In this guide 6 sections
Fixed packs give you predictable labels, shipping weights and stock counts. Loose weight gives buyers their own quantity. Many spice and grain sellers do both, with fixed packs for top sellers, weight based lines for the long tail and stock held in grams behind everything.
What a fixed pack buys you
Fixed packs are made before the order. The pouch is sealed, weighed and labelled with net weight, lot number and best-before date, then shelved until an order arrives. The floor can run one product, then stop.
Counting is simple. Stock is a number of pouches, barcodes work per product, and carton planning works because a pouch of cumin has a known weight and size.
The cost sits on the packing line. Every pouch is filled a little over the label weight so that none falls under it, and the surplus across thousands of pouches is real product given away. Check the allowed error where you sell. Set the scale target just above it.
How loose weight works at the screen and the scale
The buyer picks a quantity, often in steps of fifty or one hundred grams, and the cart multiplies it by a rate per kilo. The order sheet carries a target weight.
Packing happens to order. Someone scoops almonds into a bag, weighs it on a scale approved for trade and prints a label that shows the real weight. Scales need checks on a schedule. Keep each check date in your records.
Expect packing time per order to rise. Expect the final weight to differ slightly from the ordered weight, so decide in advance whether the buyer pays for the amount ordered or the amount packed.
- Quantity steps the buyer can pick
- Rate per kilo kept on the product
- Minimum and maximum weight per line
- Final weight printed on the label
- Rule for ordered versus packed weight
Stock deduction in grams, and where it leaks
Behind loose weight sits bulk stock such as a sack of pistachios, a drum of cumin or a bin of quinoa. The system holds it in grams. Each order deducts the packed weight.
Bulk shrinks more than orders explain. Spillage, sieving, moisture loss in grains and the odd sample for the tasting table all take a share. Count each bulk lot weekly, and log the gap as wastage against the lot so a pattern shows up early.
The pouch route adds one step. A pack-up job turns bulk into pouches: bulk goes down by the weight used, pouch stock goes up, and the difference is logged as loss. Without that job the numbers never reconcile.
- Bulk lot number and received weight
- Grams deducted for each order line
- Pack-up jobs that convert bulk into pouches
- Wastage logged against the lot
- Weekly count compared with book stock
Shipping cost and shelf life pull in different directions
Carriers price by weight band. A weight based order can land a few grams over a band edge, which makes the postage quoted at checkout wrong by one band. Pouches avoid that. Four pouches of one product always weigh about the same, so the carton and its postage are known before anyone packs.
Shelf life is the other side. Ground spices lose aroma once exposed, and shelled nuts turn rancid when kept warm, so a sealed pouch protects more than a scoop from an open drum.
Packing to order does give each buyer a fresh pack date, provided the bulk sack is small and turns quickly. Slow movers in large sacks fit worst.
Choose by product, not by shop
Most sellers end up with a mix. Put the top five sellers in fixed packs and keep the long tail on weight, so a buyer after a small amount of sumac gets exactly that. Saffron suits small sealed tins.
Give each product one stock unit, grams. Treat pack sizes as views of it. The same bulk lot can then feed a small pouch, a half kilo bag and a custom weight order without three separate stock counts.
Weigh twenty pouches off the line this week. The gap between the label weight and the scale shows how much product you give away on every pouch, which is the real cost of fixed packs.
Unit of sale worksheet
The worksheet fits one page. Each product gets a row. Columns hold the bulk lot, label weight, pack sizes offered, scale target, allowed error, last scale check, wastage allowance, shelf life from pack date and shipping band. A block at the foot lists products moving between loose weight and fixed packs, each with the reason for the move.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Do I need to print net weight on a food label?
Most food regulators ask for net quantity on prepacked goods, and some set an allowed error, so check the rules for each country you ship to.
How should loose weight be shown on the product page?
Show the rate per kilo, the quantity steps and an estimated total, then say plainly whether the final charge follows the packed weight or the ordered weight.
Can one product sell in packs and by weight?
Yes. Hold stock in grams on the product. Define each pack as a fixed weight drawn from that stock, and let the custom weight line draw from it too.
Why does bulk stock never match the book figure?
Product leaves without an order. Spillage, sieving, moisture loss and samples all take a share, and a weekly count per lot shows which of them is the biggest leak.