Buyers focus on the unit price of the jar and treat packing as a detail. Packing is not a detail. It determines how many units you receive per container, how many arrive intact, and what your warehouse has to deal with on arrival.
Pieces per carton and why 48 is common
Our standard pressed glass jars pack48 pieces per carton. That number is not arbitrary — it comes from fitting the carton dimensions to standard pallet footprints.
Cartons are built so that a fixed number fits exactly on a standard pallet, which means a container can be filled without leaving gaps. Poor carton sizing means you pay ocean freight for air.
Container utilisation is real money
A 20ft container holds a fixed volume. If your cartons do not tile that volume cleanly, you are shipping empty space and paying for it.
| Specification | Containers for 10,000 pcs | Relative freight cost |
|---|---|---|
| Cartons tile the pallet and container cleanly | Fewer | Baseline |
| Cartons fit the pallet but leave container gaps | More | Baseline + several percent |
| Cartons do not fit standard pallets at all | Significantly more | Baseline + double digits |
Ask your supplier for the carton dimensions and the pallet loading plan. Then check whether the total container utilisation is realistic. A supplier who cannot tell you how many units fit in a 20ft container for your specific order is guessing, and the guess will be wrong in your favour.
Protection layers that matter
Three things determine whether glass arrives intact:
- Internal dividers. Cardboard or moulded pulp separation between layers inside the carton. Without it, jars rattle against each other and chip at the rim, which is the most common damage.
- Carton strength. A single-wall carton is fine for light items. Heavy pressed glass needs double-wall or a reinforced case.
- Pallet and stretch wrap. A full pallet must be wrapped and banded properly. A partial pallet shifts in transit and the whole stack collapses.
Also confirm whether cartons are marked with your content details and whether they are ISPM-15 compliant. Many countries now reject untreated wood packaging outright. Non-compliant pallets mean your container does not clear customs.
Weight limits and how glass behaves against them
Containers have both a volume limit and a weight limit. Glass is dense, so a heavy jar can hit the weight limit before the volume limit. When that happens the remainder of the container space is unusable, and the freight cost per unit rises sharply.
This is where piece weight enters commercial negotiation. A jar that is 20 g heavier than the alternative may mean materially fewer pieces per container. Always compare cost per unit shipped, not cost per unit at the factory gate.
What to put in your RFQ
\”Please confirm pieces per carton, carton dimensions in cm, gross weight per carton, pallet dimensions and units per pallet, pallet material and ISPM-15 compliance, stretch wrap specification, and how many units fit in a 20ft and 40ft container for my order quantity.\”
A supplier who answers all of that in one response is a supplier who ships regularly. Save the answers — they are your baseline for comparing every future quotation.
Inspect on arrival
When the container is discharged, check the carton count against the packing list before opening anything. Then open several cartons across the load, including from the bottom and the top of the stack. Breakage concentrated in the middle of the stack points to a packing problem; breakage spread evenly points to handling. Both are worth knowing, and both are worth raising with your supplier before the next order.
Want us to prepare a packing plan for your specific order? Send us the quantity and jar model and we will work out the carton and container configuration with you.