Why won’t CGP A6 inserts fit my planner?

What gives? I just purchased A6 ringed inserts from your site. They are too small. I think you sent me the wrong ones.

So, you just purchased your first A6 ringed binder. You heard A6 is the next best thing in planner sizes. They look so amazing in everyone’s Instagram feed. You must have A6 rings…you suddenly have FOMO!

The first thing you do is hit the ‘net looking for some pretties to jazz up your planner. In your excitement, you didn’t make sure you had the measurements of what size inserts go into your new beauty. It doesn’t matter. You went looking for an A6, you purchased an A6, so you’re golden. Right? Unfortunately, that may not be the case.

You see, a lot of customers have been reaching out to us regarding our A6 inserts not fitting into their new planner. It had us pretty stumped for a while. We tested before launch with a popular A6 binder. They were perfect! Why aren’t they fitting for our customers? We needed to figure this out before any more of our customers were disappointed.

Upon researching this problem, we realized it was happening with ring bound planners sold by overseas shops. Chinese shops to be exact. They seem to have a different sizing structure than the U.S. and our British, Swedish and Canadian planner friends to name a few. What we would call Personal size in the States, they call A6. It has been causing quite a bit of difficulty for those purchasing planner inserts.

If I could give one piece of advice to head off any disappointment. Whether you purchased an A6 binder or any size binder for that matter- always measure the inserts you currently have before purchasing anything for your planner. If you are waiting on a new planner, check the listing for refill information or reach out to the shop of your binder for measurements. Then start your search for inserts, dashboards, dividers, etc.

Most insert shops will list the measurements of their products. They also are pretty knowledgeable when it comes to binder manufacturer’s sizing. Please note, we don’t have “measuring” eyeballs, so sending a picture of your planner and asking what size it is probably won’t help. It is better to measure the articles on your end. Then send an email to your favorite shop as to where you can find the right products in their shop.

OK, cool. I guess I have a Personal size. But I still really want a true A6 planner. Where do I go?

True A6 planners are out there. Although, we didn’t find many. When we did a search on Etsy and Amazon, the first two pages on each site didn’t have a true A6 in the bunch. All the A6 binders that had measurements in their listing wouldn’t fit our or any inserts maker’s A6 that we know of. They would, however, fit Personal size (3.74″ x 6.73″ or somewhere close to those measurements. Some makers have slightly different inches than ours).

Here is a short list that we know hold 4.1″ x 5.8″ inserts. Check out Mulberry, Van der Spek, and Gillio for a start. You may have to email them regarding the A6 size as they have special names for those agendas. If you are looking to purchase from a small, handmade company, look at Salty Katie, Mystic Little Gifts and PelleStudio. Of course, we sell a true A6 ring binder in a couple different leather options.

Have you purchased a planner lately that you thought was one size but have to purchase a different size insert? Were you confused and wondering what in the world was going on? Are you sick of all the crazy sizes and wish it all would stop? Let us know in the comments.

We also have a spot dedicated to all the sizes and formats we know of to make purchasing easier….we hope. See our Planner Sizing 101 page for more information.