3 Types of Material Loss in Packaging Orders: Make-Ready Paper, Sample White Boxes, and Trial Ink

A customer who sells mooncakes had been ordering Mid-Autumn Festival gift box packaging from us for three consecutive years. During the first two years, our quotation was 6% higher than that of another supplier, and the customer asked the same question every time.

In the third year, the customer switched suppliers, then switched back. The customer actually paid more during the intervening year because the other printer had excluded consumables from the quotation, won the order with a lower price, and then recovered the difference through other charges.

We later explained one important point: three categories of consumables are legitimate parts of the cost of a packaging order. Once customers understand this, they no longer see it as overcharging. If they do not understand it, they will keep comparing quotations indefinitely.

Category 1: Make-Ready Paper / Trial Paper

Every time a printing press starts, every time color is adjusted, and every time the print is matched to the target color, paper is consumed. This paper does not become part of the finished product.

Consumption depends on three factors:

First, the number of color-matching runs. After the press starts, the printer must match the colors. The first impression often requires 2 to 4 color adjustments. Each matching run may consume dozens to hundreds of sheets. If the job uses four process colors plus spot colors, 5 matching runs are normal. This is particularly evident in offset printing because the ink color must stabilize before production continues.

Second, plate cleaning. Before each press startup, the plates must be cleaned. The removed ink and paper contaminated with ink must be disposed of. Plate cleaning typically results in the loss of 1 to 2 sheets of paper, along with cleaning consumables.

Third, imposition testing. Before the job runs on the press, a sheet is imposed and test-printed as part of the standard procedure.

Based on our production data, for an order of 5000 gift boxes, a printer typically consumes around 300 to 800 sheets of A2 folio paper for make-ready work. At 4 to 8 yuan per sheet for specialty paper, this amounts to 200 to 400 yuan for 5000 boxes, or 0.04 to 0.08 yuan per box.

This may sound insignificant. However, for a small order of 200 units, make-ready paper consumption remains nearly proportional to the order quantity. For an order of 200 units, make-ready paper may cost 150 to 300 yuan, or 0.75 to 1.5 yuan per box. This amount alone is enough to explain why small orders have higher unit prices.

Category 2: Sample White Boxes / White Samples

Prototyping is essential for design approval. A white box, also called a white blank sample or white sample, is an unprinted structural sample used to verify the box format, opening and closing mechanism, and fit of the internal tray.

The main costs of a white box are tooling and time:

Tooling allocation accounts for most of the cost. If a new cutting die is required for the order, the tooling cost is fixed. When spread across 5000 boxes, it is insignificant; when spread across 300 boxes, it becomes substantial.

Formation and internal-tray fitting trials create time costs. For irregular boxes or orders with complex internal trays, it often takes 2 to 3 rounds of white-box samples to achieve the correct fit. This time requirement does not decrease simply because the order is smaller.

One extreme case we encountered involved 150 units of an irregular gift box. The white box required 4 rounds of samples, and the cutting die was modified twice. The combined tooling and white-box cost was close to 3000 yuan. That equals 20 yuan per box. If these charges are not shown separately on the quotation, customers will see an unexpectedly high total unit price and consider it unreasonable.

Category 3: Trial Ink / Color-Matching Ink

Ink is a major cost for printers, but the largest cost is not the ink itself. It is the ink wasted during color matching and adjustment.

Ink removed from the press during color matching and adjustment, ink contaminated with other colors, and ink discharged while cleaning the ink lines all become waste ink. This consumption is rarely included in cost estimates because the volume is relatively small.

However, waste volumes for dark and special colors are especially high. Preparing a metallic spot color, such as matte gold, antique bronze, or dark brown, often requires testing several mixing ratios and can produce several kilograms of waste ink. The more spot colors used, and the darker they are, the more waste ink is generated.

Another easily overlooked category is waste sheets caused by registration problems with solid black or other dark colors. Overprinting dark colors requires high registration precision. If registration is inaccurate, the job must be reprinted, resulting in a total loss of the materials used for the reprinted sheets.

How These Consumables Should Appear on a Quotation

Our approach is to set different terms according to the order quantity and use a coefficient rather than a fixed absolute amount. This makes the charges easier for customers to understand and prevents the printer from bearing the uncertainty of small orders.

More than 3000 units: Make-ready paper and waste ink are included in the unit price without separate line items, but the printer maintains an internal cost record.

500 to 3000 units: The quotation includes a separate line labeled “Make-Ready and Testing Consumables,” usually in the amount of 300 to 800 yuan. It should also state, “Already included in the unit price; please indicate if a separate charge is required.”

Fewer than 500 units: Tooling, white-box samples, and make-ready consumables should appear as separate line items and should not be included in the unit price. This treatment is essential for this quantity range because including these costs in the unit price can make the price appear unreasonably high and prevent customers from comparing quotations fairly.

We use the following rough internal benchmarks: for packaging orders above 5000 units, make-ready paper and waste ink together typically account for 1.5% to 2.5% of the order value; for small orders below 500 units, make-ready paper alone may account for 5% to 10% of the order value. These percentages vary by printer and process, but the general order of magnitude remains consistent.

How to Explain These Costs to Customers

Do not lead with the cost itself. Explain what the money buys.

The incorrect approach is to say, “We charged a make-ready fee of 500 yuan for this order.” The customer will immediately ask whether it can be removed.

A better approach is to say, “This order requires 4 color-matching runs. Each run consumes paper, and the press must be cleaned 3 times. These are required steps before sample approval. If you can lock in the printing colors in advance or provide a usable standard color card, the number of matching runs can be reduced by half, and this part of the cost can also be lowered.”

This explanation helps customers understand that the cost pays for color accuracy and delivery certainty. It also makes them more willing to help lock down the colors early in the project.

Further Reading

Consumables are only one part of a packaging order’s cost structure. Read these articles alongside this topic:

• 5 Hidden Pitfalls in Gift Box Quotations — These hidden costs are fundamentally unstated costs, and consumables are often the largest component.
• How Gift Box Factories Handle 3-Piece Sets of Gift Boxes, Inner Bags, and Cards — The cost implications of quoting the components separately or as a combined package.
• The Real Value of Digital Printing for Small-Batch Packaging — Why small orders have higher unit prices is a matter of simple arithmetic.
• The Real Reasons Gift Box Samples Are Rejected 3 Times — Understand the respective responsibilities behind rejected white-box and printed-color samples.