At Gorilla, I've handled custom packaging and print orders for five years. In that time, I've personally made 14 significant mistakes—totaling roughly $18,600 in wasted budget. Most of them started the same way: a request arrived as a keyword, not as a specification.
This isn't about being careful. It's about having a checklist. If you're a marketing manager, procurement person, or small-business owner, use this before you place any custom box, label, poster, flyer, or print job.
When should you use it? Any time the job is new. If you're reordering the exact same file from the same vendor, you don't need all six steps. If anything changes—size, quantity, material, finish, or file—run the checklist.
One note before I list the steps: I'm not a chemist, and I'm not a vehicle-wrap installer. So there are two topics in this article where I'll point you to a specialist instead of pretending to know. That's not a weakness. If you want an accurate quote, you need someone who knows their own limits.
The 6-Step Checklist
Here's the whole checklist before we go through each step:
- Name the exact product.
- Confirm dimensions and die-line.
- Choose material and finish.
- Request safety and compliance documents.
- Confirm the timeline and what's included.
- Approve a proof before full payment.
The order matters. Steps 1 and 2 kill most of the expensive surprises. Steps 3 and 4 prevent the second-guessing. Steps 5 and 6 save you from invoice shock.
Step 1: Name the exact product
The phrase 'gorilla incredibox' is a good example of a vague request. It sounds like a product, but it doesn't tell a production team whether you need a die-cut sticker, a poster, or a custom box. The same goes for 'gorilla glue patch and seal.' It might mean an adhesive tube, a printed label, or an entire packaging concept. If you're the buyer, don't let your order rest on a phrase. Name the physical product. If you can't name it, attach a photo or a reference link.
When someone says 'come and see poster,' I ask: what does the end user hold in their hand? A rolled poster, a mounted sign, a table tent, or a door hanger? That question clears more confusion than any product catalog. In my first year (2017), I made the classic mistake of assuming 'come and see poster' meant an 18x24 event poster. The client meant a large-format sign for a window display. The size mattered. 200 posters, $760, and a week lost.
Checkpoint: Can you describe the item in one sentence? If not, it's not ready to quote.
Step 2: Confirm dimensions and die-line
Once you know what the product is, write down the exact dimensions. A 'westinghouse parts catalog' can be a 500-page bound book or a four-page sell sheet. I've quoted both from the same phrase. The question isn't which one is right; it's which one the customer actually needs.
For boxes, specify inside dimensions, not outside dimensions. I've seen that mistake turn a well-fitting design into a useless shell. For posters, give final trim size and safe margin. At minimum, include 0.125-inch bleed on every side. For labels, provide the shape, liner width, roll direction, and adhesive type.
If the item is custom-shaped, request the die-line file up front. A die-line isn't a nice-to-have; it's the map your project is built on.
Step 3: Choose material and finish
Material and finish are functional decisions. I went back and forth between matte and gloss for a client's poster for two days. Matte reduced glare; gloss made colors pop. The client chose matte because the poster would sit under retail glass. The lesson: 'glossy' isn't automatically better.
The surprise wasn't the price difference between materials. It was how much the finish changed readability under direct light. So when someone asks for a 'come and see poster,' I always ask where it will be displayed before recommending a finish.
For packaging, consider the product weight, shipping environment, and shelf presence. A 24-point card stock feels different from a 14-point label. Both can be right, depending on the job.
Step 4: Request safety and compliance documents
If you're searching 'is gorilla glue non toxic,' stop and ask for a Safety Data Sheet first. Under OSHA's Hazard Communication Standard (29 CFR 1910.1200), chemical manufacturers must provide an SDS for hazardous products. I'm not a chemist, so I can't tell you whether a specific product is non toxic. What I can tell you is that 'non toxic' is a claim you should verify in writing, not in a search result.
The same logic applies to printed packaging. If your product needs food-contact approval, California Proposition 65 compliance, or specific labeling under federal law, verify those requirements before you order packaging that has to meet them. This gets into legal territory, which isn't my expertise. I'd recommend talking to your compliance person or legal team. The point is: don't skip this step because the phrase 'non toxic' was in the search results.
Step 5: Confirm the timeline and what's included
A buyer who asks 'how much is it to wrap a small car' is asking a labor-and-materials question. A print shop can quote the printed vinyl. Installation is a specialized trade, and I'd rather say that upfront than guess and be wrong. The vendors who know their boundaries are the ones I trust. A vendor who says 'this isn't our strength—here's who does it better' earns my trust for everything else.
Why does this matter? Because the most expensive question is the one you ask after the invoice is paid.
Confirm what the price includes: proof, revisions, shipping, delivery, and any setup work. In Q3 2024, the 'expedited' option added 50% to one of our orders (which, honestly, felt excessive). I should have asked before the order, not after.
Also clarify whether the turnaround is in business days or calendar days, and whether weekends count. That one detail has caused more missed launch dates than any production delay I can remember.
Step 6: Approve a proof before full payment
The proof is not a formality. Looking back, I should have ordered a hard proof before a 500-piece run. The PDF looked fine on my screen. The result came back with a 1/16-inch shift that made the text touch the cut line. 500 items, $1,450, straight to the trash. Note to self: never approve a soft proof without checking die-line.
Now I run a four-point proof check: dimensions, bleed, color mode, and file format. In that order. If any of those aren't right, we don't print.
For a color-critical job, ask whether a hard proof or a press check is available. It costs more than a PDF proof. It catches problems that a screen can't show. The surprise wasn't that the new vendor made an error. It was that the established vendor caught it during pre-flight.
Common mistakes I still see
Even with a checklist, people cut corners. Here are the ones I've made more than once:
- Writing 'gloss' when the job needed 'matte laminate'—they're not the same.
- Skipping the SDS request because the word 'non toxic' appeared in a search result.
- Treating a 'quick quote' as if it meant 'fast turn'—it doesn't.
- Assuming the buyer and the vendor are talking about the same object when neither has a written description.
We've caught 47 potential errors using this checklist in the past 18 months. Most were small. One was a $3,200 order with the wrong die-line. That one would have gone to press without a second review.
The checklist isn't glamorous. It's 10 extra minutes per order. That's cheap insurance.
