If you are packing corporate gifts, retail orders or event giveaways in Dubai, the finishing layer — the swing tag, the ribbon, the seal sticker — is the cheapest part of the job and the part people actually notice. Real numbers from our catalogue: 500 gold-foil swing tags cost AED 425 (AED 0.85 each), 5 rolls of gold-foil ribbon cost AED 450 (AED 90 a roll), and 1,000 foiled seal stickers cost AED 460 (AED 0.46 each). All prices below are VAT inclusive, and standard production is 3–5 working days with free delivery across Dubai and Sharjah.
This guide covers what each component does, the widths and stocks that actually work, the real price per unit at normal order sizes, and the mistakes that cost people a reprint.
The four pieces of a finished gift package
Almost every packaging job in the UAE breaks down into the same four decisions. Getting the order right saves money, because each layer can substitute for the one above it.
- The box or bag — the structural cost, usually 60–80% of your per-unit spend.
- The ribbon — closure and colour. A foiled satin ribbon on a plain black box reads more expensive than a fully printed box with no ribbon.
- The swing tag — where the logo, the message and the QR code go. The one place you can personalise without reprinting packaging.
- The seal sticker — tamper evidence on mailers, and the cheapest way to brand a plain kraft bag.
A useful rule for budget planning: on a corporate gift with a landed cost of AED 100–150 per head, the finishing layer should land between AED 4 and AED 9. Spend less and the box looks unfinished; spend more and you are paying for packaging the recipient throws away.
Swing tags: sizes, stock and how they are strung
Swing tags (also called gift tags or hang tags) in the UAE are produced in three common formats:
- Rectangular, 5 × 7 cm or 5 × 9 cm — the standard for corporate gifting and Ramadan/Eid hampers. Enough room for a logo, a one-line message and a QR code.
- Square, 5 × 5 cm — retail and F&B. Works well on bakery boxes and takeaway bags.
- Die-cut shapes — arches, circles, bottle-neck tags. Add a cutting die charge on the first run; the die is kept for reorders.
Stock matters more than size. Below 300 GSM a tag curls and tears at the eyelet. We run swing tags on 350–400 GSM board as standard, which holds an eyelet punch and takes foil cleanly. Uncoated and textured stocks take foil better than glossy ones — foil sits on the surface, so a matte or velvet board gives you the contrast that makes gold or rose gold read as metal rather than as yellow ink.
Stringing is a separate line item people forget. Options are a punched hole only (cheapest, customer strings it), a metal eyelet (recommended on anything above 300 GSM), or eyelet plus pre-tied cord or elastic. Pre-stringing is hand work — budget for it if your team is assembling 500+ gifts under time pressure, because it is far cheaper to buy the tags strung than to pay staff to do it the night before an event.
Ribbon: widths, materials and where foiling works
Printed ribbon is sold by the roll, not by the piece, so your cost per gift depends on how much ribbon each gift consumes. The practical widths:
- 10 mm — small boxes, bottle necks, favour bags. Logo prints at about 6 mm height, so a wordmark works, a detailed emblem does not.
- 15–25 mm — the workhorse. Fits a legible logo plus a repeating pattern, and ties a decent bow on a gift box up to A4 size.
- 38 mm and above — hamper boxes, A3 presentation boxes, retail display. Also the width where double-sided printing starts to be worth paying for.
Materials: single-face satin is the default (smooth printed face, matte back, best foil result), grosgrain is the ribbed one that holds a stiffer bow, and organza is the sheer option that looks good but takes foil badly. For anything with a metallic logo, specify satin.
On length: a simple cross-tie on a 25 × 25 cm box eats roughly 90–110 cm of ribbon, plus 15–20 cm if you want a presentable bow. At AED 90 a roll, a 50 m roll covers around 40 gifts with a bow — so about AED 2.25 of ribbon per gift. Order one spare roll per 10 you need; nothing stalls a kitting line faster than running out of ribbon at 11pm.
Seal stickers and gift-wrap layers
Seal stickers do three jobs at once in the UAE: they close tissue paper, they brand a plain kraft bag, and on e-commerce mailers they act as tamper evidence. Our sticker and label range covers the three materials worth knowing:
- Paper, laminated — cheapest, matte or gloss, fine on dry indoor packaging. Not suitable for anything chilled or that may get damp.
- PVC/vinyl — waterproof, survives a chiller and a courier bag. The right choice for F&B, cosmetics and anything travelling in UAE summer heat.
- Transparent PVC — a logo that appears to float on tissue paper. Only works with a solid white or metallic ink layer behind the artwork; without it, a dark logo on dark tissue disappears.
If your packaging is a plain box plus tissue plus a seal, you can usually skip printed gift wrap entirely. Printed wrap only pays for itself when the box itself is cheap and the wrap is doing the branding — in which case the custom box range is often the better place to put the same money.
Real prices (2026, VAT inclusive)
| Item | Quantity | Total (AED) | Per unit (AED) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Swing tags with gold foil, white | 500 pcs | 425 | 0.85 |
| Swing tags with gold foil, black | 500 pcs | 425 | 0.85 |
| Printed ribbon with gold foil | 5 rolls | 450 | 90.00 / roll |
| Seal stickers with gold foil | 500 pcs | 400 | 0.80 |
| Economy gold-foil stickers, glossy laminated 80 GSM | 1,000 pcs | 460 | 0.46 |
| Economy die-cut gold-foil stickers, glossy laminated | 1,000 pcs | 510 | 0.51 |
| Economy custom stickers, glossy laminated 80 GSM | 1,000 pcs | 370 | 0.37 |
| PVC stickers 3 × 3 cm, transparent with foiling | 500 pcs | 575 | 1.15 |
| Vinyl stickers 8 × 8 cm, custom die-cut | 250 pcs | 345 | 1.38 |
| Paper stickers 7 × 7 cm, matt lamination | 100 pcs | 230 | 2.30 |
| Luggage tags (branded, PU) | 50 pcs | 210 | 4.20 |
| Gift packaging box, small | 50 pcs | 300 | 6.00 |
| Black gift box with magnetic closure, size XL | 50 pcs | 1,900 | 38.00 |
| Black plain gift box, A3 with magnetic closure | 50 pcs | 2,200 | 44.00 |
| Kraft shopping bag, W22 × H27 × D10 cm, 100 GSM | 500 pcs | 820 | 1.64 |
| Signature shopping bag 18 × 18 × 7 cm, matt/gloss | 500 pcs | 1,580 | 3.16 |
| Signature shopping bag 18 × 18 × 7 cm, with gold foil | 500 pcs | 1,900 | 3.80 |
Two things worth reading off that table. First, foiling a sticker costs about AED 0.09 a piece at 1,000 units (AED 370 plain versus AED 460 foiled) — it is the single best value upgrade in packaging. Second, the jump from a plain gift box at AED 6 to a magnetic-closure box at AED 38 is where most of the budget goes; if you are over budget, change the box before you cut the ribbon and tags.
Gold foil, cold foil or spot UV?
These three get confused constantly, and the difference changes both price and lead time.
- Hot foil stamping — a heated metal die presses metallic foil onto the stock. True metallic shine, slight deboss where the die hits. Needs a die, so there is a one-off block charge on new artwork. Best for logos and short text.
- Cold foil — foil applied with adhesive on press, then overprinted. Handles larger coverage, gradients and fine detail that would melt under a hot die. Priced higher per unit than hot foil on small runs.
- Spot UV — not metallic at all. A raised gloss varnish on selected areas, strongest on a matte or velvet stock where the contrast does the work. Cheaper than foil and very effective on dark packaging.
Practical advice for tags and ribbon: hot foil for a one-colour logo, spot UV if the budget is tight and the stock is matte, and cold foil only when the artwork has gradients. Gold and rose gold read best on dark stocks; silver and holographic need a lighter background or they vanish.
How to order
- Send artwork as vector — AI, EPS or PDF with fonts outlined. Foil needs a separate 100% black spot layer showing exactly which elements are foiled; a JPEG cannot be foiled.
- Confirm bleed and die line — 3 mm bleed on tags, and mark the eyelet position so it does not land on text.
- State the quantity bracket — swing tags and foiled stickers run from 500 pcs; plain stickers from 1,000; ribbon from 5 rolls.
- Approve the digital proof — we send a proof the same working day for artwork received before 2pm. Foil position on a proof is indicative; if the job is colour critical, ask for a physical foil sample before the full run.
- Production and delivery — 3–5 working days standard for tags, stickers and ribbon. Foiled boxes run 7–10 working days. Free delivery in Dubai and Sharjah; Abu Dhabi, Ajman and the Northern Emirates are next-day by courier.
For Ramadan, Eid and UAE National Day, add three weeks to whatever you think your deadline is. Foiling capacity in Dubai is the bottleneck in those weeks, not printing.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum order for printed swing tags in Dubai?
500 pieces for foiled tags, which is where the AED 425 price applies (AED 0.85 each). Below that, digital printing without foil is possible from 100 pieces, but the per-unit cost roughly triples because setup is fixed regardless of run length.
How much ribbon do I need per gift?
Budget 90–110 cm for a cross-tie on a medium box, plus 15–20 cm for a bow. A standard roll covers around 40 gifts with a bow. Always order one spare roll per ten — mid-run shortages are the most common reason a kitting deadline slips.
Can you print white ink on kraft or black stock?
Yes. White is a separate ink layer, and on kraft it needs two passes to stay opaque. It is the right call for kraft tags and brown mailer seals. On black stock, white ink and silver foil are both options — foil gives a cleaner edge on fine type.
Which sticker material survives a chiller or a courier bag in summer?
PVC or vinyl, not laminated paper. Paper stickers lift at the edges in condensation and in the heat inside a delivery vehicle. The extra cost is about AED 0.20–0.25 a sticker at 1,000 units — much less than the cost of relabelling a batch.
Do you supply tags pre-strung with cord?
Yes, with eyelet and cord or elastic. It is priced as hand assembly per piece, so send your quantity and deadline and we will quote it against the gift kitting as a whole — often it is cheaper to have the full kit assembled than to receive loose components.
Can I reorder the same tags later at the same price?
Yes, and reorders are faster because the foil die and die-cut tooling are kept on file. Reorder lead time is typically 2–3 working days for tags and stickers.
Get a quote today
Send your artwork and quantity on WhatsApp at +971 52 210 0909 or call 052 210 0909, and you will have a priced quote with per-unit costs the same working day. To see materials and sizes first, browse sticker, label and tag printing, the custom box range, printed bags and thank-you cards. Related reading: sticker printing in Dubai, spot UV, foiling and embossing explained, and custom gift box packaging.
