Custom Slide Boxes

A slide box is a two-piece rigid package built from an outer sleeve and an inner tray. The tray slides out sideways, so your customer watches the product reveal itself rather than lifting a lid off. That one mechanical difference is why brands move up to custom slide boxes when the product is worth more than the packaging costs to protect — a fragrance, a watch, a candle set, a skincare gift kit.

You'll also see this structure called a sliding box, a drawer box, a pull-out box, or a match-style box. Different names, identical engineering. If a supplier tells you they "don't make slide boxes" but they do rigid drawer boxes, they're talking about your box.

How a Slide Box Actually Works

Two parts. The sleeve is the presentation half — it wraps three or four sides, carries your artwork, and stays open at the pull end so the tray has somewhere to go. The tray is the structural half — it's sized to your product with just enough clearance for the sleeve to travel smoothly, but not so much that the box rattles in transit.

Get the clearance wrong and you'll hear about it. Too tight and the tray binds, which is where "my customers ripped the box open trying to get to it" complaints come from. Too loose and the whole thing feels cheap in the hand. We build in roughly a 0.5–1mm tolerance gap so the slide works whether it ships from a dry warehouse in Texas or sits on a humid retail counter in Florida.

That's the part nobody puts on a spec sheet, and it's the part your customer actually feels.

Slide Box, Drawer Box, or Slipcase: What's the Difference?

They're all sleeve-and-tray builds. The difference is which ends are closed and whether the tray can stand on its own.

Rule of thumb: if the reveal is the selling point, slide box. If the product sits on a counter and the box is a display piece, drawer box.

What Custom Slide Boxes Are Made From

Slide boxes come in two material families, and picking the wrong one is the most expensive mistake buyers make.

Rigid Chipboard and Greyboard

The premium build. Thick greyboard core — we run 1.5mm to 2.5mm — wrapped in printed or textured paper. Ships fully assembled, doesn't fold flat, and costs the most to ship to you because of the air inside it. In exchange you get crush resistance, a re-close function, and a box the customer can reuse.

Kraft Paperboard

Same rigid core, wrapped in unbleached brown or matte black kraft. The natural, eco-conscious look. Keep the artwork simple — kraft takes ink less cleanly than white board, and a busy full-colour design on kraft will look muddy. Best with a single-colour logo and one foil hit.

SBS C1S and C2S Paperboard

The budget route. 400–600gsm coated white board, die-cut and folded rather than rigid-wrapped. Prints beautifully, costs a lot less, ships flat to cut your inbound freight. You give up the "rigid" feel and some crush protection. Right call for cosmetics, apparel, and gift-with-purchase.

Wrap Papers

On any rigid build, the wrap is where the customer sees quality. Available: 128gsm and 157gsm art paper, textured linen, leatherette, soft-touch, black spectrum, metallic, holographic, and uncoated stock with a natural tooth. Ask for swatches — texture photographs badly and a linen wrap in person sells itself.

Types of Slide Boxes We Build

Classic One-Way Slide Box

Open at one end, closed at the other. Ribbon pull, thumb notch, or push hole. This is the default and it's the right default.

Two-Way Match-Style Box

Open at both ends, like an oversized matchbox. No pull hardware needed because the customer pushes the tray out from whichever side is closer. Very common for USB drives, phone accessories, and flat jewelry.

Magnetic Slide Box

Tray and sleeve each carry a concealed magnet. It closes properly, which matters if the box ships to a customer who'll re-seal it. Costs more, adds weight, and you need to test it — a magnet set too strong gives you a box customers can't open without a fingernail.

Split or Double-Drawer Box

Two sleeves entering the same tray from opposite ends, or two stacked trays. Strong choice for product sets and subscription kits where you want a reveal per compartment instead of one big reveal.

Collapsible (Knock-Down) Slide Box

Rigid feel, folds flat for shipping, pops up in seconds. Solves the biggest practical complaint about rigid packaging: warehouse space. Slightly more assembly time on your end and a small cost premium.

Window Slide Box

Die-cut clear PVC or acetate window in the sleeve so the product shows before the box opens. Works well for candles and cosmetics where colour and product recognition sell it. Ask for a printed or frosted window rather than a bare one.

Print, Finishes, and Inserts

Printing

Full-colour CMYK offset or digital, Pantone solid inks for brand colour matching, screen printing for short runs, and no printing at all for kraft. We can print the inside of both sleeve and tray — that hidden message under the product is one of the cheapest unboxing upgrades available.

Finishing

Matte lamination, gloss, soft-touch velvet matte, and anti-scratch matte for products that scuff. On top of that: hot foil stamping in gold, silver, rose gold, or holographic, blind and registered embossing, debossing, and spot UV to make a logo catch light as the tray slides out. Pick one hero finish. Two competing effects on the same panel look cheap.

Inserts

Cardboard die-cut for the sustainable, low-cost, fully recyclable option. EVA foam for dense, shock-resistant cavities and the best surface for jewellery. EPE and XPE foam for lighter protection. Molded pulp for shaped fibre protection that prints and composts. Satin or velvet lining for presentation. Send a dimensioned sample or CAD file and we'll cut the cavity to fit — a loose insert is worse than none because the product moves.

What Products Work Best in Slide Boxes

Slide boxes earn their cost on small, high-perceived-value, easily damaged goods. They are not the right call for heavy, low-margin, or bulky items — the board-to-product ratio gets expensive fast.

• Jewelry and watches — rings, earrings, pendants, watch sets. The classic slide box use case.
• Perfume and cosmetics — fragrance, skincare sets, makeup kits, serum gift sets.
• Candles — glass and wax, especially in a rigid tray that protects the pour and looks good on a shelf.
• Premium electronics — earbuds, chargers, cables, smart home accessories, small devices.
• Gift and subscription sets — multi-item kits where a split drawer gives you a reveal per item.
• Apparel accessories — belts, wallets, sunglasses, small leather goods.
• CBD and specialty products — where a rigid, opaque, child-resistant presentation matters.
• Corporate and promotional — welcome kits, client gifts, conference handouts.

Rigid boxes cover the lid-and-base format if the reveal isn't your priority. If your product is light and you'd rather save the money, folding cartons will do the same job for a fraction of the cost. Related: tuck boxes, two-piece boxes, and kraft boxes.

How to Order Custom Slide Boxes

1. Send your product dimensions and quantity. Length, width, height of the product itself — not the box. Add the product weight and where it ships. That's enough for a real quote.
2. Pick your structure. One-way or two-way, rigid chipboard or paperboard, pull style, insert type. We'll recommend one if you'd rather not decide yet — tell us what you're packing and we'll tell you what holds up.
3. Upload artwork, or use ours. You can send vector files (PDF, AI, PSD) and we'll place them on the dieline. If you don't have a designer, our team will build the layout from your logo and product photos at no charge. We also hand you a flat dieline so your printer-proof is accurate.
4. Approve the digital proof. Free 3D mockup before anything goes to press. Check logo position, the pull, the insert cut, and whether the artwork clears the fold lines.
5. Production. 15–18 business days after proof approval, plus transit. Rush is available — ask.
6. Delivery. We ship across the US and internationally. Rigid boxes ship fully assembled, so we pack them in outer cartons with corner protection and palletise heavy orders.

Minimums, Pricing, and Lead Time

Our minimum order is 50 boxes, which is deliberately low — enough to get real rigid packaging onto a shelf without committing a small brand to a 1,000-unit run. Per-unit cost drops at 250, 500, 1,000 and above, and we'll quote the tiered pricing up front so you can see where your volume breaks even.

Quote requests start around $0.10 per unit on the simplest specifications. The number that actually determines your price is board thickness, box dimensions, how many colours and finishes you want, and whether the job needs an insert. Quote two suppliers using the same specification — it's the only fair way to compare. Our form asks for all of it for exactly that reason.

Request a quote and we'll come back within one business day. If you have questions first, read the general FAQs or learn about us.