You pays your money and you takes your chance. Problem is that one plain box may not be the same as the next plain box. It purely a price decision.
Make sure it has at least a label stating a specification and a health warning. These are statutory requirements.
I have contacted a local welding supplier and when i asked him what brand of wire they stocked he just replied plain pack. Didint mean anything to me but its around the right price for a 5kg reel. I think ill give it a go and see how it welds
If the supplier is sending this out to industry then plain pack or not its liable to be ok. If it wasnt then the big users would throw it straight back.
think my stuff is swp, works fine.
the weldequip option is really worth a consider!!!
I would have bought from weldequip except i needed to get some welding done on a Van today for its MOT, one of my mates leaving things to the last minuite lol
they do supply to the trade and only deal in welding equipment so i assumed it would be ok and it seems to weld fine with the minimum splatter
So its not to bad, i didnt buy the 5Kg spool though wanted to try it out first so think ill go for a larger spool from Weldequip anyway