Quoting for corrugated boxes and cartons: the details you need first

A buyer sends a size, a ply and a quantity on WhatsApp and asks for the rate. Quote from that alone and you are guessing at the board, the print and the freight, which between them set the price. Send eight numbered questions in one message first, starting with what goes in the box and what a filled box weighs. Quote the specification you priced. Then the buyer compares like with like.

Why the first question is about the product, not the size

Board decides the price, and the load decides the board. A box of cotton T-shirts and a box of brass fittings can share a size and need very different paper. Until you know the weight and the stacking, any ply you quote is a guess.

Size causes the second mistake. Buyers measure their product and send that, or measure an old box from the outside. The flutes add thickness, so a box made to outside measurements comes out smaller inside than the buyer expects. Always ask for inside dimensions, and say so in the message.

Storage causes the third. A box that survives a courier trip can still crush at the bottom of a godown stack in the monsoon, when damp board loses strength. Ask where the boxes will stand, and how high.

What to ask, starting with what goes in the box

Our note on quoting a CNC part applies the same idea to machined parts. For boxes, the order is this.

1. What goes in, and what does a filled box weigh? The product, pieces per box, any inner partitions, and whether it is fragile.
2. How will the boxes be stored and shipped? Stack height in the godown, pallets or hand loading, truck or courier, domestic or export container.
3. Inside length, width and height, in that order. Length and width are the opening; height is the depth. Ask which way the product sits.
4. Which style? A regular slotted box with flaps, a die-cut tray or mailer, a box with partitions or pads.
5. What board is used now? The ply and flute, and the paper grades (GSM and BF) or the strength test the buyer applies, such as bursting strength or compression.
6. Plain or printed? If printed, how many colours, how much of the box is covered, and whether the artwork and plates exist.
7. How many? This order, and how often the buyer expects to reorder.
8. Where to, and on what terms? The delivery pin code, unloading at the site, freight included or ex-works, and payment terms.

A message you can paste into WhatsApp

Send all eight at once, numbered, so the buyer can answer by number from their phone.

Thank you for the enquiry. To give you a correct rate, please reply with the numbers below.

1. What goes in the box, how many pieces, and the weight of one filled box
2. How the boxes are stored and shipped: stack height, pallets, truck or courier, export or domestic
3. Inside size: length x width x height, in mm or inches
4. Box type: normal flap box, tray, mailer, with or without partitions
5. Board used now: ply, and paper GSM or BF if you know it
6. Plain or printed, how many colours, and whether artwork is ready
7. Quantity for this order, and how often you reorder
8. Delivery pin code, and the payment terms you expect

If you have an old box, a photo with a tape measure across it is a good start.

The quotation that comes back

Put the specification on the quotation, line by line: inside size, style, ply, flute, paper grades and print. A buyer comparing three quotes will see that yours is the only one they can check. A cheaper rival who quoted thinner paper then has to explain why. Add the freight basis, the quantity tolerance you deliver to, and a validity date, because kraft paper prices move. Plates and dies go on lines of their own.

Quotation and proposal follow-up covers what happens after the quote goes out. If WhatsApp brings many "rate for 5 ply" messages, lead qualification sorts the buyers with a real order from the rate-checkers before your estimator spends an hour on them.

Imagine a box plant in Jalandhar

Imagine a corrugated box plant in Jalandhar quoting a sports goods maker that packs cricket bats for export and footballs for dealers across north India. The details are illustrative. The buyer's WhatsApp said "5 ply, 34 x 12 x 6 inches, 3,000 pieces". The plant took those figures as inside sizes, used its usual board, and quoted delivery in the city.

Two things were wrong. The sizes had been measured from the outside of an old box, so the new boxes came out larger than needed and the bats moved in transit. And the old box had been built for dealer deliveries by truck, while this order was going into an export container. The buyer complained, and the plant remade part of the order at its own cost.

For the next enquiry the plant sent the eight questions first. The buyer replied with a photo of the old box with a tape across it, the weight of six bats, and the shipping route. The plant quoted two specifications: a domestic carton, and a stronger export carton on heavier paper, each with its paper grades, validity and freight. It sent two sample boxes, and the buyer loaded and stacked them before approving the bulk.

When a quick rate is enough

A repeat order on a specification you already hold needs only the quantity and the delivery date confirmed. Plain stock boxes in your standard sizes can be priced from your list straight away.

A buyer who refuses every question and wants "just the rate" can have one, for a specification you state in writing. Add a line saying the price changes if the box does. More for converters: packaging manufacturing sales and marketing.

Save the eight questions as a quick reply

Save the message above as a quick reply on the sales phone, and send it to the next box enquiry before you open the rate sheet. If you want the enquiry questions and the quotation format set up for your plant, tell us what you need.