Plastic Pricing: What Affects The Costs Of Custom Printed Plastic Bags?

If you purchase plastic products such as custom-printed plastic shopping bags and other specialty plastic bags, cost is always a consideration, especially because the price of plastics and plastic products can vary widely. So what exactly affects the cost of custom plastic bags? Well, lots of things.

All pricing of plastic products starts with plastic resin, which comes in a wide range of compounds, quality, and prices. Plastic resin is purchased by the pound and all pricing of any custom plastic products – in our case, custom-printed plastic bags – starts with the price per pound of the resin. That’s why the size and thickness of the bag you’re considering is so important in determining price. And that’s just for starters.

Custom-printed plastic bag pricing is affected by a variety of design and production factors. Let’s take a look at each of the major ones:

• Basic design Does the bag require additional material for things like handles, side and bottom gussets?

• Graphics How many colors are required? Is there printing on both sides? How much ink coverage is needed?

• Additives Does your bag require unique properties or qualities that might require special formulation or additives, such as special film colors, anti-slip or EVA so the product can withstand cold temperatures?

• Environmentally-friendly characteristics Earth-friendly resins, such as those made with recycled plastic and our own biodegradable, bio-enhanced MSI Resins™, can add to the overall cost of custom plastic bags. Advanced compounds and formulations often require additional R&D and third party testing, all of which can affect pricing.

• Quantity How much of a product you buy affects the time and material needed to produce your order.

• Equipment Newer equipment enables more efficient and economical production; the use of specialized conversion equipment can add cost.

• Conversion costs What it costs to turn raw plastic resin into colorful, printed, and finished custom plastic bags, enabling the factory to make a profit.

While these are the major factors affecting custom plastic bag production, there can be others, depending on the particular project and its requirements. If you purchase a finished product from us – not just the resin – we have some flexibility in the entire manufacturing process and can often produce the highest quality custom plastic bags using our earth-friendly, bio-enhanced resin that are comparable in price to less-environmentally-safe, traditional plastic bags.

Have other questions about custom plastic bag pricing? We’d be happy to answer them. Give us a call at 440.349.0800.