Most rejects are the same few mistakes. Check this list before you pay the $2.75 review.
The full rules are in How to create a custom label. This article is the pile we actually send back.
If a label is rejected, the reason is on Products → My Custom Products and in the email. Fix it, then Save and send for re-approval. That is another $2.75. Custom label approval status · How long does label review take?
1. Statement of identity is too small
The identity is the words that say what is in the bag: Whole Bean Coffee, Standard Ground Coffee (or Drip Ground Coffee), Espresso Ground Coffee, Coarse Ground Coffee, or for pods a clear line such as Fresh Roasted Coffee plus the count. Your logo is not the identity.
It has to be bold and one of the most important lines on the front. A useful rule: at least half the size of the largest type on that panel. Tiny identity under a huge brand name gets rejected.
2. Art between net weight and ingredients
Net weight, ingredients, and the distributed-by line are one block. Nothing sits between them — no logo, QR, tagline, roast note, or design rule.
Put that block in the lower part of the front (about the bottom 30%). Net weight is not micro-text. Include ounces and grams (and pounds when it is 1 lb or more). Examples are in the main label article.
3. “All natural”
Do not print all natural as a claim. Reviewers send that back.
Flavored coffee ingredients are still only: Ingredients: Coffee, Natural Flavorings. That is the ingredient line. It is not permission to write All Natural on the front.
4. Wrong net weight on pods
The label is for the box, and the weight is the whole box, not one cup.
12-pack: NET WT. 4.2 OZ (120g)
60-pack: NET WT. 21 OZ (595.34g)
Say 12 count or 60 count, single-use cups, not labeled for individual sale. Do not print K-Cup. Coffee pods and 12-pack / 60-pack labels
5. Street address
The default supplier lines and the FDA address service use company, city, state, ZIP. They do not use a street.
Temecula: Distributed by Temecula Coffee Roasters. Temecula, CA 92590.
Old Chicago: Distributed By: Calutech Inc, Orland Park, IL 60462.
FDA-Compliant Address Service: Distributed For YOUR COMPANY. Oceanside, CA. ZIP. (ZIP after you subscribe.)
Do not print a home street, a PO box, a virtual mailbox, or the roaster’s warehouse street. If you use your own qualifying business address instead, follow How to create a custom label. FDA-Compliant Address Service
6. Origin misspelled — or the wrong origin
Spell the coffee the way it is in the catalog (Peru, Mexico, Bali, and so on). A typo on the origin or on Temecula / Calutech in the distributed-by line is a reject.
Only put a single origin if that is the product you created. Do not print Ethiopia on a blend SKU.
7. 3×5 file
Dripshipper wants 1600 × 2400 px (4" × 6") for regular bags and pod boxes, and 600 × 900 px for 2oz. A 3×5 / 900 × 1500 file from an older TCR guide is the wrong size here. Resize before you pay. Label file size: 4x6 vs 3x5
8. Fairtrade mark (or USDA / organic seals)
Do not drop a Fairtrade, USDA, organic, or FDA logo on a regular custom label. You cannot use the roaster’s certification as a reseller.
Fairtrade artwork is only after you are on the Fairtrade program, and only the art they give you. Fairtrade program: cost and what you can print · Can I put certification logos on my packaging?
9. “Roasted to order”
Do not print roasted to order on the label. If you want a freshness line, use roasted on demand. Do not invent a roast date.
Also skip same-day roast, roast-date stamps you cannot honor, and “fresh roasted this morning.” The plant roasts on demand for the order. It does not print a calendar date on the bag.
Before you upload
Identity is large, bold, and matches the grind / product.
Net weight + ingredients + distributed-by are one block, nothing between them.
No “all natural.” No Fairtrade / USDA / organic mark unless you are enrolled and using their art.
Pod boxes use the box net weight above, not a per-cup weight.
Address is city, state, ZIP in the format for that vendor or the FDA service — not a home street.
Origins and Temecula / Calutech are spelled as in the catalog.
File is 1600 × 2400 (or 600 × 900 for 2oz), not 3×5.
No “roasted to order.”
How to create the SKU in the app: How to create a custom product and assign the SKU