7 Packaging/Printing Mistakes I Made (So You Don't Have To)

I'm a production coordinator handling custom packaging and printing orders for 8 years. I've personally made (and documented) 23 significant mistakes, totaling roughly $14,700 in wasted budget. Now I maintain our team's pre-press checklist so we don't repeat them. Here's the FAQ I wish I'd read before starting.

• Is 'gorilla epoxy' the same as custom epoxy packaging?
• What's a 'gorilla beer container' and why did I need a material sample?
• Does 'gorilla anti slip tape' need a custom proof?
• Blueair manual: why did a 0.125-inch trim mistake cost $500?
• What did a Marc Jacobs puffer tote bag teach me about box dimensions?
• Are NASCAR cars manual? (And what does it have to do with printing?)
• Why should you calculate total cost, not unit price?

Is 'gorilla epoxy' the same as custom epoxy packaging?

Not usually. I've had at least ten clients type 'gorilla epoxy' into search and land on our custom boxes page. They were actually shopping for epoxy adhesive or coating, but a few needed printed labels for epoxy bottles. The first time I saw it was 2019. I charged a rush fee for labels and then missed the solvent-resistance requirement. The ink smeared when the label touched uncured resin. $680 in labels, straight to trash. That's when I added one question to our order form: What material will this label touch? Everything I'd read said label material selection is about adhesive strength. My experience says the environment matters as much as the adhesive. Color matters too: we once printed a brand logo in Pantone 286 C and the result looked purple. Industry standard tolerance is Delta E under 2 for brand-critical colors. We were at 5.4. That was another $320 reprint.

What's a 'gorilla beer container' and why did I need a material sample?

A brewery searched for 'gorilla beer container' and landed on our custom box quote. I assumed growler boxes. They actually wanted a corrugated tray for a 16-oz can with a gorilla logo—a can carrier. The mistake: I approved a die line without checking the can's seam orientation. Cans have a weak seam line; if the tray doesn't support the can evenly, you get dented containers. We lost about three days and $890 in reprints. The fix is to ask for an actual sample or at least a spec sheet. This worked for us because we're a mid-size shop with repeat brewery clients. If you're a large-scale beverage packaging operation, the calculus might be different. But sample approval is never optional.

Does 'gorilla anti slip tape' need a custom proof?

The phrase 'gorilla anti slip tape' is interesting because it's a branded product name, not a generic spec. We print custom anti-slip tape for shipping boxes and floor safety. A client ordered 1,000 rolls of 2-inch tape with their logo. I didn't proof the adhesive spec—I assumed it was permanent. They needed a removable version for concrete floors. The permanent adhesive left residue, and they rejected the whole batch. Cost: $1,150. I should have asked: What surface will this tape be applied to? Per FTC advertising guidelines (ftc.gov), claims like 'anti-slip' have to be truthful and substantiated. We can't call a product anti-slip unless we know the surface. That's also a total cost issue: the cheapest tape that doesn't perform is the most expensive.

Blueair manual: why did a 0.125-inch trim mistake cost $500?

A parts supplier ordered a print-ready setup for a Blueair Blue Pure 211 manual. The PDF was 6.125 inches by 9.25 inches on letter-size sheets. I set the trim to 6 inches by 9 inches because that was our standard saddle-stitch size. The client's binder had 6.125-inch pockets. Every manual was 0.125 inch too small—not enough to read, but enough to look sloppy. All 600 copies had to be reprinted; that was in Q1 2024. The redo was $500 plus three days. I now note the difference between trim size and finished size. If I remember correctly, the original file specified the final size, and I ignored it. The conventional wisdom is to standardize sizes. My experience with mixed digital and offset runs says standardizing is fine, except when the client's end-use dictates something else.

What did a Marc Jacobs puffer tote bag teach me about box dimensions?

An e-commerce customer needed custom mailer boxes for a Marc Jacobs puffer tote bag. The spec sheet said 14 inches by 10 inches by 5 inches. We made boxes that exact size. The problem: puffer bags have trapped air. In the warehouse, they'd been compressed, so they expanded after packing. The box was too tight. The client had to swap 300 boxes for the next size up. That cost about $700 in wasted boxes plus repack labor. I should have built in 10-15% void allowance for soft-sided products. This isn't about unit price; the $0.18 per box saved on the smaller size was dwarfed by the repack time. I can only speak to e-commerce packaging with soft goods. If you're shipping rigid hard goods, the tolerance can be much tighter.

Are NASCAR cars manual? (And what does it have to do with printing?)

The short answer: no, most modern NASCAR cars are not manual transmission. They use sequential shifters with a clutch only for starts. But I get searches like 'are nascar cars manual' all the time in our website analytics. Why? Because people don't search the way product categories are organized. They type what they think, not what the industry calls it. That matters for print too. A client once asked for 'truck decals' and meant 'dump body tape graphics.' If I'd charged them based on 'decals' and not clarified the truck type, we'd have specified the wrong adhesive and UV laminate. The lesson: don't assume the search term is the spec. Ask enough to translate the customer's language into a production specification. That's the first step of total cost thinking.

Why should you calculate total cost, not unit price?

I used to compare quotes line by line. A $500 quote turned into $800 after shipping, setup, and revision fees. The $650 all-inclusive quote was actually cheaper. Total cost of ownership includes unit price plus setup, tooling, shipping, storage, waste, and the cost of a failed batch. Missing a requirement—like anti-slip adhesive or a puffer bag's expansion—makes the 'cheap' quote expensive. Postage is part of it too. According to USPS pricing effective January 2025, a First-Class Mail letter (1 oz) is $0.73 and a large envelope (1 oz) is $1.50 (usps.com/stamps). A slightly bigger box can push a mailer into a higher price tier. I've caught 47 potential errors using the checklist we built from my mistakes. That list probably saved us around $15,000—actually, maybe $20,000.