99designs Review For A Packaging Design

Quick answer: 99designs is best for a business with revenue that wants options and can afford them, and it is the wrong choice for somebody in month one — buy the logo out of profit, not savings. Here is the honest version, including what the marketing page does not lead with.

What 99designs actually is, and where it fits

Before the pricing and the pros and cons, the plain version. 99designs is a tool for taking care of one specific job, and whether it suits a packaging design comes down to whether that job is one you actually have.

The thing people get wrong is buying a tool before they have the problem it solves. That is how a packaging design ends up paying for four subscriptions that each do one thing and none of which get opened.

So the question is not whether 99designs is good. It is whether the specific problem it solves is the problem currently costing you the most, and that is a question only you can answer honestly.

What follows is the version I would give a friend running a packaging design, including the parts the marketing page does not lead with.

99designs pricing for a packaging design

Here is what it actually costs, without the asterisks.

Contest packages from a few hundred dollars. One-to-one projects vary.

You pay for a contest and receive multiple concepts.

Run those numbers against your own volume before you decide anything. A percentage that looks small becomes a real figure across a year, and most owners have never sat down and worked out what they are actually paying.

For a packaging design, the thing to calculate is your average transaction and your monthly volume. Apply the rate. That is your annual cost, and it is usually larger than the number in your head.

The case for it

You get several genuinely different directions rather than one designer's opinion. This is the main reason I point people at it, and it is not a small thing.

Useful when you know what you dislike but not what you want. For somebody running a packaging design with no technical help, this matters more than any feature list.

The contest format means you see the options before you commit.

Those three together are what make it worth considering for a packaging design.

What is not good about it, honestly

Every review that has no downsides is an advertisement, and you can tell. So here is the other side.

It costs considerably more than a single freelancer. This is the one I would want to know before signing up.

The quality of entries depends heavily on how good your brief is.

Overkill for a business that has not yet found its first customers.

None of those are dealbreakers for everybody. They are dealbreakers for some people, and you should know which one you are.

Who 99designs is actually right for

It is right for a business with revenue that wants options and can afford them. If that describes you, it is a straightforward yes and I would not agonise over it.

It is wrong for somebody in month one — buy the logo out of profit, not savings. If that describes you, buying it anyway means paying for something that does not fit, and that is a common and expensive mistake.

For a packaging design specifically, the deciding question is whether the problem it solves is the one currently costing you the most hours or the most money. If it is not, something else deserves the budget first.

I would rather tell you not to buy something than sell you something that does not fit. The affiliate commission is not worth your trust.

What I would do first, before buying anything

Almost every packaging design I talk to could improve their numbers this month without spending a dollar, and almost none of them have.

Work out what one job actually earns you per hour, honestly, including the time nobody bills for. That number changes what you accept, and it costs an afternoon.

Complete your business profile properly. Every field. It is free, it is dull, and it is the highest-return hour available to a packaging design.

Follow up on every quote from the last two months that went quiet. A meaningful share of them are recoverable and nobody else is going to chase them.

Do those three, then look at tools. A tool applied to a business with no systems just makes the chaos faster.

The alternatives

No tool is the only option and pretending otherwise is how people end up locked into something that stopped fitting.

For a packaging design, the honest position is that the main competitors are broadly comparable and the differences matter less than whether you actually use the thing. The best tool is the one that is still open in your browser in month six.

What I would genuinely compare is the cost at your volume rather than the feature list. Feature lists are written to be impressive. Your invoice is written to be paid.

And check the exit. How hard is it to leave and take your data with you? That question is boring right up until the day it is the only question that matters.

My honest recommendation

99designs scores 4.0 out of 5 from me, and that score comes with a condition rather than a blanket recommendation.

If you are a business with revenue that wants options and can afford them, it is a genuinely good choice and I would not spend another week deciding.

If you are somebody in month one — buy the logo out of profit, not savings, it is the wrong tool and the money would work harder somewhere else.

The thing I would not do is buy it because a review told you to. Run the numbers against your own volume, decide whether the problem it solves is your biggest problem, and then decide.

The uncomfortable bit

The obstacle is rarely knowledge. Most people running a packaging design broadly know what they should be doing, and the gap between knowing and doing is where the difficulty sits.

Part of it is that the right action is uncomfortable. Quoting a number that feels high. Asking somebody for money. Finding out something you suspected. The discomfort is real and it is brief.

Part of it is that buying a tool feels like progress and does not require any of that. That is exactly why the subscriptions pile up and nothing changes.

So make it deliberate. Pick the one thing that would genuinely move the needle this month and do it before you buy anything.

Four weeks, done properly

Week one, work out what a job actually earns you per hour, all in.

Week two, separate the business money completely if you have not. Business account, business only.

Week three, complete your business profile and ask three happy customers for a specific review.

Week four, follow up on every quote that went quiet.

That is a month, it costs nothing, and it moves a packaging design further than any tool purchase would.

Questions worth answering

How much does 99designs cost?

Contest packages from a few hundred dollars. One-to-one projects vary. You pay for a contest and receive multiple concepts.

Is 99designs worth it for a packaging design?

It is worth it if you are a business with revenue that wants options and can afford them. It is not worth it if you are somebody in month one — buy the logo out of profit, not savings. Run the numbers against your own volume before deciding.

What are the downsides?

It costs considerably more than a single freelancer. The quality of entries depends heavily on how good your brief is.

Should I buy this before anything else?

Probably not. Complete your business profile, work out what a job actually earns you per hour, and follow up on quotes that went quiet. All free, all higher return. Then look at tools.

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