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See how we ship sample bottles decorated with your artwork, surviving Gauteng’s transit and real floor handling. Get key prep steps before you send a message through our contact form.
For a tailored pack, use our contact form.
Sample shipping is aimed at South African brand teams, production managers and print rooms wanting to see how their own bottles and graphics respond to UV decoration in real-world local conditions. If you are trialling a new line for craft beverage, cosmetics, or promo clients, a physical sample is the quickest way to check colour and durability before ordering full runs.
This process does not suit those needing urgent one-off prototypes under tight deadlines, or expecting custom packaging every time. We do not ship random bottles or generic prints. If you do not have your actual bottle or blank ready for testing, or if you require special handling not suited to local couriers, this may not fit your timeline.
Bottles for sampling arrive at our 2 Makro Place bench, either dropped off by your courier or collected if you are nearby Germiston. We print your submitted artwork on your actual bottles using our UV systems, then check adhesion and cure with reference to our cure log template. Sample packs are padded for transit, sealed and booked with a local or national courier based on your return address.
Most samples move through the warehouse inside a week after approval, but schedules may shift around load-shedding or courier capacity, especially for outlying towns like Polokwane or Gqeberha. Each bottle is marked and packed in a way that shows how it will survive typical box handling, Gauteng dust, or coastal humidity on a delivery truck.
A Cape Town gin brand emails for bottle testing. They arrange for a dozen clear 750 ml glass bottles to be dropped at 2 Makro Place, with artwork sent through our contact form as a layered PDF. We confirm UV lamp settings using our in-house cure log template and run test prints using their exact label area and registration marks, following the same pin and jaw setup shown in our fixture jaw guide.
After curing, we wrap each sample in kraft and bubble, apply a handling sticker, and courier the pack back to Cape Town. On arrival, the team stress-tests the print with shelf handling and water splashes to check durability. Feedback goes back to our Germiston bench for finishing tweaks or approval for the first order run.
Organising sample bottles saves time and reduces the odds of needing a redo. Before you use our contact form, have these points ready. If you are missing any details, include what you do have so we can advise quickly.
Most resends come down to missing or unsuitable blanks, unclear print specs, or courier delays. We see bottles arrive chipped, or with last-minute artwork not sized for the actual label panel, which leads to registration issues in printing. Out-of-province shipments sometimes face extra lag due to public holidays, load-shedding, or industrial action at couriers, especially on coastal or cross-border routes.
For best results, double-check your artwork dimensions and file layers, cushion any fragile glass you send, and confirm that your receiving address can take daytime deliveries. Print rooms with previous sample day checklist experience tend to see smoother turnarounds. If in doubt, check our FAQ, UV bottles or email for advice before shipping your blanks.
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