Cost & quantity · Bangalore
What actually drives the cost of a paper bag.
Ask what a paper bag costs in Bangalore and the public answers run from under a rupee to over fifty. Both are honest, because they are describing different bags. This page explains the four things that move the number, so you can read any quote — ours or anyone else’s — and know what you are looking at.
The published range
Why the listed prices span eighty times over.
These are public listings, read on 21 September 2026. They are not comparable with each other: each describes a different paper, size, print and minimum quantity. We publish them because a buyer deserves to see the real spread before anyone quotes them a number.
| Source | Listed | What it describes |
|---|---|---|
| IndiaMART, Bengaluru paper bags | ₹1.50 – ₹54 a piece ₹60 – ₹400 a kilo | 28 suppliers on one page, every spec and minimum mixed together |
| Google’s own answer for the price query | ₹2 – ₹35 a piece | An aggregate, with no paper, size or quantity attached |
| A bulk food-bag supplier’s listing | ₹0.64 – ₹6.10 a piece | Plain kraft, mostly unprinted, minimums from 500 pieces |
| An online print shop | ₹31 – ₹68 a piece | Custom-printed retail bags at small quantities, from 100 units |
| A Bangalore manufacturer’s published guide | ₹3 – ₹6 unbranded ₹7 – ₹15 custom-printed | Their own editorial estimate for medium retail sizes |
Read the two ends of that table together and the point makes itself. A 64-paise bag is a plain kraft food bag bought ten thousand at a time. A ₹54 bag is a laminated, foil-stamped retail carrier bought by the hundred. Nothing is wrong with either number.
The four drivers
Paper, size, print, quantity. In that order.
1. Paper and GSM
The sheet is the single biggest input. GSM is grams per square metre, so it multiplies with area: going from 100 to 200 GSM on the same bag roughly doubles the paper in it. Kraft costs less than coated art paper at the same weight. Specify the GSM the load actually needs — under-specifying to save a rupee shows up at the counter when a handle tears.
2. Size and build
Cost follows the area of sheet consumed, not the bag’s apparent size. A flat-bottom (SOS) grocery build uses more paper and more folding than a flat sleeve of the same height. Gusset depth, a reinforced turn-top edge, a card base insert and the handle type each add material or a step at the bench.
3. Print and finish
The first colour carries the setup and costs the most; each colour after it adds less. Offset is cheaper per unit and dearer to set up than digital, which is why the crossover moves with your quantity. Lamination, foil stamping, spot UV and emboss are each a separate pass on the sheet, and each one has its own setup.
4. Quantity
Plates, dies and foil blocks are bought once and spread across the run. That is the whole reason the same bag can be several times dearer at five hundred than at twenty thousand. If your quantity is flexible, this is the lever that moves the per-bag number furthest, and it costs you nothing but storage.
Where the number steps
Quantity moves it more than anything else you can change.
Setup is fixed, so the per-bag share of it falls as the run grows. These are the bands where buyers in this market usually see the number step. They describe how the arithmetic behaves, not a Reva price list or a minimum — our minimum depends on the spec and we confirm it against your brief.
| Run size | What dominates the per-bag cost |
|---|---|
| 500 – 2,000 | Setup. Plates, dies and finish passes are spread thinly, so print and finish choices hit hardest here |
| 2,000 – 10,000 | Setup and paper in balance. The point where dropping one finish pass usually saves more than changing paper |
| 10,000 – 50,000 | Paper. Setup is largely absorbed; GSM and size now decide most of the number |
| 50,000 and above | Paper and logistics. Sheet buying and freight matter more than anything on the press |
Straight answer
We don’t publish a rate card, and here is why.
Every bag we make is cut and printed to a brief, so any number we put on a page would be wrong for almost everyone who read it. A rate card would either quote the cheapest possible bag and disappoint you at quote stage, or quote a safe high number and lose you before we had spoken. Neither serves a buyer who is comparing suppliers honestly.
What we do instead: quote against your actual spec, usually within one business day, and approve the paper and finish on a free sample sheet before anything is produced. The sample is the quality contract for the order.
Getting a real number
Five lines gets you a quote you can compare.
Send these and we can price it properly. If you don’t know one of them, say so and we will recommend it — that is part of the job.
Keep exploring
Related.
Questions
Paper bag cost FAQs.
How much does a paper bag cost in Bangalore?
Publicly listed prices in Bengaluru run from about ₹1.50 to ₹54 a piece, and Google’s own summary for the query quotes ₹2 to ₹35. The spread is real, not noise: an 80 GSM plain kraft food bag and a 250 GSM laminated retail carrier with foil are both “paper bags”. Read on 21 September 2026; listed prices change.
Why don’t you publish a price list?
Because we make to spec rather than from stock, a list would be wrong for almost everyone who read it. Paper, size, build, print and quantity each move the number, and a figure quoted without them tells you nothing you can buy on. We quote against your brief, and the sample sheet is free.
Is a paper bag priced per piece or per kilo?
Both are used in this market. Directory listings for Bengaluru show roughly nine per-piece prices for every one quoted per kilo. Per piece is the safer basis for a finished bag with handles, because two bags of the same weight can differ a lot in the work that went into them. Per kilo is more common for plain, unhandled stock.
Does printing cost much more than a plain bag?
The first colour costs the most, because it carries the setup. After that each additional colour adds less. On short runs the setup dominates, which is why a printed bag can be several times a plain one at 500 pieces and much closer to it at 20,000.
What is the cheapest way to bring the cost per bag down?
Quantity first, then finish. Setup is fixed, so it spreads. After that, dropping a finish pass such as foil or spot UV usually saves more than shaving GSM, and shaving GSM below what the load needs costs you in returns and reputation.
Do you charge for samples?
No. Paper and finish are approved on a free sample sheet before production, and the sample becomes the quality contract for the run.
Proof in every fold
Start with a free paper sample sheet.
Tell us the paper, finish, size and quantity you have in mind. We reply from the Bangalore workshop, usually within one business day.