Guides · updated 18 August 2026
Six things set the price — and one of them is free
The short answer: a label price is built from six factors — quantity, material, size, finish, variable data and shape. Quantity is mostly a set-up cost you pay once per run, shape costs nothing here, and every figure below is taken from our own price lists, not from an industry average.
Factor 1
Quantity: the first hundred buys the machine time
Most of a small run is not labels — it is making the press ready and cutting the die, and that cost is the same whether 100 labels follow or 3 000. Our own kraft price list shows it plainly: multiply the quantity by thirty and the run price grows by about a third.
| Quantity | Run price | Per label |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | €213 | €2.13 |
| 500 | €220 | €0.44 |
| 1 000 | €238 | €0.24 |
| 3 000 | €291 | €0.10 |
Real figures, natural kraft, one size, excluding VAT. The lesson cuts both ways: never judge a label by its 100-piece price — and never order 3 000 « because the unit price looks better » if 500 covers the season. The surplus is money printed, then binned.
Factor 2
Material: a €217 spread, and it buys a property
The stock sets the floor. Printed, the range runs from €137 per 100 on coated paper to €261 on the certified food-contact polyester — and each step up buys a property, not prestige: €205 on kraft buys texture, €261 buys the right to touch food, with the paperwork.
Two routes sit outside that ladder. Blank rolls from €44 per 100, if your own printer does the printing. And stickers, a different press with different economics: 1 000 gloss vinyl stickers at 50 × 50 mm cost €36 — because they come from standing dies in fixed formats, which is precisely the flexibility you give up.
Choosing the stock itself is another guide: five questions and the material chooses itself.
- Blank roll, you print
- €44
- Coated paper, printed
- €137
- Natural kraft
- €205
- Certified food contact
- €261
- Aside: vinyl stickers
- €36 per 1 000
Factors 3 and 6
Size costs; shape does not
Bigger label, more material and more press width — but the price climbs far more slowly than the area. The sticker price list makes the curve visible, one material, one quantity, five sizes:
| Size | Gloss vinyl, per 250 |
|---|---|
| 50 × 50 mm | €28 |
| A7 · 105 × 74 mm | €38 |
| A6 · 148 × 105 mm | €49 |
| A5 · 210 × 148 mm | €85 |
| A4 · 297 × 210 mm | €341 |
From 50 × 50 mm to A4 the area is multiplied by about 25 and the price by about 12 — until the A5-to-A4 step, where the job changes press and the price trebles. Ceilings exist on labels too, and they depend on the family: the full table is in choosing a label material.
Shape is the factor that costs nothing — here. On labels we cut a die for your job anyway, so a circle, an oval, a shield or your bottle silhouette is the same price as a rectangle. On stickers the opposite: they run on standing dies, a 50 × 50 mm square is €28 per 250 and the round €33, and at 10 000 pieces the gap is €126 against €201. If your design is not rectangular, that alone can decide the route.
Factor 4
Finishes: a varnish is about €5, a lamination about €9
Protection is priced per run, and modestly. From the lamination price list, same label, same coated paper:
| Quantity | No protection | Gloss varnish | Gloss or matt lamination |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | €204 | €209 | €213 |
| 1 000 | €213 | €213 | €213 |
Gloss and matt lamination cost exactly the same — choose on looks alone. The counter-intuitive line in this factor is hot foil: on the deep black paper, gold foil comes to €169 per 100 against €185 for four-colour printing, because there the foil replaces the printing instead of being added to it. The rest of the menu — relief varnish, soft touch, selective varnish — is quoted per job on the options and finishes page.
Factor 5 — and the last line of the quote
Variable data: a flat fee that shrinks per label
Making every label different — numbers, barcodes, unique QR codes, name lists — is priced per run, not per label: sequential numbering and barcodes from + €112, unique QR codes or name lists from + €127. Flat fees behave kindly at volume: + €112 on 100 labels is €1.12 each, on 5 000 it is about €0.02. What you send us is a starting number or a simple list — we handle the rest. The whole subject, uses included, is in variable data printing.
And the line people look for last: delivery is never buried in the unit price. It is quoted with the order — DDP, so the total you approve is the total you pay, customs and import handling included. Production takes 2 to 10 working days after proof approval.
- Numbering, barcodes
- from + €112
- Unique QR, name lists
- from + €127
- Gloss varnish
- about + €5
- Lamination
- about + €9
- Any die-cut shape
- included
- Delivery
- quoted with the order — DDP
FAQ
Label prices — what customers ask us
Why is the price per label so high at 100 pieces?
Because at 100 pieces you are mostly buying the start-up — making the press ready and cutting the die — and those cost the same whatever follows. On our kraft list the run price moves from €213 at 100 labels to €291 at 3 000: thirty times the labels for about a third more money. The per-label figure only becomes meaningful once the set-up is diluted.
What is the least expensive way to buy labels?
Decide who prints. If your own thermal or inkjet printer does the work, a blank roll starts at €44 per 100. If we print, coated paper at €137 per 100 — and one or two colours rather than four is what keeps it there. The savings people chase in the material are usually sitting in the number of colours and in ordering the right quantity.
Is delivery included in the prices?
No, and deliberately: every price on this page is the production price, excluding VAT, and delivery is quoted with the order — DDP. That means the delivered total you approve is final, with customs and import handling dealt with by us — no surprises at the door, whichever side of the Channel you are on.
Does a round label cost more than a rectangular one?
Not on labels — we cut a die for your job anyway, so any shape within your size is included. On stickers it is the opposite: they run on standing dies, so a 50 × 50 mm square is €28 per 250 while the round is €33, and at 10 000 pieces the gap widens to €126 against €201. Shape is free on one route and a real cost on the other.
Which option changes the price the most?
On small runs, variable data — a flat + €112 to + €127 per run is significant on 100 labels and negligible on 5 000. On the material side, the certified food-contact stock at €261 per 100 is the top of the ladder, and it buys documentation, not decoration. Finishes barely move the total: about €5 for a varnish, €9 for a lamination — included from 500 labels.
Still unsure?
Ask the person who makes them
The guide covers the general case — your label lives on a real product. Describe it in two lines and a label specialist (not a bot) answers within 2 working hours.
All guides
Everything else we have written down
- Choosing your label material
- Choosing your label adhesive
- Bottle and jar label sizes
- EU food labelling — the INCO rules
- EU wine label rules
- Environmental claims and sorting labels
- Preparing print-ready files
- Variable data, explained
- Label material comparison chart
- EU vs UK labelling requirements
- What drives the price of a label — you are here
- Label glossary
Six factors, one configurator.
Your size, your quantity, your material — the real price in a few clicks, no account needed.