Who This Checklist Is For
If you order custom paper packaging, printed collateral, or raw fiber products from International Paper — and you're tired of finding out about a problem after it's too late — this one's for you. I'm not a consultant. I handle packaging and print orders for a mid-sized distributor. For the past 7 years, I've placed roughly 200 custom paper and packaging orders. I've also documented 23 significant mistakes that cost about $11,000 in wasted budget. Now I maintain our team's checklist. This is it.
This checklist works best when you're about to place a repeat order or a new custom order. It's not a full design guide. It's basically the pre-flight checklist I wish someone had given me.
The 8-Step Checklist
This is the order I run through every time. It takes about 20 minutes once you've done it a few times.
Step 1: Use the right International Paper login
Honestly, this kind of sounds too simple to be a checklist item, but I've wasted more time on logins than I want to admit. If you're a customer, use the International Paper login tied to your company account. Do not use the one you'd use for personal or payroll stuff. And if you're an International Paper employee searching for 'my ip login paystub international paper', that's the payroll portal, not the ordering system. They're usually separate systems. Confirm with your rep before you assume.
The 20 minutes you spend confirming the right portal can save two days of email ping-pong.
Step 2: Write down the exact product specs before you open a quote form
This is the step I skipped when I was starting out. I'd ask for 'paper' or 'boxes' and then wait for the supplier to guess what I meant.
You need at least:
- Base material: coated or uncoated, virgin fiber, recycled content, or a specific International Paper grade.
- Basis weight: 18 pt board, 24# bond, 70# text, etc.
- Dimensions and quantity, including overrun tolerance.
- Finish: gloss, matte, soft-touch, uncoated.
- Printing details: number of colors, process or PMS, bleed, and proof required.
That was the lesson from my $3,000 order that came back completely wrong. I said 'white paper.' They sent bright white. I wanted natural white. That's not their fault. It's mine for not writing it down.
Step 3: Ask how the job will be printed — offset, digital, or flexo
Printing method changes file setup, minimum quantities, and cost. Digital is great for short runs. Offset makes sense at higher quantities. Flexo is common for corrugated packaging. If the supplier doesn't mention it, ask.
I once ordered 5,000 labels on a digital press because the price looked right. They were fine for the first 1,000, then the color started drifting between runs. That was a hard lesson. The press operator showed me a quality control checklist we should have requested in the spec. Now I add one checkpoint: 'What press equipment will this run on, and what QC checks are included?'
Step 4: Always request a physical proof, not just a PDF
Everything I'd read about modern printing said PDF proofs should be enough. In practice, for any job with a logo or packaging, I want a physical proof or a full mockup before production. Screens don't show paper texture, coating, or ink coverage.
This is especially true for a fancy business card holder or any branded piece that will sit on someone's desk. A cardstock that looks fine on screen might actually feel flimsy once it's in a nice holder. More than once, a customer has said 'that paper feels cheap' after we skipped the physical sample.
If the vendor charges a sample fee, pay it. It's cheaper than a rejected order.
Step 5: Get the total cost, not the unit price
My personal rule now: never approve an order based on unit price alone.
In early 2022, I compared quotes for 1,000 custom boxes. One vendor was $0.23 per box cheaper. The savings looked great on paper: $230. But the cheaper quote didn't include a $75 setup fee, a $40 die-cut cost, or $120 in freight to our warehouse. The total went from 'cheaper' to about $5 more expensive.
From my perspective, that $230 saving turned into a $1,500 problem when we had to reorder because the boxes arrived without the moisture barrier we specified. I was too focused on the unit price to verify the spec list.
For pricing context, business card printing pricing comparison (500 cards, 14pt cardstock, double-sided, standard 5-7 day turnaround) runs roughly $20-35 for budget, $35-60 for mid-range, and $60-120 for premium finishes, based on publicly listed prices, January 2025. A fancy business card holder also means you need precise cutting tolerance. Cheap cards that are a hair too long will not sit well in a holder. Prices exclude shipping; verify current rates.
Step 6: Build in a cushion for 'small' packaging decisions
Here's where a lot of procurement checklists fall apart. They cover major specs but ignore the small things that send a job off the rails.
Some examples from my own mistakes:
- Adhesive type for corrugated mailers. If the box plant uses hot-melt glue, warehouse temperature matters.
- Scoring and folding for printed manuals. If you're printing an Amana oven manual, the stock needs to survive being stuffed into a plastic envelope and opened repeatedly. A coated cover looks nicer, but it can crack at the fold.
- Window patch placement on retail boxes. It sounds minor until 2,000 boxes arrive with the patch slightly crooked.
- Foam board mounting for presentation sets. The ink can look great while the board warps in humidity.
The question I hear most while someone assembles a packaging mockup is: 'how do you make super glue stick better?' The honest answer is that on coated paper, super glue sits on top of the coating and peels off. Scuff the surface lightly or use a cyanoacrylate activator. But for actual production, use the adhesive specified by your box plant, not super glue.
Step 7: Confirm the shipping and receiving rules
Delivery dates matter, but so do conditions. I lost an $890 redo once because a pallet of printed envelope stock arrived without edge protection. The paper looked fine on the outside; the inner layers were crushed where the straps tightened.
Add these to the order:
- Packaging method: palletized, wrapped, slip sheets.
- Maximum pallet height and weight for your receiving dock.
- Temperature and humidity exposure during transit.
- Who pays for re-delivery and refused freight.
Step 8: Keep a record of every approved sample
After the third rejection in Q1 2024, I created a pre-check system: a physical sample book plus a shared spreadsheet with photos, date, supplier, and job number. Every new order is matched against the approved sample before we approve artwork.
This one step has caught 47 potential errors in the past 18 months. I'm not 100% sure of the exact number because not every near-miss gets logged, but it's in that range. That's a ton of money and embarrassment avoided.
Common Mistakes I Still See (And Made)
These are the ones that keep coming up, even with experienced teams.
Mistake 1: Treating the cheapest quote as the best quote
In my experience managing 200+ orders, the lowest quote has ended up costing more in about 60% of cases. That's probably not scientific, but it's real. The causes are usually the same: missing setup fees, vague freight terms, or a lower-grade material than the spec called for.
Mistake 2: Assuming the salesperson knows what you meant
They usually don't. They know what you wrote, and only what you wrote.
Mistake 3: Skipping the physical proof to save time
You save three days, then lose three weeks when the order comes back wrong.
Mistake 4: Ignoring the smaller print items
If you're ordering packaging plus a small run of business cards and a fancy business card holder, the small run can teach you a lot about the supplier. If their cards are flimsy or the fit in the holder is off, don't trust them with the expensive packaging job.
A Note on Pricing and the 'Cheapest' Trap
My view is simple: total value beats unit price every time. That doesn't mean overspend. It means count the hidden costs.
Setup fees in commercial printing can include plate making at $15-50 per color for offset, digital setup at $0-25, die cutting setup at $50-200 depending on complexity, and custom Pantone color at $25-75 per color. Many online printers include setup in quoted prices, but not always. Ask for an itemized quote. Rush printing premiums vary by turnaround: next business day usually costs 50-100% over standard pricing; 2-3 business days costs 25-50%; same-day, where available, costs 100-200%. Based on major online printer fee structures, 2025. Verify current rates before budgeting.
This pricing was accurate as of January 2025. The market changes fast, so take the numbers as a starting point, not a guarantee.
What If You're Not Ordering From International Paper?
This checklist still works. My experience is based on about 200 mid-range orders, mostly through large mills and national packaging distributors. If you're working with a local print shop or an ultra-budget supplier, some details will differ. But the habit of writing specs, requesting proofs, and comparing total cost is universal.
The goal isn't to make perfect decisions. It's to catch the little things before they become expensive little things.
