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How Many Custom Shipping Tubes Should You Order?
Ordering custom shipping tubes for the first time, most shops either overbuy on a size they’ll refine or underbuy and miss the price break — and both waste money. Because printed tubes carry a setup cost, the per-unit price falls sharply with volume, so order size is an economic decision as much as a usage one.
Here’s how to size an order once you split your shipping into its real patterns.
One-time drop: count sends, add a buffer
For a limited poster or print drop, order your expected sends plus 10–15% for damages, reprints, and samples. The buffer is cheaper than a rushed second run, and printed tubes keep for the next release.
Ongoing fulfillment: order to a tier, replenish on trigger
If you ship continuously, order enough to hit a real price tier — the setup cost makes 500 far more expensive per unit than 5,000 — then set a reorder trigger at about 3 weeks of cover. We keep your specs on file, so reorders are fast and exact.
Multiple sizes: consolidate the order
If you ship several tube sizes, order them in one production window to share setup and hit a higher combined tier, lowering the price on every size at once — or standardize on a telescoping tube to cut SKUs entirely.
| Pattern | Starting quantity | Why |
|---|---|---|
| One-time drop | Sends + 10–15% | Covers damage, reprints, samples |
| Ongoing fulfillment | Order to a real tier | Setup cost dominates at low volume |
| Multiple sizes | Consolidate into one order | Shares setup, hits higher tier |
Quantity is the biggest lever on per-tube cost: once your size and artwork are set, ordering up one tier usually pays for itself.
Tell us your tube size and volume and we’ll show you where the price tiers fall — with a free mockup, within one business day.
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