Two boxes that look alike can differ in board, print coverage, finish and run length, and each of those moves the price. Stock packaging has public prices; custom printed packaging mostly does not. This page explains how a packaging benchmark separates what can be compared from what can only be explained.
We start by splitting your pack into a stock layer and a custom layer. Plain mailers, tubes and standard bottles may have catalogue prices with quantity breaks. Printed, die-cut or specially finished items are quoted per job, so the benchmark for them is built from quotes you hold and from catalogue anchors for the nearest stock equivalent.
The report says clearly which lines are anchored on a published price and which rest only on comparable quotations you supplied.
The earlier quote becomes the anchor; the benchmark checks it against comparable catalogue and quoted prices for the same board and print.
The spec is still moving, so the benchmark is built on two or three candidate specifications and shows how each choice shifts the price position.
Catalogue prices with quantity breaks do most of the work, and marketplace listings are labelled apart.
Prices say nothing about colour accuracy or finish quality; samples and proofs are what show that.
Catalogue breaks stop at a stated quantity. The report does not extrapolate past them and marks larger runs as quoted only.
Recycled or compostable statements are shown as stated by the company, with the certificate issuer to ask.
Dimensions, board or film, number of print colours, coating, closure and insert, written as a single sheet.
Each line is marked as having a catalogue price with quantity breaks, or as quoted per job only.
Catalogue and marketplace prices are labelled apart, with the quantity break that matches your order and the breaks around it.
The nearest stock equivalent and the quotes you hold are set side by side, and the report says how far the custom spec departs from the anchor.
Research reports what can be established from public and provided sources. It is not a guarantee about a counterparty's future conduct and not legal advice.
A dimensioned sheet and a description of print coverage are enough for a benchmark; artwork is not required.
The custom lines then rest only on the quotations you supply, and the report says so beside each line.
That is a separate piece of work, supplier search, with its own deliverable.
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