How to read this benchmark

Direct Box Supply publishes this benchmark and sells packaging. It is an observed sample, not independent third-party research, a weighted economic index or a nationally representative survey.

Compare like with like

Each comparison separates specification, quantity, destination, tax basis and delivery service. Final delivered / DDP prices sort first, lowest to highest. Incomplete, indicative, estimated and conditional amounts appear separately and sort by their known lower amount. An asterisk means only that final delivered cost is not fully confirmed.

Observed low, median and high

Statistics use one selected exact delivered observation per competitor per comparison cell. DBS is excluded. A small sample is labeled; no quote is never zero. Different materials, print faces, inserts or dimensions remain separate. Low prices stay in the full observed market even when quality is unassessed.

Evidence and masked providers

Permanent provider labels are assigned independently of price rank. Masking does not guarantee anonymity. Direct RFQ evidence is retained privately and published only after rights and reidentification review. This limits public reproducibility. Public records state source type, date and limitations without exposing confidential source documents.

Dates and corrections

Observation dates, quote validity, review and publication dates are distinct. Historical prices are not current offers. Corrections create a new immutable version; changes between differently composed samples are not pure market movements.

Source fees, duties and sales tax are distinguished. A zero freight cell does not establish free delivery. Ranges are not converted into invented midpoint quotes. No interpolation creates missing price tiers.