Boxes

Anyone know of a good company that makes boxes that look professional and that I can send customer's purchases home with them in. They don't have to be super sturdy... they won't be mailed. What I'm looking for specifically are boxes that will fit gallery-wrapped 16 x 24's (and perhaps larger). My original, albeit lofty, vision was to find two piece boxes that were black with my logo on the lid... oh, and they were going to be cost-effective! After mucho research I'm willing to settle for ANY cost effective box that I can send the prints away in.

Thanks for any help!

I never followed through with an order Brian and can no longer find the source, but here's one approach that might serve you if the right sizes were available. Have you looked at two piece "shirt boxes?" The lids and bottoms fold flat for much cheaper shipping to you, plus they store in small places and stay pristine till you need them. They're lightweight and not sturdy enough for shipping, but might serve your needs well.

As I indicated in the previous thread started by Jackie, we're manic about keeping the shipping containers used by our lab for use in our own shipping, even if they're bulky and cause storage problems. We've just never found an affordable alternative.

For hand delivery we use assorted sizes of heavier flat plastic bags with hand slots in the top. They're colored (red) and imprinted with our logo and contact info. Think more along the lines of the heavy bags used by upscale merchants rather than grocery sacks. They're cheap enough and classy enough, they might do as an alternative to boxes for your gallery wrapped prints.

Hank, do the bags you use come in a large enough size for 22x28 matted prints? I haven't been able to find any in that size yet. Let me know if you know of anything like that.

We haven't order that big because all our big stuff goes out on canvas stretchers or rigid backing, and therefore in the original packaging from our lab. I'll check, but in the meantime think back to the last time you bought several shirts at once in a clothing store and they bagged them in one of those big flat bags. Same stuff we're using, so the big ones have to be around.

I'll check with my wife about our source when she gets back (she's out at a remote lodge for a location shoot right now), and with that in hand, I'll go there and see what sizes they offer.

Since we get our printed office supplies from Quill, I checked there rather than wait for my wife to get home tonight. Though I can't seem to find them in their index, an example of the bag type can be seen in the display on this page. Looks like a (toll free) call is required for more info.

I just googled "marketing plastic bags" and came up with some interesting and attractive possibilities. Check here . As an example they have this bag in sizes up to 24x24+4" with minimum orders of 250 and custom sizes up to 36x36+10".

I recall that we've also bought from Uline in the past, but can't recall if they're our current source. Looks like they have quite a selection of Die Cut plastic retail bags as well as an interesting zip version. This one might meet your size criteria.

Thanks for all the info Hank, much appreciated.

Hank, I've been extra-busy for a couple of days so I haven't had a chance to get back and see this thread. I met someone at a little art fair I was doing yesterday who suggested the plastic bag idea that you mentioned. I was so excited to get back here and share the great idea with everyone and now I see that you already have... and you've done some legwork to find some bag sources! It's really a pretty obvious and professional solution but for some reason my brain was locked on boxes. I really appreciate the help--I'm on my way to check out your links and do a little research of my own. I'll let you all know if I find anything new.

Brian,

If you're looking to go the bag route, I can recommend clearbags.com

Order the version with the adhesive on the bag instead of the flap.

I'll second the recommendation for clearbags.com. Nice folks, good products. Lots of choices.

Does clearbags have retail bags like we're discussing? His prints are already gallery wrapped, and the bags are for after-sale delivery.

I'm asking because we're up for reordering our medium size bags, but I haven't checked into cleabags as an alternate source.

Do they do colored bags and logos?

My cost effective solution is to get my prints made at WHCC.com. This ship the prints flat (and free!), in a large box. I just keep those boxes on-hand for re-shipping. Not exactly what you are looking for, but it works great for me.

After sale delivery bags you can probably find really cheap at fetpak. I use them for my bags at art and craft shows. They have a wide variety of bags from plain die cut plastic to velum.