Private label wooden toys are the same product with your brand, box, barcode and warnings on it — and the packaging is where most first orders lose time. The box needs a dieline, the barcode needs a real GS1 number, the age mark and warnings must match the market, and the manual needs the right languages. This guide lists what to prepare, what the factory prints versus what you supply, and how each item affects the production timeline.
What changes when the product becomes private label
The wood does not change unless you want it to. What changes is the commercial and legal surface: the retail box artwork, the brand mark, the safety text, the barcode, the inner pack, the carton marks, and often the user manual. On a stock product the factory owns those decisions. On a private label order you own them, and the factory prints what you approve.
That transfer is the point: your barcode, your warnings, your brand. It also makes the approval loop yours, and packaging is printed before the product is packed.
The retail box: structure first, then graphics
- Tuck-top carton with a printed lid — the workhorse for board games, puzzles and blocks.
- Lid-and-base (two-piece) box — heavier feel, good for gift positioning, slower to pack.
- Kraft or natural board — cheaper, fits a natural-toy brand, but limits colour reproduction.
Board grade matters: a 350 gsm greyboard wrapped in printed paper feels different from a 1,200 gsm rigid board, and both differ from E-flute corrugated, which protects a heavy wooden set in transit. If the product weighs more than about 1 kg, decide early whether the retail box is also the shipping box or whether it goes inside a master carton.
Printing: what 500 pieces can and cannot do
At 500 pieces per style, the realistic options are digital print or a small offset run. Digital has no plate cost and handles short runs and versioning well; offset becomes economical from a few thousand pieces and gives better colour consistency across a long run and cheaper per unit.
Specify colour for the printer: a Pantone number per brand colour, a CMYK build for photography, and a printed match for the brand colour. Screen colour is not a substrate. Matte lamination, spot UV and embossing each add a production step and a few days.
Barcodes: get a real GTIN
A retail barcode needs a GS1-issued GTIN — UPC-A for North America, EAN-13 for Europe — not a number generated by a website. The number encodes the company prefix, the item reference and a check digit. Print requirements matter: minimum width around 80% magnification of the nominal size, a quiet zone either side, matte black on a light background, and no printing across a fold or a curve.
For Amazon, the FNSKU is separate from the retail barcode and identifies your listing. Decide whether the factory prints it on the box or the warehouse applies it as a sticker: stickers are flexible, printed labels are cheaper at volume but lock the SKU to the artwork.
Age marks, warnings, manuals and the importer block
The packaging carries the legal identity of the product. What goes on the box depends on the market:
| Market | Required on pack |
|---|---|
| EU | CE mark, importer or manufacturer name and postal address, batch or serial number, age warning, "Warning: Not suitable for children under 36 months" plus the reason when small parts apply, EN71 reference where used |
| US | CPSIA tracking label (manufacturer or importer, production location and date, batch), age grading, small-parts warning for 3–6, choking-hazard statement for under-3 items with small parts |
| UK | UKCA or CE per current rules, UK importer address, age warning |
The age grade is not a marketing choice. It follows from the product's hazards: a toy with parts that fit the small-parts cylinder cannot be sold for under 3, whatever the box says. If the same design is sold as 12m+ in one market and 3+ in another, the packaging, the warnings and possibly the design have to differ.
An instruction manual is not always required, but it is expected for busy boards, play kitchens and anything with assembly or hardware. Practical rules:
- Write the manual in the languages of the markets you actually ship to; a single English manual in an EU carton is a gap.
- Include assembly steps, care instructions (wipe clean, do not soak), and the safety warnings again.
- Check that the manual fits inside the box without bowing the lid — this is the most common packaging fit error.
Inner packs, cartons and Amazon requirements
The master carton is where export packing and retail packing meet. Decide the inner-pack quantity (often 6, 12 or 24), the carton dimensions, the carton weight limit, and the marks: SKU, description, quantity, gross and net weight, dimensions, country of origin, and the consignee or forwarder reference.
For Amazon FBA, plan the carton against marketplace limits: maximum 22.7 kg (50 lb) for standard cartons, poly bags with a suffocation warning, no loose parts, and labels readable without opening the carton. If the retail box is the shipping unit, carton marks and box must agree.
Artwork approval and the timeline it drives
The packaging sequence is: dieline from the factory, artwork placed on the dieline, proof approval, then print. Each step has a lead time:
| Step | Typical time |
|---|---|
| Dieline issued | 1–3 days |
| Artwork placed and checked | Buyer's timeline |
| Printed or digital proof | 2–5 days |
| Proof approval | Buyer's timeline |
| Packaging print and delivery to line | 7–10 days |
Packaging print runs in parallel with product production, so an on-time approval costs no schedule time. A late approval becomes a production delay, because the packing line cannot start without boxes.
What to send the factory, in one checklist
Dieline confirmation, final artwork with 3 mm bleed and 300 dpi images, vector logo, Pantone references, barcode EPS or number, age grade and warning text per language, manual PDF, inner-pack quantity, carton marks, FNSKU requirement, and destination market. One approval round on that list is worth a week of production time.
FAQ
Can you design the packaging for us?
We produce the dieline, place your artwork on it, and can adapt a stock box structure to your product. Full graphic design is usually better handled by your designer or a packaging studio; we give the mechanical limits — board grade, print method, colours, fold positions — that the design must respect.
Do we need a GS1 barcode before placing the order?
Yes, if the product goes to retail. The GTIN must exist before the box is printed, because the barcode is part of the artwork. Allow a few days for the GS1 licence and number allocation if you do not already have a company prefix.
Who is responsible for the warning text?
You are, as the brand owner in the destination market, with our support on the technical facts: age grade, small parts, materials, test reports. We print exactly the approved text, do not rewrite legal warnings, and will flag text that looks inconsistent with the product.
Frequently asked
Can you design the packaging for us?
We produce the dieline, place your artwork on it, and can adapt a stock box structure to your product. Full graphic design is usually better handled by your designer or a packaging studio; we give the mechanical limits — board grade, print method, colours, fold positions — that the design must respect.
Do we need a GS1 barcode before placing the order?
Yes, if the product goes to retail. The GTIN must exist before the box is printed, because the barcode is part of the artwork. Allow a few days for the GS1 licence and number allocation if you do not already have a company prefix.
Who is responsible for the warning text?
You are, as the brand owner in the destination market, with our support on the technical facts: age grade, small parts, materials, test reports. We print exactly the approved text, do not rewrite legal warnings, and will flag text that looks inconsistent with the product.