only exact match.
Fonts
Outline them or supply the files. A missing font substitutes silently and the proof will not match.
Barcodes
On a light, matte, unvarnished patch with the quiet zone clear — a code on gloss fails the scanner.
Not set up that way? Send it anyway — fixing a file is a short conversation, and we check every one before press. Our guide to preparing print files covers each point.
Every finish here is a decision about light on a shelf, not about luxury.
Matte lamination
Reads considered, hides marks, takes a ballpoint.
Gloss lamination
Lifts color; glares under shop lighting.
Soft-touch
Velvet in the hand; shows fingerprints in a bag.
Hot foil
Real metal leaf — the most reliable premium signal.
Emboss / deboss
Shape with no ink; works in the dark.
Spot UV
Gloss shapes on a matte field.
Uncoated kraft
Warm, natural, mutes color.
Textured stock
Texture in the paper; cannot scuff off.
Not sure which suits the shelf it sells from? Say where the product is sold and we suggest one — our notes on specialty finishes show them on real boxes.
Sizing a folding carton so the die comes out right: black friday boxes
Measure the product, not the box it is in now. A carton is built around what has to fit inside it, assembled — cap on, lid fitted, folded if it folds — at its widest point in each direction. Send those three numbers and say which is which.
- Length x width x height
- Internal, always. External dimensions include the board and are what the carrier measures, not what the product needs.
- Clearance
- 2–3 mm a side for a snug fit; more where an insert or void fill goes in. A carton cut exactly to the product is slow to pack and transmits every knock.
- Board thickness
- Heavier board takes internal space from the product. It matters most on small boxes, where four walls of 24pt is a real share of the cavity.
- Varies between batches?
- Glass, textiles, molded parts and cured soap all do. Measure several and build to the largest.
- Cutting tolerance
- Plus or minus 1 mm on folding board. Confirmed on a plain sample before the run.
- Units
- Metric or imperial, as long as you say which. Mixing them in one spec is where mistakes happen.
Not sure your numbers are right? Send the product dimensions rather than the box dimensions and we work the box out — the full method is in our guide to measuring for a box.
Interactive · five steps · no sign-up
Build your Black Friday Boxes in 3D
Pick a shape, type a size, choose a board and a finish. The preview on the left redraws as you go, and the spec lands with us exactly as you set it.
Frequently asked questions
Got a question about black friday boxes? The answers below cover what we get asked most. If yours is not here, send it with a brief, message us on WhatsApp, or call +1 503-461-4788 — we reply the same working day.
Can I have a fully black box?
Yes, on a black-lined E flute with opaque white and accent print, or a white-top box printed full black digitally.
Why print a box for one weekend?
Because digital print needs no plates, a short run costs about the same per box as a long one, and the box turns a discount order into a brand moment.
When should I order?
October. The run is made and delivered before the rush.
How many should I order?
The peak-day count plus 15%. Running out on Saturday means shipping the sale in plain boxes.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes.
Can the inside be printed?
Yes, the offer or a message inside the lid, and a code for the next purchase on the insert.
Can the same design be used for Cyber Monday?
Yes, one design covers the whole weekend. A December variant runs from the same file with colors changed.
What size should the box be?
Usually one size up from the standard mailer, because sale baskets are larger. Two sizes cover most orders.
Does the black scuff?
A black liner shows scuffs less than a printed black. Both are fine for a single delivery.
Does it ship flat?
Yes, mailers fold without tape.
Is the die kept?
Yes, and the file, so next year is a reorder with the year changed.
Do you ship outside the US?
Yes, to the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, quoted in the delivery currency.
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