Private label packaging and inserts: what to plan

Three pieces make up your brand presence on a product. The label carries your name, and ArtzFolio can place it on the product, the pack or both. Inserts are what goes inside the box, such as a care card, a layout guide or a thank-you note. The pack is the carton or box that holds everything.

Packing is the last of the nine factory stations at ArtzFolio, and it is planned around how you sell. In your enquiry, say whether the product carries your mark, where the mark should sit and what inserts and packaging go in. If you have a pack design, send it with the brief.

A useful habit is to write the pack plan as a short list before you ask for a quote: what goes on the product, what goes in the box, how many pieces go in each carton, and what the outer carton should show. The same list then serves as your specification for every repeat order, so the pack looks the same on the second run as on the first.

The simplest way to avoid surprises is to write down who supplies each element. ArtzFolio packs with your inserts and packaging if you send them, to the pack plan you give. If you have no pack plan yet, say so in the enquiry and the team replies with questions.

Be specific about lead times for the things you supply yourself. Printed boxes and inserts made elsewhere must reach the factory in time and in the right quantity, so ask the factory how it wants them delivered and when. A pack that arrives late is the same as a late product, because the order cannot be finished without it. Ask the factory to confirm in writing what it expects from you.

Shipping is EXW Noida, which means the price covers the goods at the factory and you arrange the freight from there. ArtzFolio assists with the logistics and packs to your plan. That makes the route a packing decision: tell the team how the goods will travel and where they are delivered, and the pack can be designed around that.

As a general rule, a parcel sent to a single customer faces more handling than a pallet sent to a warehouse. Say which one you have.

Frames with a clear front sheet, and glass boards, need protection at the corners and across the face. Glass boards use regular thin glass, about 2 or 3 mm, over vinyl on an engineered wood back, so the pack matters more than it does for a rolled canvas.

Good practice is to ask the factory what protection it proposes, then test it on a sample: open the box, lift the product out, and check the corners and surface. If you sell frames in sets, the layout guide in the pack is part of the product, so approve it as well.

Weight and size matter too. A large framed piece needs firmer corner protection than a small one, and sets need each piece kept apart so frames do not rub. If you pack gallery wall frames of mixed sizes, ask how the pieces will sit relative to one another in the carton, and check that the pack can be opened without lifting everything out.

Online sellers and retail shops pack differently. A shelf product needs a front that sells; an online product needs a box that survives the courier. Frames can be packed singly, as matched sets with a layout guide, or as gallery wall packs of mixed colours and sizes, so choose the grouping that suits your channel.

Finally, treat the pack as part of the sample. Approve it in writing together with the product, then keep the pack design and plan with your specification for every repeat order. Before you enquire, settle these points.

For marketplace sellers, the label and carton must also suit the platform's own rules, which you should check with the platform itself. For retail shops, check shelf space and how the pack will be displayed. If you sell on both, say so, because one pack may not serve both well.

• Which channel you sell through.
• Singles, sets or gallery packs.
• Your pack design and inserts, or ask for the team's questions.
• Approval of the pack on the sample.