Packaging looks straightforward until you’re holding 500 boxes that don’t quite fit your product, or opening an email from a customer whose order arrived crushed. If you’re still deciding whether custom packaging is worth the investment, avoiding these common mistakes is part of making that decision wisely.
The errors that cost small businesses time and money are often the same ones, repeated by first-time packagers who didn’t know what to watch for.
Here are the errors that trip people up most often, and how to sidestep them.
Getting the size wrong
This is the single most common packaging mistake, and it happens in both directions.
Boxes too big
A box that’s larger than it needs to be wastes material, costs more to produce, and most importantly, costs more to ship. Couriers charge based on dimensional weight, which means a large but light package gets priced as if it were heavier. That oversized box could be pushing you into a higher shipping bracket on every single order.
Big boxes also let products move around during transit. Without something holding the item in place, it bounces against the walls, increasing the chance of damage. You end up adding void fill to stop the movement, which adds more cost and packaging waste.
Boxes too small
The opposite problem is forcing products into packaging that barely fits. If you have to squeeze or push to get the box closed, the contents are under pressure throughout shipping. One bump and the box can split, the product can crack, or the lid can pop open.
Measure your product carefully, including any caps, labels, or protrusions that add to the dimensions. Add a small clearance, usually 2 to 3 millimetres on each side. If you’re including inserts, tissue paper, or a thank-you card, account for that space too.
Choosing materials based on cost alone
The cheapest option isn’t always the cheapest in the end. Thin card that collapses during shipping leads to damaged products, refunds, and unhappy customers. The money saved on materials gets spent on replacements and reputation repair.
Match the material to what’s inside: lightweight items can use lighter card, while heavy or fragile products need something sturdier. Understanding the difference between cardboard, corrugated, and mailers helps you make the right choice, and if you’re still not sure what weight or grade to use, ask your supplier because they’ve seen what works and what fails.
This doesn’t mean you need the most expensive material available. It means using the right material for the job, which might be mid-range rather than the bottom of the pile.
Skipping the sample stage
Ordering a large batch without testing a sample first is a gamble that often loses. What looks right on screen doesn’t always translate to the physical product. Colours shift between digital preview and printed card. Dimensions that seemed correct on paper might not account for the thickness of the product’s own packaging.
Order a small sample run, even just 10 or 25 boxes, before committing to hundreds or thousands. Put your actual product inside, close the box, and ship it to yourself through the post to see what arrives. A week spent testing costs far less than boxes you can’t use.
Design mistakes
First-time packaging buyers often make design errors that only become obvious once the boxes are printed.
Low-resolution images
Images that look fine on a website at 72dpi look blurry and pixelated when printed at 300dpi. If you’re including product photos or detailed graphics, make sure you have high-resolution source files. Stretching a small image larger only makes the problem worse.
Wrong colour mode
Screens display colour using RGB while printers use CMYK, so if you design your artwork in CMYK from the start, you’ll see something closer to the final printed result. Design in RGB and convert later, and colours often appear duller or different than expected.
Text too small
What’s readable on your computer screen might be illegible on a physical box. Small text gets lost, especially on corrugated board where the texture affects print clarity. Keep important information, contact details, care instructions, at a size that’s easy to read without squinting.
No bleed
If your design has colour extending to the edge of any panel, you need bleed. This is extra artwork extending 3mm beyond the cut line, ensuring that small variations in cutting don’t leave white gaps at the edges. Without bleed, you get unprofessional-looking white strips where the colour should have run to the edge.
Not proofreading before production
Typos happen, but typos on 2,000 boxes are expensive to fix. Check every piece of text on your packaging before approving production by reading it aloud and having someone else read it too. Look for misspelled product names, wrong phone numbers, broken website URLs, and grammatical errors.
This sounds obvious, but it catches more businesses than you’d expect. The cost of reprinting a batch of packaging because someone wrote “recieve” instead of “receive” or got a phone number wrong is entirely avoidable.
Ignoring sustainability
Consumer attitudes toward packaging have shifted, and research suggests 43% of consumers consider the environmental impact of packaging extremely important when making purchases. Using excessive plastic, non-recyclable materials, or wasteful designs doesn’t just hurt the planet; it can hurt sales too.
You don’t need to overhaul everything, but choosing recyclable materials, using FSC-certified card, and avoiding unnecessary plastic inserts are straightforward steps that align your packaging with customer expectations.
Ordering too early or too late
Timing mistakes go both ways.
Order too early, before your branding is finalised or your product design is locked, and you risk having boxes that don’t match your current identity. Rebranding six months after ordering 5,000 boxes means either wasting inventory or living with outdated packaging until it runs out.
Order too late and you’re scrambling, because rush production costs more and you might have to compromise on design or finish options to meet a deadline. Worst case, your product launch gets delayed because the packaging isn’t ready.
Work backwards from your deadline and allow more time than you think you need, especially for a first order where there’s learning involved.
Ordering quantities that don’t match reality
The temptation to order large quantities for better per-unit pricing catches many small businesses. Yes, larger orders are cheaper per box than smaller ones. But if you only sell 150 units before your product changes or your branding evolves, those extra boxes become waste.
Order what you’ll actually use in a reasonable timeframe. For new products or unproven designs, start conservatively since many suppliers now offer low minimum order quantities that make testing affordable. You can always reorder at better rates once you know what’s selling.
Difficult-to-open packaging
According to consumer research, four in ten people have hurt themselves trying to open packaging. That’s not the customer experience you want associated with your brand. If customers need scissors, knives, or brute force to get into your product, you’ve created frustration where there should be excitement.
Test your packaging from the customer’s perspective. Can someone open it easily? Does the unboxing experience feel pleasant or annoying? Simple changes to tab placement or sealing method can make a significant difference.
How to avoid all of these
Most packaging mistakes happen because businesses rush, skip steps, or try to figure everything out alone. The straightforward way to avoid problems is to slow down, test before committing, and talk to people who do this every day.
A good packaging supplier will help you choose the right materials, check your artwork for common issues, and flag potential problems before they become expensive ones. That conversation costs nothing and can save you from the mistakes that catch everyone else.
Packaging isn’t complicated once you know what to watch for. Learn from the errors others have made, take the time to test properly, and you’ll end up with packaging that works rather than packaging you wish you’d done differently.
