That's a great question and one that we are asked often, whether that be a client looking to purchase a case of stock stand up bags or someone considering custom printed stand bags.  The answer is it depends.  Not to sound cute or funny but it really depends.  It depends on the product being packaged more than anything.  Is it a protein powder that will pack very compact and dense or will the stand up pouch be counted on to hold rock salt?  Will the stand up pouch be holding loose leaf tea or ground coffee?

I could go on and on but it will always come down to what you are packaging and frankly how much room you want and need inside the pouch.  Some clients want to package a stand up bag very loose to provide room for the end user to reach in and take some of the contents out and seal the stand bag back up with the ziplock.  Others want the stand up pouch packed as full as possible as it will be a one time use and the entire contents will be dumped out.  See, it really does depend on some other factors.

One thing we have learned over the 25 years in the packaging business is to try samples.  Get samples into your hands and fill your product.  This sounds simple but in reality many companies don't provide samples (or they make you work for them...beg for them...request certain sizes only, etc).  This, in my opinion, is STUPID!  We provide a complete sample pack of all our stock sizes for a few reasons.  One, so you have everything we have to get started to help you determine a size but more importantly to put our clients at ease knowing that we are completely aware one of our stock sizes may not be a perfect fit.  No problem!  You can then tell us that the 7 x 11 x 3.5 stock stand bag we sent you just about worked but you really need it a little longer, or whatever....this is an example obviously but you get the point.

Do you see where I'm going with this?  The goal is not to force you into using a stock size but to get something in your hands to help you dial in the size.  Your product deserves the best packaging available and by all means you should have the opportunity to tweak a size or adjust a size if necessary.  On the other hand, if your product fits a stock size, great, now you know and are ready to proceed with more confidence than you had before.

As part of this post, here is a video that you should find helpful, from a long time ago but the message still rings true today.  Need a sample pack?