Custom Subscription Boxes
Custom subscription boxes from 100 — corrugated mailer boxes printed outside and inside for monthly and quarterly shipments, sized so different contents fit the same box, with inserts, tissue and a printed card.
The same box every month, with something different inside it
- Board
- E flute corrugated, B flute for heavy contents; white or kraft liners
- Style
- Roll-end tuck-front mailer, self-locking, no tape needed
- Full color outside, inside or both; inside lid message
Order online
Order subscription boxes
Starting from $2.50 per unit
Printed to your artwork or plain, sold in runs of 100 up to 5,000 units per product online. Freight to the US, UK, Canada and Australia is inside the price.
How an online order runs
- Add the units you needThen check out with your delivery address. Add other products to the same order on the way.
- A digital proof comes backLaid on the dieline, before anything prints. Change it as often as you need.
- Pay once you approve itPay by PayPal invoice or bank transfer after you approve your digital proof, or cash on delivery in the US and Canada.
- We make it and ship it deliveredYour delivery date is confirmed with the proof, against the spec and your fill date. Freight and customs are handled on the way to you.
Another size, board or finish, or more than 5,000 units? Send the spec for a price instead. Freight by market and our terms cover delivery and remakes.
Get a price for Subscription 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.
One size for a year of changing contents
The hardest decision is the size. Collect the bulkiest month you can foresee, not the average one, and size the box to that with room for tissue. Smaller months are then filled out with crinkle paper or a card insert instead of a second box size. Most programs settle on one main size and, at most, a larger one for a holiday or anniversary edition.
Keep an eye on dimensional weight: carriers charge by the box volume as well as the weight, so an inch too much in every direction costs postage on every shipment.
Printed outside, printed inside, or both
A plain outside is also a privacy choice: some subscribers prefer a parcel that does not announce what is in it.
| Outside only | Brand on the doorstep; plain kraft or white inside |
|---|---|
| Inside only | Plain shipper outside, the reveal saved for the lid opening |
| Both sides | The full experience; printed in one pass on a two-sided sheet |
| Inside lid message | A short line that greets the subscriber every month |
Changing the look without changing the box
- A printed belly band or sleeve per month over the same base box.
- A monthly sticker that seals the lid and names the theme.
- A new card insert on top: the month’s contents, a story, a recipe or instructions.
- Tissue printed with a pattern that changes with the season.
- A limited box design two or three times a year, ordered as its own run.
Ordering the base box in larger runs and the monthly pieces in small ones keeps the cost per box down.
What goes in with the products
When items must stay in fixed places every month, see our mailer boxes with fitted inserts.
| Tissue or crinkle fill | Fills a lighter month and protects loose items |
|---|---|
| Card insert with cutouts | Holds bottles, jars or small items in fixed positions |
| Printed card | Thank-you note, contents list, referral code |
| Divider | Separates fragile items from heavy ones |
Corrugated grades for a box that travels
Subscription boxes are usually E flute corrugated: thin enough to print sharply and to fold with crisp edges, strong enough to go through a parcel network on their own. Heavier boxes, such as food, candles or bottles, move to B flute. White or kraft liners are the outer choice; printing directly on kraft gives a natural, softer look.
Before you order the first run
Order a few sample boxes and pack a real month in them: ship one to yourself and one to someone far away, and open them on camera. That catches a box that is too big, a lid that pops, or an insert that slides. Our guide to packing a subscription box well walks through the rest.
Subscription 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
- E flute corrugated, B flute for heavy contents; white or kraft liners
- Style
- Roll-end tuck-front mailer, self-locking, no tape needed
- Full color outside, inside or both; inside lid message
- Monthly pieces
- Belly bands, sleeves, seal stickers, printed cards, tissue
- Inserts
- Card inserts with cutouts, dividers, crinkle fill
- Minimum
- 100 boxes per size and design
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 subscription 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.
280–350gsmMetalized 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: subscription 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 Subscription 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 subscription 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.
What size should a subscription box be?
Size it to the bulkiest month you expect, with room for tissue, then fill smaller months rather than adding box sizes.
Can subscription boxes be printed inside?
Yes. Subscription boxes can be printed outside, inside or both, including a message under the lid.
How do I change my subscription box design each month?
Keep one base box and change a sleeve, a seal sticker, a card insert or the tissue each month.
Do subscription boxes need tape?
No. A roll-end tuck-front mailer locks closed with its own tabs; a seal sticker adds tamper evidence.
What material are subscription boxes made from?
Usually E flute corrugated board, or B flute for heavier contents such as food, candles or bottles.
Can a subscription box hold items in fixed places?
Yes, with a card insert cut to the items, which keeps the layout the same each month.
Can a subscription box have a plain outside?
Yes. Many programs ship in a plain outer for privacy and print only the inside.
Does the size of a subscription box affect shipping cost?
Yes. Carriers bill by dimensional weight, so a box larger than needed costs more postage every month.
Can I order subscription boxes in small runs?
Yes, from 100 boxes per design, which also suits a limited edition box between regular runs.
Can I add a thank-you card to a subscription box?
Yes. A printed card for thanks, the contents list or a referral code is one of the most common inserts.
Should I test subscription boxes before a full order?
Yes. Pack a real month into sample boxes and ship them to yourself and a distant address before ordering the run.
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