Book cover rolls wholesale in Rajasthan: how the kilo trade works for distributors

If you are a distributor or wholesale dealer buying book cover rolls anywhere in Rajasthan, you will mostly be buying by the kilo. The roll the market moves in bulk is a plain two-layer PP tube, packed ten to a packet and sold in bags of fixed weight. Our version, made by Jagannath Polymers Pvt Ltd (JPPL), is called Standard, and it is our biggest seller in Rajasthan.

Most wholesale talks start with the rate per kilo. I understand why, but I would ask a different question first.

How many usable metres am I getting for each kilo?

How is a Standard roll made and packed?

A Standard roll is PP film made as a flat tube with two layers. There is no paper pipe in the centre. The user cuts the tube open before covering a book, so it is worth telling your retailers. Our page on how to cover a notebook shows that step.

Here is how we make and pack ours.

The market mostly buys the shorter lengths. Long rolls are a special order.

Full details are on our Standard notebook cover rolls page.

Why do wholesalers buy book cover rolls by the kilo?

Because film is a weight business from start to end. We buy our raw material by the kilo, our machines produce film by the kilo, and so the rolls are sold the same way. A per-kilo rate lets a distributor compare an 11 inch x 2 m roll and a 13 inch x 3 m roll on the same scale.

There is one catch. The bag weight is fixed, so the number of rolls inside changes. A bag of short, narrow rolls holds many more rolls than a bag of long, wide ones.

Thickness changes it too. A thicker film gives you fewer metres per kilo, but each metre is stronger and lasts longer on the book. So a roll that seems to give "more metres for the money" may simply be thinner.

How do I compare two suppliers' rolls fairly?

Do this check on one packet from each supplier. You need a weighing scale, a measuring tape and ten minutes.

1. Weigh one packet of 10 rolls and note the weight in grams.
2. Unroll one roll fully and measure its length in metres.
3. Check that both rolls are the same width. Comparing an 11 inch roll with a 13 inch one tells you nothing.
4. Multiply the length by 10 rolls, and divide by the packet weight in kilos. That gives metres per kilo.
5. Ask each supplier for the micron in writing.

Here is the sum with made-up numbers, just to show it. If a packet of ten 3 m rolls weighs 1.2 kg, that is 30 m divided by 1.2, or 25 metres per kilo.

Now compare the two. If one supplier gives many more metres per kilo at the same width, the film is very likely thinner. Ask for the micron again, and check it with a micrometer if you can. A roll below 50 micron puts the seller at risk too, because the Plastic Waste Management Rules, 2016 set 50 micron as the minimum for plastic sheets (Press Information Bureau, 18 March 2016).

Which sizes should a Rajasthan distributor keep?

Start with what moves. The market buys 1.75, 2, 3 and 4 m lengths, and natural (clear) is the colour we keep in stock.

I would build the first order around these.

We keep two items in stock all year: 11 inch x 2 m and 13 inch x 3 m in natural. A distributor can pick these up any month. Everything else, including the coloured and printed 11 and 13 inch rolls and all 14 and 16 inch rolls, is made to order.

For width, I would never guess. Take a sample of each width and cover the notebooks your retailers sell most. The width that covers your top-selling notebook with clean folds is the width you should stock deepest.

When should I place the order?

Covers sell most from February to June, before schools reopen. Since most of our range is made to order, the distributors who plan in December and January get their stock first.

I will be honest about our limit here. In the peak months our lines are busy, and an order placed late will wait behind the ones placed early. The two stock items help, but they will not cover a full season's range.

Plan the coloured and printed rolls early.

What if my retailers want boxed rolls?

Not every shop wants a kilo bag. Some stationery shops would rather have a boxed roll they can put on the counter. For the dealers who supply them we make Super Delux: one 14 inch x 8 m roll per box, in cartons of 200, or 180 for Floura, Student JPPL and Unique. Each carton holds one colour, except Combo, which comes as 5 colours x 40.

There is also Delux, the same designs without the box, 2.5 to 5 m long, 5 rolls per polybag and 250 per carton. It is cheaper than the boxed roll.

If I were a distributor here, I would stock both: Standard by the kilo for the market, and a few cartons of boxed rolls for the shops that want them. The sizes and packing page has every carton count in one place.

A note on where we stand

We make these rolls in our own plant in Jaipur. For a distributor in Rajasthan, that means the factory is close by, so checking a sample with us before a big order is easy. I always recommend it, because it saves arguments later. If you also want to understand how we compare with other makers, I wrote a checklist on choosing a notebook cover manufacturer.

Send us your widths, lengths and rough kilos for next season on our contact page, and we will tell you what can be ready before February.