Stock packaging is an existing box or bag you buy off the shelf and apply a label to. Custom packaging is printed to your artwork from a die line, with a minimum order and a lead time. Stock wins on speed, cash and small runs. Custom wins on cost per unit above a few thousand, on shelf presence, and on fitting the product properly. The switch usually makes sense somewhere between 2,000 and 5,000 units. Here's how to work out which side of that line you are on.
What you actually get
Stock. A standard size in a standard material, in black, white, kraft or clear. You buy 100 or 500, apply a printed label, and ship this week. The size is whatever the supplier stocks, so your product either fits or rattles.
Custom. Your dimensions, your material, your finish, printed on every face. A die line is drawn, a proof is approved, and the run is made. You commit to a minimum and wait for production.
Both can be child-resistant. Certified stock closures come with the CPSC test documentation, and custom bodies can use a certified stock closure so no new testing is needed. That distinction saves a lot of money and is explained in child-resistant caps and closures.
The real cost comparison
Per unit, stock looks cheaper until you add the label.
A stock bag at $0.35 plus a printed label at $0.12 plus the labour to apply 3,000 labels by hand is not $0.35. It is closer to $0.55 once someone has spent two days with a label applicator, and the result still looks like a labelled stock bag.
A custom printed bag at 5,000 units is often $0.30 to $0.45 all in, with no labelling step, and it looks like a product rather than a relabelled blank.
The crossover depends on your label cost and whether you value your own time at anything. As a rough rule:
Under 1,000 units: stock, always. No custom minimum is worth it.
1,000 to 2,000: stock, unless the product genuinely does not fit anything on the shelf.
2,000 to 5,000: the grey zone. Pre-roll boxes start at 2,000 with us, so a pre-roll multipack can go custom here while a mylar bag cannot.
Above 5,000: custom, on cost alone, before you count the presentation.
The five questions that decide it
Does a stock size actually fit? A 3.5g of dense indoor and a 3.5g of airy outdoor need different bag volumes. If your product swims in the bag or the bag will not close, the decision is made for you.
How many SKUs? Every custom SKU is its own minimum, its own artwork and its own die line. Four strains at 5,000 units each is 20,000 units of committed inventory. Four strains on stock bags with four labels is a label order.
How settled is the brand? If the logo might change in three months, do not print 5,000 of it. Stock plus labels is a cheap way to be wrong.
Where does it sell? On a dispensary shelf next to twelve competitors, a labelled stock bag reads as the cheapest product on the shelf. In delivery-only or online, nobody sees the shelf.
What is the lead time you can live with? Stock is days. Custom is 20 business days after proof approval with us, 14 for die-cut mylar, and proofing happens before that clock starts. Plan eight weeks from brief to boxes if you have never done it before.
The middle path most brands actually take
Stock body, custom label, for the first run. Then custom on the one SKU that sells, while the rest stay on stock.
This is not a compromise, it is how most brands get to custom without gambling. You learn your real sell-through per SKU before you commit 5,000 units of anything. The SKU that moves earns its custom run; the two that do not never cost you a minimum.
The one place this breaks down is child resistance. If your state requires a certified CR retail unit, you cannot label your way there with a non-certified stock bag. Buy certified stock, or go custom with a certified closure. Details in cannabis packaging regulations.
What to send when you go custom
Product dimensions, not the bag size you think you want. Height, width, depth of the actual product, and the weight per unit.
Count per pack if it is a multipack.
Artwork as vector with fonts outlined, or a brief if you do not have artwork yet.
Your state, so the compliance panel and closure are right the first time.
Quantity per SKU, which sets both price and whether you clear the minimum.
Anything missing here adds a round trip before the proof, and the proof is what starts the production clock. The full checklist for vetting a supplier before you send any of it is in how to choose a pre-roll packaging supplier.
Our minimums, plainly
Pre-roll boxes: 2,000 units per SKU
Mylar bags, vape boxes, cartons, mailers, edibles and concentrate packaging: 5,000 units per SKU or design
Production: 20 business days after proof approval, 14 for die-cut mylar bags
Certified child-resistant formats ship with the CPSC 16 CFR 1700.20 test documentation
Ships from the US
If those numbers are above where you are, stock plus a good label is the right answer for now, and that is a real answer rather than a sales one. Come back when one SKU is consistently moving.
Quick answers
Is custom packaging cheaper than stock? Per unit, above roughly 5,000 units, yes, once you count label cost and the labour to apply labels. Below 2,000, stock is cheaper.
What is the minimum for custom cannabis packaging? With us, 2,000 units per SKU for pre-roll boxes and 5,000 for everything else. Industry minimums vary from 1,000 to 10,000.
How long does custom packaging take? 20 business days after proof approval, plus artwork and proofing before that. Budget eight weeks for a first run.
Can I put a label on a stock bag and still be compliant? Only if the bag itself is certified child-resistant where your state requires it. A label does not make a bag CR.
Should a new brand go custom straight away? Usually not. Stock plus a custom label for the first run, then custom on the SKU that proves itself.
