Custom Magnetic Lid Gift Boxes
Custom magnetic lid gift boxes built to your dimensions and artwork, from 100 units. The magnets are hidden under the wrap, the lid lands with a click, and the box can arrive flat or ready to fill — dieline and price the same working day.
The click is the product
- Board
- 1200–1800 gsm chipboard, wrapped in 128–157 gsm art paper
- Magnets
- 2 or 4 hidden neodymium discs, 6–10 mm, recessed before wrapping
- Lid styles
- Front flap, full wrap lid, magnet-catch drawer
Get a price for Magnetic Lid Gift 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.
Where the magnets sit, and why you never see them
Two neodymium discs — sometimes four on a wide lid — are recessed into the board before the paper wrap goes on, one set in the lid flap and one in the front wall. The wrap covers both, so the finished box shows no hardware at all. Cheaper boxes glue the magnets on the surface and cover them with a patch; you can feel the bump, and after a few months the patch lifts.
Magnet size matters more than count. A 10 mm disc holds a lid closed through a courier journey; a 6 mm one holds it closed on a shelf. We pick by lid weight, and a foil-heavy or laminated lid needs the larger pull.
Flap lid or full lid
A flap-close box has the lid hinged at the back and a short front flap that folds down over the wall — this is the classic book-style magnetic box. A full-lid version wraps the lid down over three sides, which hides the base entirely and reads heavier in the hand.
| Front flap | One hinge, opens like a book, fastest to fill and the lowest board use |
|---|---|
| Full wrap lid | Lid skirts three sides, most premium look, harder to open one-handed |
| Drawer with magnet catch | Slides rather than hinges; the magnet stops the tray, not a lid |
Shipped flat, or shipped made up
A set-up magnetic box arrives assembled and takes up its full volume in transit and in your stockroom. The collapsible version has creased walls and a self-locking base, folds to about an inch thick, and pops into shape when you need it — the same hinge, the same magnets, roughly a third of the freight. We explain when the fold-flat build is worth its small premium in our page on rigid boxes that fold flat for shipping.
If you fill fewer than a few hundred a month, set-up is simpler. Above that, the freight and storage on assembled boxes usually pays for the collapsible tooling inside a year.
A collapsible box needs the wrap paper to crease without cracking. Dark solids over uncoated paper show white at the fold; laminated or textured stock does not.
The inside is half the box
Whatever holds the contents, it must not push against the lid. A lid that sits proud by a sixteenth of an inch never fully clicks, and the whole point of the magnet is lost.
- Printed inner wrap — the lid interior is the first thing the recipient reads.
- Die-cut paperboard platform to hold one product still in a box built for shelf presence.
- EVA foam or flocked tray for anything heavy, glass or with a specific orientation.
- A ribbon pull under a flat product, so it lifts out without fingernails.
Surface, and what the magnet changes about it
Soft-touch lamination and the magnetic close are the pairing customers reach for, and they work together: the matte surface makes the box quiet and the closure makes it decisive. Foil on the lid is the usual second step. We weigh each option against the rest of the spec in our guide to choosing a packaging finish.
Magnetic Lid Gift 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
- 1200–1800 gsm chipboard, wrapped in 128–157 gsm art paper
- Magnets
- 2 or 4 hidden neodymium discs, 6–10 mm, recessed before wrapping
- Lid styles
- Front flap, full wrap lid, magnet-catch drawer
- Build
- Set-up (assembled) or collapsible with self-locking base
- Finishes
- Soft-touch, matte or gloss lamination, foil, emboss, spot UV
- Inserts
- Paperboard platform, EVA foam, flocked tray, ribbon pull
- 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 magnetic lid gift 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: magnetic lid gift 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 Magnetic Lid Gift 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 magnetic lid gift 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.
Are the magnets visible on the finished box?
No. They are recessed into the board before the paper wrap is applied, so the surface is flat and unbroken on both the lid and the wall.
How strong is the closure?
Strong enough to stay shut in a courier bag. We size the magnets to the lid weight; a foil or laminated lid gets the larger disc.
Can the box ship flat?
Yes, as a collapsible build with a self-locking base. It folds to about an inch and takes roughly a third of the freight of an assembled box.
Does the fold-flat version feel cheaper?
Not in the hand. The board is the same and the magnets are the same; the only visible difference is a crease line inside the wall, which the insert usually covers.
What is the smallest magnetic box you make?
Around 3 × 3 × 1 in. Below that the magnets take up too much of the wall and the lid gets hard to grip.
And the largest?
About 16 × 12 × 6 in on a full wrap lid. Beyond that the lid needs four magnets and the box wants to be a two-piece rather than hinged.
Can you print inside the lid?
Yes, on the inner wrap. It is the first surface the recipient sees when the box opens, and it is one of the cheaper places to add a second color.
Do magnets affect anything I put in the box?
Not consumer electronics, cards or cosmetics. Magnetic stripe cards held flat against the front wall for weeks could in theory be affected, so we keep the magnets out of that zone on card boxes.
Can I have a ribbon closure as well?
You can, though it is redundant. A ribbon on a magnetic box is decorative; if you want the ribbon to do the closing, a plain lid is cheaper.
What is the minimum order?
100 boxes. The wrapping is done by hand, so the set-up cost is in the die and the print rather than a press make-ready.
How long does production take?
Hand-wrapped rigid work takes longer than a folding carton. We give a date with the quote once we know the size, the finish and the quantity.
Will I see a sample before the run?
You get a dieline with the quote, and a white sample or a printed prototype on request before we commit the run.
Same range
