OT - Printer for UPS/USPS shipping labels?

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richard newman

Titanium

Joined

Jul 28, 2006

Location

rochester, ny

• Apr 3, 2016

• #1

Been printing from my inkjet on label stock, wondering if it's worthwhile to get a dedicated thermal label printer? Is there an inexpensive one anyone can recommend.

I find the labels I'm using don't stick all that well, have to tape over them. And the UPS labels don't center well on my stock, looks kind of amateurish. Am I just using the wrong label stock?

 

dkmc

Diamond

Joined

Jan 13, 2002

Location

Upstate NY -In the Flats next to the corn fields

• Apr 3, 2016

• #2

Eltron or Zebra on EBAY?
At one time (not sure about currently) either UPS or FEDEX would send out
free spools of 4" x 4" labels for these.

eltron printer | eBay

 

T

Teggy1

Aluminum

Joined

Apr 5, 2010

Location

Iowa, USA

• Apr 3, 2016

• #3

Aside from the big shippers(fancy thermo labels), many of the UPS shipping labels I receive are just a plain piece of 8.5x11 folded in half and slid inside the UPS label sleeves. This is how I handle my shipping labels as well.

I don't ship enough USPS to bother with it.

 

L

L Vanice

Diamond

Joined

Feb 8, 2006

Location

Fort Wayne, IN

• Apr 3, 2016

• #4

First, I got rid of my inkjet printers decades ago and use a laser printer for everything.

I print my shipping labels on plain paper with the laser printer and then use my copy machine to print them onto either FedEx or UPS-supplied (free) adhesive back blank labels. My copier has a straight through path for manually fed blank paper, so the labels do not get peeled off in the machine. The laser printer sends all blank paper around rollers, so I am unwilling to risk sending labels through. Might work, but new printers are expensive.

Or you can get free plastic label pouches from FedEx or UPS and put the plain paper label in one and stick the pouch to the box. USPS will give you free plastic pouches called PS Form 2976-E. They are meant for customs forms on international packages.

Larry

 

T

Teggy1

Aluminum

Joined

Apr 5, 2010

Location

Iowa, USA

• Apr 3, 2016

• #5

Agree with the laser printer. I picked up a Samsung laser printer from Staples with toner, for $50.00 black only. The color printer was $150.

Another plus is I can print directly from my phone.
Samsung M283DW Xpress Monochrome Laser Printer | Staples

 

Mud

Diamond

Joined

May 20, 2002

Location

South Central PA

• Apr 3, 2016

• #6

dkmc said:

Eltron or Zebra on EBAY?
At one time (not sure about currently) either UPS or FEDEX would send out
free spools of 4" x 4" labels for these.

eltron printer | eBay

Click to expand...

This^^^^^

UPS gives you free rolls of labels to fit these, and they are built into the UPS software. Parallel is OK, if you need to print from the USB port buy a Belkin USB to Parallel adapter cable. Leave it on 24/7 with labels cued up and you are always ready for one step shipping.

 

dkmc

Diamond

Joined

Jan 13, 2002

Location

Upstate NY -In the Flats next to the corn fields

• Apr 3, 2016

• #7

6-8 years ago there was a computer recycle warehouse I used to visit.
They had pallets of the Entrons at one point.
Buy as many as you like.....$15each.
I have one, may have 2, not sure.

 

S

snowman

Diamond

Joined

Jul 31, 2004

Location

Southeast Michigan

• Apr 3, 2016

• #8

If you don't already use a program like world ship, I doubt it's going to be cost effective let alone efficient to print them to self adhesive labels. As for the ones that don't stick well...hair dryer and pressure. It's a pressure activated adhesive and it gets stickier if it's warm.

 

S

steve_p

Aluminum

Joined

Mar 5, 2014

Location

Southeast Massachusetts

• Apr 3, 2016

• #9

Look for a zebra zp450 on ebay or other places.
They are available refurbished for fairly short money.
built in usb port to make connectivity easy.

Software can be downloaded right from ups, and they ship you label stock for free.

We recently transitioned from the 8.5x11 laser printer sheets and this is way easier.

Steve

 

W

WHHJR

Stainless

Joined

Jun 5, 2009

Location

Near:Louisville, KY

• Apr 3, 2016

• #10

Print on plain paper then tape over with wide clear packing tape. Regardless of the label type I always tape over with clear tape. They don't smear or come off...

2¢

 

M

MrSteve

Aluminum

Joined

May 26, 2014

Location

Boston/North Shore, MA, USA

• Apr 3, 2016

• #11

Black laser (not inkjet) on two up 5" x 8.5") Avery style labels? Can always clear tape over them to be sure if you bony trust the adhesive.
The air bill pouches from UPS or FedEx and half folded plain paper also work.

 

M

MikeRags

Plastic

Joined

Dec 5, 2015

Location

Bay Area, Ca

• Apr 3, 2016

• #12

A thermal printer is absolutely the way to go. I ship between 2-10 packages a day and would never go back to 8.5"x11" label sheets, even if I only printed a few labels a week.

Search eBay for a used "Zebra lp2844". They run between $80-$120 dollars, are pretty much bullet proof and are worth every penny. Get one with USB input. UPS and FedEx used to give them away free to accounts, so there are usually many used printers on the market. Plus if you have a UPS account, UPS (and FedEx I believe, but I don't use them) will ship you free 4"x6" thermal labels to use for their shipping.

 

A

Alberic

Cast Iron

Joined

Jan 15, 2011

Location

SF Bay

• Apr 3, 2016

• #13

Mud said:

This^^^^^

UPS gives you free rolls of labels to fit these, and they are built into the UPS software. Parallel is OK, if you need to print from the USB port buy a Belkin USB to Parallel adapter cable. Leave it on 24/7 with labels cued up and you are always ready for one step shipping.

Click to expand...

Second very enthusiastic vote for the Eltrons. We've got one that we leave set up with labels, and it paid for itself years ago in terms of not screwing around. On the other hand, we ship 5-50 items USPS every day. We also use it for making product bag tags by the bushel, but mostly what it does is print shipping labels. The Zebra/Eltron labels are thermal, so there's no ink to smear, regardless of how wet they get. We use Stamps.com for the USPS, and handle the bag tags directly from a graphics program.
(the advantage of not using a dedicated printer from a service company.) The stamps thing is nice because it has a direct interface with our online store, and pulls the orders directly from there. No screwing around with the addresses, just find the order record you need, tell it how much it weighs, and out pops a label, ready to roll. The whole cycle takes ?10? seconds or so.

FWIW,
Brian

 

R

richard newman

Titanium

Joined

Jul 28, 2006

Location

rochester, ny

• Apr 5, 2016

• #14

Thanks for the suggestions. I've discovered you can get free label sheets from UPS that are properly scored to center the printing on the label. Ordered some, will try them out before I look for a thermal unit. I don't ship that much, but by the time I'm thru packing the stuff I just want to be done fast with a good looking label.

 

EPAIII

Diamond

Joined

Nov 23, 2003

Location

Beaumont, TX, USA

• Apr 5, 2016

• #15

I think buying your own label stock is the most expensive way to go, but if you are going to do it that way, be aware that there are literally thousands of different label stocks available with different types of paper, different types of adhesive, different thicknesses, and many other options. A good printing shop can advise you and will know where to order the various brands and types.

I had to design a die cut label sheet for commercial use once and found the printing company was most useful in choosing the label stock.