oted. Materials are where movement comes from, and freight is the genuinely volatile line – ocean rates on some routes have doubled within a couple of months, and no factory controls them.
How much notice should I get before an increase? A reasonable supplier tells you as soon as they know and holds booked orders at the agreed price even when board has already gone up on them. Asking whether a mill increase is being passed on at cost or padded is a fair question. Quotes that change quietly with no explanation are informative in their own way.
Can you lock pricing for a year? Often, if annual volume is committed rather than estimated. A factory can hold a price when it can buy board forward against your forecast and plan capacity around it. What usually cannot be locked is freight, which sits outside anyone’s control, and occasionally currency beyond a stated band.
Does the exchange rate affect my box price? If you pay in USD and the factory buys board locally in CNY, yes. Most quotations carry a currency assumption, often printed as a rate on the page. Small movements get absorbed; sustained ones get reviewed. Fixing a rate band for a contract period protects both sides and costs nothing to request.
Does ordering more always lower unit price? Up to a point, then it flattens. The steep saving comes from spreading fixed setup and tooling across more units, not from buying board more cheaply, so the curve is sharp from a few hundred to a few thousand pieces and almost level after that. Buying far ahead of demand to chase the last few percent is how excess inventory begins. The pattern by tier is set out in our FAQ on minimums, costs and prices.
Why is one quote so much lower than the others? Check three things before believing it: board grade and grammage, print method, and whether finishing is included at all. A lighter board printed digitally genuinely does cost less and genuinely looks different. Identical specifications from two competent factories usually land close together, so a wide gap is almost always a specification gap. Where the money actually goes is broken down in our packaging cost guide.
Are samples priced like production units? No, and comparing the two figures is a category error. One sample carries the entire setup cost with none of the volume that would have paid for it, so per unit it always looks alarming. Some factories offset the sample fee against the first order and some do not – either is normal, but you should know which arrangement you are getting before approving anything.
Should I tell a supplier my budget? Usually yes. A target figure lets whoever quotes engineer towards something rather than produce three options and hope one lands. Nobody increases a price because you mentioned a number – they adjust structure, finishing or quantity band to reach it, which is exactly the conversation worth having early. Where costs sit within a quote is explained further in our packaging terminology guide.
What if my specification is still changing? Say so. A quote built on a moving specification is provisional by definition, and pretending otherwise helps nobody. Ask which elements would trigger a re-quote – usually structure, board weight, colour count or quantity – and get everything else firmed up before costing. Minor artwork refinements rarely change price; structural changes nearly always do.
Ask for validity in writing and you will rarely be surprised. We print the expiry date and the assumptions behind the price on every quotation. Send us your dimensions, quantity and, if you have one, the price you are working towards – use the quote request page and mention the target volume you expect over a year rather than only the first order.
Chengtop manufactures at our own plant in Wuhan, buying board directly from domestic mills, which means we can commit to pricing forward when volumes are agreed. Rigid gift boxes, folding cartons, magnetic folding boxes and corrugated shipping boxes are produced in the same facility.
