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How Many Custom Labels Should You Order?

07/02/2026

Ordering custom labels for the first time, most brands either overbuy on a design they’ll tweak or underbuy and miss the volume price — and both cost money. Because printed labels carry a setup cost, the per-unit price drops sharply with quantity, so the right order size is as much about economics as it is about how many bottles or jars you’ll fill.

Here’s how to size an order once you separate your program into its real needs.

First run: order to a real tier

For a first product run, don’t order the bare minimum — setup dominates at low volumes, so the per-label price at 250 can be several times the price at 2,500. If the design is final, ordering up one tier usually costs only marginally more total while cutting your per-unit cost sharply. If the design might change, order a small proof run first.

Replenishment: base it on fill rate

Tie your quantity to how fast you fill product — order 8–12 weeks of labels and reorder at about 3 weeks of cover so a reprint lands before you run out. Because we keep your dieline and stock on file, reorders are fast and match exactly.

Multi-SKU: consolidate to share setup

If you run several SKUs, order them together. Combining designs into one production window shares setup and hits a higher combined tier, which lowers the price on every label at once.

Tell us your product, size, and volume and we’ll show you exactly where the price tiers fall — with a free mockup, within one business day.

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