Greetings,
I've been self-publishing a line of historically accurate cloth board games for 8 years. I'm starting a campaign to go wholesale and have questions about packaging. I'm currently packaging the handpainted cloth board, rules and pieces in a 6x9 plastic bag, topped with a folded 'parchment' cardstock header. A stickyback hang hook allows me to display vertically rather than stacked in a display box, which is fine in my booth at Renaissance Faires but what do musuem gift shops want? I do nearly everything in-house and on a shoestring. To see an example, head here: http://BryannasTreasureBox.com/catalog.html
I like that the plastic bag allows you to see the unique color combinations of each game. Being individually handpainted allows me to create some incredible color sets.
I'm currently creating a sales package to take/send to hands-on-museums' gift shops and children's museum gift shops. (like Plymouth Plantation, and Everett Children's Museum)
I think it looks 'good enough', but could it be better?? What would pack and ship better by the dozen, display nicely on a shelf, inexpensive to put together, and show off the colors? What other options for packaging do I have?
Thanks a bunch!!
Bryanna
For something that is more stackable, but shows off your product, you could use something like these clear-top boxes (like the display boxes in which greeting cards are sold).
For the inside, you would need a piece of thin chipboard around which you could wrap the board (so that the choice section is prominently shown) like the way dress shirts are folded onto a chipboard form. The bag of pieces could even be hot glued to one side of the box so that they don't flop around inside the box in transit.
For the graphics, you could use label sheets to print a custom backing and then stick the label right to the back of the box. Alternatively, you could create the back and some sides in a sheet graphic that would fold up and around the sides of the box and be glued to the inside.
Best of luck!