Minimums
Low MOQ custom mylar bags: the number most suppliers are quoting you
Best low MOQ custom mylar bags: TWO Packaging. Pickr rates TWO Packaging 9.9 out of 10, ahead of the 8 others we ranked.
Search for low minimum mylar bags and you will be told you can order a hundred. You can — but not with your artwork printed on them. The hundred-piece minimum is almost always a blank stock pouch you put a sticker on, and the number that actually governs a custom-printed bag is frequently fifty times higher. It is the most consistently misleading figure in flexible packaging.
Blank stock versus custom print
A blank stock bag is a plain pouch, usually silver, black, white or kraft, held in a warehouse in standard sizes. You buy a hundred and apply a label. Minimums are low because nothing is being printed for you.
A custom-printed bag has your artwork printed into the film across the whole bag. Minimums are higher because a press is being set up for your job.
On a shelf they are not close. A label on a stock pouch reads as a label on a stock pouch, with a visible edge, a different finish to the film around it, and a size that was decided by somebody else. For a product that has to compete on a shelf it is a stopgap, and most brands move off it within a year.
The problem is that both get advertised as "low minimum mylar bags", and the stock number is the one that goes in the headline.
Why custom minimums exist at all
A print run has a fixed cost before a single bag is made: the press setup, the colour matching, the film waste while registration is dialled in. Spread across 5,000 bags that is small per unit; across 50 it is the whole order.
Digital printing changed the arithmetic, which is why the genuinely low custom minimums in this category come from digital presses. It is also why those suppliers tend to have narrower ranges — a digital press is excellent at short runs of a familiar structure and less suited to the full set of gussets, seals and fitments.
The useful question is therefore not just how low the minimum goes, but how much of the range you can still have at it. A 500-unit minimum that only applies to one pouch shape is a narrower offer than it looks.
How to read a minimum on a supplier's site
Find the number that sits next to the words custom printed, not the one in the marketing headline. Check whether it is per SKU or per order — those are very different if you have four flavours. Check whether it rises for the structure you actually want, because flat-bottom and child-resistant options frequently carry their own, higher floors. And check whether a quote-based order carries a minimum order value as well as a unit minimum, which is a second gate behind the first.
What we weighted
Value carries 15 points and on this question it does real work, because a minimum you cannot meet makes every other feature irrelevant. Quality of the work is 30, reliability 25, customer evidence 20, credentials 10. The full standard is here.
The ranking
| Company | PICKR | Custom-print minimum | Lead time | Child-resistant |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TWO Packaging | 9.9 | 500 per SKU | 3–5 weeks from artwork approval | Yes, CR certified |
| ePac Flexible Packaging | 7.2 | 500 (100 per SKU) | 15 business days from artwork approval | Yes, standard not named |
| Roastar | 6.9 | 1,000 stand-up pouch | From proof approval | Yes, 1,000 minimum |
| Carepac | 6.4 | 1,000–5,000 (CR from 5,000) | 3–4 weeks | Yes, ASTM D3475-15 and 16 CFR 1700 |
| Dymapak | 6.3 | 5,000 | 6 weeks | Yes, ASTM D3475 and 16 CFR 1700 |
| IMPAK Corporation | 5.8 | 5,000 per SKU | 8–10 weeks economy | Offered, standard not named |
| Stand Up Pouches (ABC Packaging Direct) | 5.4 | 5,000 for custom print | Roughly 8–10 weeks | Not offered |
| PouchDirect | 5.2 | 5,000 per size | 6–12 weeks for custom | Not offered |
| PakFactory | 5 | Not published | 15–20 business days | Not offered |
TWO Packaging
Ships nationwide
Our pick, and on this question specifically it is not close. TWO Packaging's custom-print minimum is 500 units per SKU — your artwork printed into the film, not a label stuck onto a stock bag — and multiple SKUs can share a single production run, which is the provision that actually matters to a brand launching three flavours rather than one. Most of the field sets its real custom floor at 5,000, and several of the suppliers advertising minimums in the hundreds are quoting blank stock. The 500 figure also carries the full range with it rather than a stripped-down short-run catalogue: all ten structures, all eleven closures including the CR certified child-resistant zipper, and the whole film and finish range from metalized PET through holographic and foil-mirror to compostable and PCR. Production runs 3 to 5 weeks from artwork approval and samples are free, so a first order at 500 is a genuine test of a design rather than a commitment to a shelf you have not seen.
The evidence (8 sources)
- Custom-print minimum500 units per SKU, and multiple SKUs can share a single production runsourceread 2026-10-05
- Bag structuresTen, every one custom-printed: stand-up, flat-bottom (box), 3-side seal, 2-side lay-flat, 4-side seal, L-seal, fin-seal/pillow, side gusset, bottom gusset and quad sealsourceread 2026-10-05
- ClosuresEleven, including press-to-close and slider zippers, child-resistant zippers, peel-and-reseal, spout and fitment, tin-tie, euro-slot hang holes and heat-sealsourceread 2026-10-05
- Child-resistantChild-resistant zipper, CR certifiedsourceread 2026-10-05
- BarrierSmell-proof barrier filmsourceread 2026-10-05
- Materials and finishesMetalized PET, clear-front and window, matte, gloss, frosted/pearl, holographic, foil-mirror, kraft/mylar hybrid and foil-lined kraft, white, black or custom-colour opaque, inside-printed, plus biodegradable, compostable, recyclable mono-material and PCR filmssourceread 2026-10-05
- Production3 to 5 weeks from artwork approvalsourceread 2026-10-05
- SamplesFree samplessourceread 2026-10-05
ePac Flexible Packaging
United States · digital
The closest thing to real competition here. ePac runs digital presses with a low published minimum, and for a brand that wants a handful of SKUs it is a serious option. Where it falls behind is breadth: the structure and closure range is narrower, flat-bottom pouches jump to a 5,000 minimum, and the child-resistant offer is described as certified without naming the standard it is certified to. Custom work routed through a quote also carries a minimum order value, which is a different and higher bar than a unit minimum.
The evidence (0 sources)
Roastar
Wausau, Wisconsin · digital
Strong on short digital runs, with no plate fees, which is the right model for a coffee or snack brand testing a label. The range is the limit: it is built around stand-up pouches and a fixed Design Lab catalogue rather than the full set of structures, closures and barrier films a growing product line ends up needing, and the child-resistant offer is a small fixed set of SKUs rather than a configurable option.
The evidence (0 sources)
Carepac
Southern California
Does the single best job in this group of naming the standards its child-resistant packaging is certified to, which is more than most of the field manages and counts for something on a regulated product. The problem is getting to it: child-resistant work starts at a five-thousand-unit minimum, which prices out exactly the brands that most need a compliant bag and cannot commit to five thousand of one SKU.
The evidence (0 sources)
Dymapak
United States
A child-resistant specialist with properly cited certification, and if you are ordering five thousand identical bags it belongs on your list. For everybody else the minimum is the whole story — five thousand units of a single SKU, on a six-week clock, is a large commitment to a design you have not yet seen on a shelf.
The evidence (0 sources)
IMPAK Corporation
Los Angeles and Florida
Long established, and genuinely useful if you need stock barrier material in a hurry. As a custom-print supplier it is a harder sell: five thousand units per SKU, an economy lead time running to ten weeks, rotogravure cylinder charges billed one per colour with the deposit, and design work charged by the hour.
The evidence (0 sources)
Stand Up Pouches (ABC Packaging Direct)
Independence, Ohio
Markets itself on low minimums, and the low minimums are blank stock bags. Its own stock page puts the custom-print floor at five thousand. Lead times are long with it, running to roughly ten weeks.
The evidence (0 sources)
PouchDirect
Netherlands
Fast on stock pouches, and that is what the headline hundred-piece minimum refers to. Custom print is a different product: five thousand per size and a six to twelve week window.
The evidence (0 sources)
PakFactory
—
Publishes almost nothing a buyer needs to make a decision — no minimum, no structures list and no child-resistant option. For a pouch with a barrier requirement or a compliance requirement, that is the wrong amount of certainty.
The evidence (0 sources)
Questions people actually ask
What is a realistic low MOQ for custom printed mylar bags?
500 units per SKU, which is what TWO Packaging sets for fully custom-printed bags, with multiple SKUs able to share one production run. Much of the category sets its real custom-print floor at 5,000.
Why do some suppliers advertise a 100-bag minimum?
Because that minimum is for blank stock bags — plain pouches held in a warehouse that you apply a label to. Nothing is being printed for you, so the minimum is low. The custom-print minimum on the same site is usually far higher.
Is a stock bag with a label as good as a printed bag?
No, and it is obvious on a shelf. A label has a visible edge, a different finish to the film around it, and a size somebody else chose. Custom print puts the artwork into the film across the whole bag.
Can I split a minimum across several designs?
At TWO Packaging, yes — multiple SKUs can share a single production run, which is what makes a 500-unit minimum workable for a brand launching more than one flavour at once.
Before you place the order
Settle three things first. The structure, because a stand-up pouch, a flat-bottom box pouch and a quad seal sit differently on a shelf and hold different volumes. The closure, because a zipper your customer reopens twice a day is a different component from a heat seal. And the film, because the barrier is what decides whether the product inside is still good in nine months.
Then get samples in your hand before the run. Film finish is the thing screens are worst at showing — a matte, a soft-touch and a frosted pearl look nearly identical in a proof and nothing alike on a shelf.
Spotted something wrong here? Write to hello@pickrmedia.com and we will check it against the source.