Hello!

I am opening my shop in a few weeks and I'm now on to the packaging crisis! What would you do..........
It's a cupcake shop and I'm trying to determine whether or not to do the plastic containers that hold 6 & a dozen or cake boxes with cupcake inserts to stabilize them. I'm confused on how many will fit in a cake box UGH! The other issue is how many do I start with of each?

I have no clue if it's even worth buying the single boxes for 1 cupcake or does anybody have any ideas on what to do for people that only order one or two? If I have to purchase boxes or plastic containers I would like it to be beneficial and not wasted materials, so I thought I would ask more experienced professionals like yourselves! So thankful I have a place to vent and get information at the same time! lol! Please Help guys! I'm stressing out over getting it right! Thanks!

i say go for the boxes. i would get boxes for all 3 individual, half dozen and a full dozen. people eat with their eye first so i think packaging is important with take away treats like cupcakes. also make sure your logo and business info on the package. that way if they are presented as gifts, they will know where they came from.

well..i'm no pro but here's my 2 cents anyway. most people prefer to get baked goods that are in a paper box. (from what i've seen working near the bakery at walmart) the plastic contained cookies/cupcakes do not sell as well as the one in boxes. people see plastic and think supermarket, paper means gormet. the separators for the boxes should be a 6 way separator. or they would probably have a dozen separator for the bigger cake boxes. and thinking a different way, most boxes are biodegradable, whereas plastic isnt. hope this helps you a little. whatever you decide, i'm sure you will do great with your business!

the boxes would also be able to store (and on the customer's end, easier to discard) and most likely your cheaper option...you wouldn't have to have them ALL opened...where as you couldn't collapse the plastic ones..jmo

Thanks for your thoughts on this guys! I REALLY appreciate it! I was leaning toward either the brown or pink bakery boxes initially. I actually wanted a different color than the traditional brown or pink but you gotta start somewhere huh?! lol

Great point that the boxes sell before the plastic containers do! Never thought about that! Guess that's why I'm here! Thanks again! I'll post pics when it's all finished!

You could get some very nice labels printed with your company name/logo and add those to the boxes, much cheaper than ordering custom boxes and it would make the box look even more attractive. I'm not talking about those Avery style address labels but something with a distinctive shape that could be done in full color.

I completely understand the desire to go with a special color, other than white, brown or pink. That's my plan, too, but I'm not sure what the extra cost on a special color would be.

mseif, If I find anything else in the color department I'll PM you and let you know! Thanks for the advice on the boxes. Do you have a shop or bake from home?

I just went through the same decision process as you! I live in AK so shipping is a big drawback for me. Paper boxes and inserts were going to cost me more than the plastic containers before shipping and they are a lot heavier so WAY more once that was added in. PLUS I have to fold them aaaalllll up. I decided to go with the plastic with a fancy sticker. Our cupcakes are not prepackaged, so paper vs. plastic isn't an initial selling point. Also, I KNOW the cc will be safe in his little plastic home, I have had trouble with fitting (those inserts aren't all standard sizes, you have to buy the matching boxes) and slipping. In the end I went with a single, 6 pack, and 12 pack and I love 'em. HTH

The best cupcake shop around here carries boxes that hold 1 cupcake, 2 cupcakes, 4 cupcakes, 1/2 doz. cupcakes, and a doz. cupcakes. And she does sell them in all those various amounts. HTH.

I'm not in business by any means, but from a consumers perspective; Packaging sets your product apart. There is a grocery store I go to often, over others bacause I love that they give you paper bags with handles.
I am with the majority voting for the paper boxes, they just have a classier feel. I love looking at the packaging ideas at Nashville Wraps

http://www.nashvillewraps.com/

Then for great prices and quality I am forever a fan of BRPBoxshop and they offer free shipping and now they will make custom color boxes.

http://www.brpboxshop.com/

I personally like the craft brown, windowed boxes with a personalized label and no matter the size they store flat which is nice. Best of luck with your new business!!

Thanks guys! Im checking out those websites andpotts! Thanks for the tips!

if you go the plastic route, i recently got an email from a well known national cupcake company saying they were trying to go green and that if customers bought in their plastic container from a previous order to reuse for their next order they would deduct $1.

I own my own dessert business and I think boxes are best as mentioned before a dessert in a box says bakery quality . I order mine from brp in white and I print my own custom labels in color. Much more wallet and environmentally friendly as well.

Thanks so much for your insight. I'm thinking of ordering 500 singles, 250, half dozen, and 500 dozen boxes to start with. What do you guys think? I'm still up in the air at the moment as to plastic or box, but leaning more toward the box idea depending on how much it costs! lol! My DH (love him dearly! I guess that's the newlywed in me! lol) suggested that I get the boxes and have a custom made stamp that I can put on all the boxes. I prefer the sticker method but he thinks it would be cheaper and different by going with a stamp. I guess I could stamp them all before the shop opens huh? lol! What a task! Or I could just do a certain number of them to start out with...........that sounds more reasonable! Alright, what's your take on it..........stamp vs sticker, box vs plastic, keep em coming guys! Thanks so much for all your help!

I say paper box all the way. I think plastic says grocery store baked goods... not the image you are going to want to be putting out there. Eventhough your product is much better than what you could get at Wal*Mart... people will see it in the same light. The "I can get that same thing at Wal*Mart for $4/dozen" mentality. A paper box says boutique bakery to me. Paper boxes with sticker labels would be my first choice. That has a high end appeal and the sticker can keep the box closed if you apply it after you fill the boxes. I'd even go so far as to say a ribbon would add a nice touch, but that is too time consuming.

Yeah, I wanted to do the ribbon as well! I think that adds a nice touch. Maybe if I only do the ribbon on the dozen boxes it wouldn't be as bad.

I think that you will find that stickers will be less costly then a stamp 1. cost of ink 2. timing in getting it just right cause you want it to look professional 3. replacing the stamp as it wears. There are several online companies where you can order lables but most have large minimums and set up fees for your logo plus shipping costs. I found that printing my own is most economical and I can print what I need as I need them; I order the labels from onlinelables.com which has really good prices.

My process is ,I box a cake/cookies/ whatever, place a sticker on top and take it out the door.

As far as bows and ribbon again this is adding cost and time to wrap so consider this and try tp think that what you start with is what you want to keep doing so that your packaging is consistant.

I have a bunch of bows made up with double sided sticky tape on them so I can just pop one on a box when I need to. I also print my own labels right now since I mainly do wedding cakes and those don't get boxed up. It looks sharp all done up... if I can find a picture... I'll post one.

I think that sounds lovely Jen... rustic simplicty can be very beautiful.