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Custom boxes for smaller quantities


Paul Tomaszewski

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As many of you have experienced, it's a tad easier getting product out there at the best possible rate if you can score smaller cases, like 6 x fifths or 12 x pints. I've done some pretty extensive looking around to try and get some specific, custom-made corrugated boxes for those smaller amounts and am wondering if any of you found someone (manufacturer) that you prefer and has a good price compared to others. Thanks!

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For the first two years in business I used 6-pack boxes for my spirits, partly because Oregon and Washington are control states and in Washington State, I am on special order. It's easier for a liquor store to special order a six-pack box than a whole case of something out of the norm so at the time, it made sense. But last summer I switched to using full twelve packs for everyone else in the nation outside of Oregon and Washington State and when I apply for a 'regular listing' in Washington State, it will be in the 12 pack format. The six-pack boxes cost almost $2 apiece as it is. My empty bottles come in sturdy, ship-worthy twelve pack boxes, so by using the boxes they came in, I save 33 cents a bottle or almost $4 a case in product cost. Besides, most of my distributors prefer 12 pack boxes. They sell their spirits in 'broken cases' anyway, mixing say 4 of my bottles with 6 of another product and 2 of another to fill a case for an account with a 10% discount for a case, mixed or whole. So six packs didn't get me anything in the end. Oregon charges me a 'fee' in their pricing per case, so I pay the 12 pack fee for every six pack. This cuts into my margin. In shipping across the country, some consolidators charge a handling fee per case and they count my six-pack case as one full case, thus making my products more expensive to the distributor. A fee which they pass along, thus making my shelf price more expensive than it should be. For a high end expensive product like Absinthe, a six-pack might make sense for for most gins, vodkas, whiskeys,rums etc... I'd recommend you use the box they came in. Now if you buy bulk glass you are already saving some $$ and will buy your own box anyway, but at least you can have your own UPC and state product code numbers printed on those boxes. But that is whole 'nother discussion.

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As far as the local options go, so far they aren't any better than someone that's a bit down the road (including the freight, oddly enough). But that's why you shop around. As far as the whole "is it worth it?" argument, that mainly depends on the state and distributor(s). My distributor in TN prefers the smaller cases because there is no "split case" fee that they have to pass on to the retailer (thus adding more money to the shelf price). Every state has their little differences, plus you always want to try to cater to your customer and (for most of us) our number one customer(s) are usually the distributors. Thanks for the insight though.

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