How to pack a parcel properly: a 6-step method for your first day

Your first order has come in. The product is ready and the customer has paid. Now it has to travel through trucks, sorting hubs and a delivery bike before it reaches them, and the packing is the only part of that trip you control.

I have spent more than ten years in packaging, and our family company in Jaipur has been making packaging since 1997. The method below is the one I would teach a new packer on their first day. It has six steps, and we will go through them one at a time.

The quick version is this. Choose a box with room for cushioning, put a soft layer on the bottom, place the product in the centre, fill every gap, add a top layer, then seal with tape in an H pattern and put the label on top. Before you tape the top, shake the box. If something moves inside, add more filler.

First, does this order need a box at all?

Not every order does. Soft goods that cannot break, such as clothes, stoles or bedsheets, usually travel well in a mailer bag. India Post's Parcel Packaging Standards (Department of Posts, 2022) follow the same logic. Small parcels go in tamper-evident flyers, and fragile items go in corrugated boxes.

Use a box for anything that can break, bend, leak or get crushed.

This lesson is about the box.

Step 1: Choose the right box

We start with the box because every later step depends on it.

1. Use a rigid corrugated box with all its flaps, top and bottom.
2. Use a new box if you can. The UPS Packaging Guidelines (November 2024) say to avoid re-using boxes. If you must reuse one, remove or fully cover every old label and barcode, so the sorting hub reads only your label.
3. Leave room for cushioning. India Post's standard asks for at least 6 cm between the item and every wall and corner. DHL's Essential Packing Guide for Express Shipments (valid from 2026) asks for the same 6 cm. For anything breakable, I would start there.
4. Match the box to the weight. India Post's table suggests single-wall boxes for parcels up to 10 kg and double-wall boxes for heavier ones. Most first orders from a small business sit well inside single wall.

A box that is too big is as much trouble as a box that is too small. In a big box the product has room to slide, you use more filler, and the courier may bill you on the size of the box. In a tight box the product touches the wall, so every knock on the outside reaches it.

A ten-second check helps here. Put the product in the empty box and look at the gap on each side. Three fingers held together are roughly 6 cm wide on most adult hands. If three fingers will not fit between the product and a wall, try the next box size.

Step 2: Cushion the bottom

Tape the bottom of the box first. It is much easier to tape an empty box than a full one, and our separate lesson on how to tape a shipping box shows the method.

Then we lay cushioning across the whole floor of the box. Bubble wrap, crumpled paper, honeycomb paper or air pillows will all do the job. The bottom usually lands first when a parcel is put down hard, so it needs its own layer before the product goes in.

Which cushioning material suits your product best is a bigger question, and we will not settle it here. We make paper and air cushioning ourselves. Even so, my advice for day one is to use what you have, and use enough of it.

Step 3: Place the product in the centre

Now the product goes in. Let us take it point by point.

1. Wrap the product first if it has a surface that scratches or a part that can snap off, such as a handle or a spout.
2. Put it in the middle of the box, away from every wall, especially the corners.
3. In an order with more than one item, the heaviest item goes at the bottom.
4. Wrap each item separately. The UPS guide says the same. Two items that touch will rub and knock against each other for the whole delivery.

Keep loose small items, such as screws, beads or sample sachets, together in a small bag or pouch.

Loose, they fall into the bottom corners and disappear in the filler.

Step 4: Fill every gap

This is the step we all want to rush when orders pile up. Once the box is closed, the product should not be able to move in any direction.

We fill the sides and the corners with void fill. If you use crumpled paper, crumple it tight. UPS's guide says crumpled kraft paper must be tightly crumpled, and I agree, because loose paper flattens on the way and the gap comes back.

Do not overfill either. If you have to press the flaps down hard to close them, take some filler out. A bulging box puts strain on its seams and does not stack well under other parcels.

Step 5: Cushion the top

We now add one more layer of cushioning on top of the product. Parcels get stacked, and some travel upside down, so the top needs the same care as the bottom.

The packing slip or a thank-you card can sit on this top layer, where the customer sees it first. Our lesson on a better unboxing on a small budget has more ideas for this layer.

Step 6: Seal and label

We are almost done, and this step decides whether the box stays shut.

1. Close the flaps so they meet flat.
2. Tape in an H pattern: one strip along the centre seam, then one strip across each edge seam. Do this on the top and on the bottom. DHL's guide asks for tape at least 48 mm wide, which is sold as "2 inch" tape.
3. Stick the shipping label flat on the top of the box. Keep it off the seams and off the tape.
4. Put a copy of the address and order number inside the box. UPS and DHL both suggest a duplicate label inside, so the parcel can still be identified if the outside label tears away.

The shake test

We do this before the top is taped. Hold the flaps closed with your hands and shake the box gently, side to side and then up and down. Listen and feel. If you hear a knock or feel something slide, open it, add filler and shake again.

Then set the box down and press the top with your palm. It should feel firm and flat. If it sinks, add filler on top. If it bulges, take some out.

I will be honest about what this test can and cannot tell you. It finds movement inside the box. It does not tell you how the parcel will survive a drop from a truck, or a heavy carton sitting on it for a day.

For a new or costly product, I suggest one more step. Send a packed parcel to a friend or relative in another city and ask them to open it on a video call. That one video call will show you more than ten shakes on your table.

Mistakes that beginners make

Watch for these in your own first parcels. Each one is easy to avoid once you know it.

1. Using a box from the store room with an old courier label still on it.
2. Running out of filler and leaving a gap at one end.
3. Letting two items in the same order touch each other.
4. Sealing with stationery tape, masking tape or string. UPS and DHL both list these as materials to avoid.
5. Taping only the centre seam on the bottom. The edge seams then open, and the bottom gives way under the weight.
6. Wrapping the whole box in tape to be safe. It wastes tape and can cover the barcode.
7. Putting the label across the flaps, where it tears when the box flexes.

Most of these mistakes happen in a hurry.

A small checklist pinned above the table fixes them, and our guide to setting up your first packing station shows where it can go.

My advice is simple. Pack your first ten parcels slowly and carefully, with this page open next to you, and by the tenth one you will do the steps without looking. If a product of yours keeps giving trouble, tell us what you sell and how you ship it through our contact page, and we will point you to the right lesson.