Garment packing list template

The commercial invoice says what the goods are worth and the packing list says how they are packed. The invoice carries the price per piece, the total value, the currency and the terms of sale, which customs use to calculate duty and banks use under a letter of credit. The packing list carries no prices: it lists every carton by number, what is inside it by style, colour and size, and the net and gross weights and dimensions, which the forwarder, the warehouse and customs use to check and handle the shipment. They travel together and must agree: the same invoice number, the same quantities by style and colour, and the same consignee spelled the same way. Our template carries the invoice number at the top for that reason. If customs open a carton, they compare it with the packing list, so a carton whose contents differ from its line causes delays.

Measure the outside of the carton in centimetres, multiply length by width by height, and divide by 1,000,000 to get cubic metres (CBM). The template’s example carton of 60 × 40 × 20 cm is 48,000 cubic centimetres, or 0.048 CBM. Multiply by the number of cartons of that size for the line, and add the lines for the shipment: the example’s 120 cartons come to 5.76 CBM. The template does this arithmetic in every line and in the total, so you only enter the carton numbers and the dimensions. Measure a packed carton, not an empty one, because a full carton bulges. Volume matters because sea freight for a part container is charged mainly on it, and it tells you when a full container becomes worth considering. Our guide to sea and air freight for clothing explains how volume and weight are charged.

Net weight is usually the weight of the garments alone, and gross weight is the whole packed carton as it is handed over: garments, polybags, tissue or inserts, and the carton itself. In the template’s example, each carton of 24 heavyweight t-shirts has a net weight of 5.6 kg and a gross weight of 6.9 kg, and the 120 cartons total 672 kg net and 828 kg gross. Definitions vary, some counting polybags in the net weight, so agree the definition between buyer and supplier and use it on every document. Weigh finished cartons rather than estimating: the gross weight on the packing list is compared with the scale at the port and at the warehouse. It also decides whether a carton is accepted at all, because buyers and marketplace warehouses set maximum carton weights, such as Amazon’s 50 lb (about 22.7 kg) limit for boxes with more than one item.

The buyer usually specifies them, and a typical set covers two kinds of mark. The main mark identifies the consignment: the buyer or consignee, the purchase order number, the destination, and the carton number in the form "carton 12 of 120". The side mark describes the contents: style, colour, the size assortment and quantity, net and gross weight in kilograms, and the outer dimensions in centimetres. Add the country of origin, such as "Made in Bangladesh", and any handling marks like "Keep dry" or "This side up". The template’s carton marks section has a row for each, filled in for the example order. Send the factory a drawing of each face with the text and its size, and check that every mark matches the packing list, because the warehouse receives against the marks and the packing list together.

Write the number of pieces of each size inside one carton, and keep one line for each group of cartons whose contents are identical. In ratio packing, each carton holds a fixed mix of sizes: the example’s cartons hold 4 S, 8 M, 8 L and 4 XL, 24 pieces, so the line shows 4, 8, 8 and 4, and the sheet works out the pieces per carton and the total. In solid packing, every piece in the carton is the same size and colour, so the line has a number under one size only, and each size gets its own carton range. Many orders use both, and the last carton of a colour is often part-filled: give it its own line, so the totals stay true. Rename the size columns to your size range, and check that the total pieces per colour match the purchase order before the packing list is sent.