The packing note in the box
A design agency resells your print to its clients without telling them who prints it. That is the arrangement, and it is a good one for both of you. Then a box arrives at the agency's client with your packing note inside, complete with your logo and phone number, and the courier's tracking email says it was sent by your company. The agency's client rings you directly next time. The agency is not pleased.
Nobody did it on purpose. The packing note template was the default, and the person packing that day did not know the job was trade.
Why white label slips
Trade printing for resellers, agencies and brokers depends on staying invisible. Most dispatch processes are built for direct customers, and trade jobs are an exception that has to be remembered.
- Jobs are not clearly marked as trade on the ticket or in dispatch.
- Packing note and label templates default to your branding.
- Courier accounts send tracking emails in your name.
- Delivery notes and invoices can end up in the same box.
- Staff who pack occasionally do not know the rules.
There is often a second layer of complexity: some resellers want their own branding on the paperwork, some want plain paperwork, and some want no paperwork in the box at all. Remembering which is which is asking a lot of a busy dispatch bench.
What a slip costs
A reseller who finds your name on their client's delivery may stop sending work, and trade accounts are often steady, repeat business. Even if they stay, trust takes a hit. There is also a quieter cost: resellers who want their own branding on paperwork often have to be handled by one experienced person, which makes trade dispatch slow and fragile.
White-label dispatch rules
- Each trade account is set up with its dispatch rules: plain paperwork, the reseller's own branding and return address, or no paperwork in the box.
- Jobs from trade accounts are marked as trade automatically from the order, and the marking appears on the job ticket and at the dispatch station.
- Packing notes and labels are generated from the reseller's template, with their logo and contact details, or a plain version.
- Courier bookings use the sender name and return address the reseller specifies, and tracking notifications carry their name or none at all, depending on what your carriers support.
- Before dispatch is confirmed, the system checks that nothing in the consignment carries your branding, and blocks it if it does.
- Resellers receive tracking and proof of delivery themselves, so they can pass it to their clients as their own.
| Item | Default today | With trade rules |
|---|---|---|
| Packing note | Your branding | Reseller's or plain |
| Courier sender name | Your company | Reseller's name |
| Tracking email | From you | Reseller's name or suppressed |
| Invoice in the box | Sometimes | Never on trade jobs |
Trade work you can grow
Blind shipping becomes something the system handles, not something staff have to remember. Anyone can pack a trade job correctly. Resellers can see that their clients will never see your name, which makes it easier to win more trade accounts. And resellers who want their own branding get a service that feels like their own dispatch department.
Is your white label leaking?
- Your branding has appeared on a reseller's client delivery.
- Trade jobs are not clearly marked at dispatch.
- Courier tracking emails go out in your name for trade jobs.
- Only one person knows each reseller's dispatch rules.
- Resellers ask you to forward tracking to them by hand.