Custom kraft mailer boxes
The mailer is the format most brands start with. It arrives flat, folds in about six seconds without tape or glue, survives the carrier network, and gives you a printable interior lid that does the work a packing insert used to do.
- Indicative price
- $0.85/unit
- Construction
- One-piece tuck-top, E-flute corrugated
- Minimum order
- 50 units
Indicative only. Final price depends on dieline, board grade, print count and volume. See volume tiers
A kraft mailer box is a one-piece, tuck-top corrugated box that ships flat and folds without tape. It is the standard format for direct-to-consumer subscription and e-commerce shipments where the box itself is part of the unboxing.
Why mailers hold up in the carrier network
E-flute corrugated runs about 1.6mm thick with roughly 90 flutes per foot. That gives you crush resistance close to a shipping carton while staying thin enough to print cleanly and fold flat. It is the reason a mailer can go into the postal stream without an outer box.
The tuck-top locking design means no tape on the seams. Fewer materials in the pack, faster fulfilment on your end, and a clean edge on the box when the customer receives it.
Printing on natural kraft
Kraft liner is a warm brown substrate, not white. Ink sits on top of that base rather than on a bright ground, so colours read deeper and slightly muted. A red prints closer to brick, a blue closer to navy. This is a characteristic of the material, not a defect, and most brands choose kraft precisely for it.
If you need a colour to hold exactly true, we print a white underbase first, or run a white-topped kraft liner. Both add cost per unit. We flag which approach your artwork needs during the dieline stage so there are no surprises at press.
Specification
What we can build, and the numbers you will be asked for by anyone comparing quotes.
- Construction
- One-piece tuck-top mailer, self-locking
- Board
- E-flute corrugated, natural or white-top kraft liner
- Thickness
- 1.6mm (E-flute), 3mm (B-flute) on request
- Size range
- 4" x 4" x 2" up to 20" x 16" x 8"
- Minimum order
- 50 units
- Outside, inside, or both. Up to 4 colours plus digital.
- Production
- 14 business days after artwork approval
- Dieline
- Free, returned within 24 hours
What brands use these for
Subscription boxes
Repeat monthly shipments where the interior print carries the seasonal story and the exterior stays consistent.
Apparel and accessories
Soft goods that need presentation but not the crush protection of a full shipping carton.
Beauty and skincare sets
Multi-item sets shipped with a paper insert or moulded pulp tray seated inside the mailer.
Direct-to-consumer launches
Low-volume first runs at the 50-unit minimum, so a launch does not require committing to pallet quantities.
Print and finishing
Available on this format. Each addition changes unit price, and we quote them line by line rather than as a bundle.
- Flexographic print, 1 to 4 spot colours
- Digital print for full-colour and short runs
- Soy-based inks as standard
- Matte or gloss water-based varnish
- Foil stamping
- Blind emboss and deboss
- Interior print
Category-specific guidance
Mailer boxes questions
What is the minimum order for custom kraft mailer boxes?
50 units. That covers a printed, custom-sized mailer with your artwork, not a stock box with a sticker on it.
Do kraft mailer boxes need tape?
No. The tuck-top design locks closed on its own. Most brands add a paper tape or a sticker seal for tamper evidence, but it is not needed structurally.
Can you print the inside of the mailer?
Yes. Interior print is one of the most common additions and is priced per colour, the same as exterior print. The inside lid is the surface the customer sees first when they open the box.
How accurate does colour matching get on kraft?
Within a reasonable tolerance for spot colours, but the brown substrate shifts every ink. If you need an exact Pantone match, we print a white underbase or use white-top liner. We tell you which one your artwork needs before you approve the dieline.
Get pricing on mailer boxes
Send your dimensions and volume. Pricing and a free structural dieline back within one business day.