Clear packing tape vs. adhesive label?

[inhawaii]

I use 3M clear packing tape for all my shipping needs.  I love the stuff!

I also use it to afix the shipping labels to the box. 3 strips of tape holds the label on the box very well. I think they say you're not supposed to tape over the bar code, but i've been doing that for 10+ years and stilll do it today without any problem.

My question is ... do you think using adhesive labels would  cost me less than using the 3 strips of 3M clear packing tape i currently use to affix shipping labels to boxes?

[nobody*s_perfect]

I decided ages ago to just use tape.  Even if each label cost just a few cents, that's gotta cost more than a foot or so of tape. Plus, potentially a few are spoiled. Plus, I'm accustomed to printing a packing slip while glancing over the label page, then I turn it around to print the label itself. That way if I'm packing several things, it's clear which label goes with which item. So switching to labels would mean changing that habit as well as changing what I've got loaded into the printer, putting it facing the right way, using only half a page at a time and turning that around for the next package, etc. Plus, I'd feel an urge to tape over the printing anyway to keep the ink from running if it got wet. And finally, I have the tape out anyway.  

So my final decision was that even if the labels saved money they weren't worth the trouble. But I'm a very small seller, rarely have more than a few packages a day so efficiency isn't my main motive.

[annadryl]

They've both been adequate for me. When I run out of labels I'll probably just go back to tape. Whatever works, works.

An upside of tape> I like to print the packing slip, flip it and print the label on the bottom. One sheet chopped in half and some tape takes care of it.

The label is the easy part. Packing and sealing needs much more attention of course. Good luck~

[ma-647837]

I cover the horizontal bottom half of the barcode and the tracking number with one strip of clear tape, leaving the top half uncovered and exposed. And I cover both the sender and recipient addresses with another strip.

The idea is to make the label both human and machine readable.

[sam9876]

I use the free adhesive labels from UPS and cover the recipient's address and part of the bar code with tape.

[berserkerplanet]

I use cheap, clear, 2mil 2" wide shipping tape bought on eBay 36 110yd rolls at a time for about $35. And it's great tape and sticks well.
(also have clear 2½mil 2" for heavy boxes, clear 2mil 3" for easier box "H-pattern" sealing, and 2½mil 2" brown tape for other sealing and label, schmutz, and barcode covering needs)

That's about $1 per roll, or approx 1¢ per yard, which makes the 2-3 ft of tape to cover a label cost approx nothing. I cover self adhesive labels, and plain paper labels completely, and have never lost a package or had any scanning/misrouting issues I'm aware of.

The only drawback is that it takes 20-30 seconds or so to do. Been considering getting one of those industrial table top "scotch tape" like dispensers for 2" and 3" wide tape rolls to use instead of the stupid tape gun that falls over or sticks to something after I pull the first strip off, and set it down to apply the strip to the label, or it falls on the floor, etc. But I'm too cheap (those things are kind of expensive) and not sure where I'd put it. But would make taping labels quicker, and would be handy for many box or other sealing applications where a small strip is needed to maybe seal a flap before going to town with a tape gun.

[lja440]

Either will do. But as a eBayer since 2004 and USPS carrier since 2000. It isn't the label but how you apply it. 

#1 have enough ink

#2 do not reduce in size too much

#3 protect the label 

#4 PLACEMENT!!! DO NOT have the information over the junction of the box flaps

Personally I use a standard printer and paper, and tape over the WHOLE label. 

[remote_controls_and_more]

I use a thermal printer with 4x6 labels. I think labels are about 1.7 cents each when I buy them in bulk.  Dont need to buy ink or regular paper or use tape.

[johnrj1226]

Here is what I do and it  has worked fine for 1521  shipments on eBay and a few hundred personal shipments to friends, family.

1.  Go to the  Dollar Tree buy a  package of glue sticks  (3) in a pack - a package of clear scotch tape 3  rolls in a pack - it  is  good stuff from China.  Total cost with tax $2.14.  I have no clue how many   labels I get out of  one package but it is way more than two hand fulls by  my SWAG.

2.  Print out label on plain white  paper.

3.  Cut out the label and trim off the  header that  has a USPS & eBay logo - guess I'm a little paranoid.

4. Apply  glue stick to the back of label and stick it to the package.

5.  Apply tape to all four sides of the  label edges.  Apply  a strip over the senders address and another one over the recipients address and one more across the middle of the label (L to  R - not Up & Down).

6.  If one is  a high volume seller this  wouldn't be the  best way to  "get 'er dun" but we used to ship 25  to 30  packages/mth and - about $800 to 900 per/mth.  But "that was yesterday and yesterday is gone" - from Chad & Jeremy, 1963 Song "Yesterdays Gone".

[disneyshopper]

I use the 2-up adhesive labels from UPS.

I also use the 3-M clear packing tape to cover across the return address and buyer's name/address.  Even though I use a laser printer, which is not supposed to "run" when wet, I still don't trust what might happen if the label gets wet.

When I first started shipping, way back in 2001, I used a glue-stick for the edges on plain paper, and clear packing tape across the return address and buyer's name/address.  Then I discovered the UPS labels.

[southern*sweet*tea]

I use plain paper and shipping label envelopes

Cheap, easy to use, much faster than taping.  Half the paper is used for the packing slip, the other half for the label.

[no_zero369]

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@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

I use plain paper and shipping label envelopes

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You & the Ridiculous Work Ethic YT girl!    Solange!  lol

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[lja440]

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@johnrj1226 wrote:

Here is what I do and it  has worked fine for 1521  shipments on eBay and a few hundred personal shipments to friends, family.

1.  Go to the  Dollar Tree buy a  package of glue sticks  (3) in a pack - a package of clear scotch tape 3  rolls in a pack - it  is  good stuff from China.  Total cost with tax $2.14.  I have no clue how many   labels I get out of  one package but it is way more than two hand fulls by  my SWAG.

2.  Print out label on plain white  paper.

3.  Cut out the label and trim off the  header that  has a USPS & eBay logo - guess I'm a little paranoid.

4. Apply  glue stick to the back of label and stick it to the package.

5.  Apply tape to all four sides of the  label edges.  Apply  a strip over the senders address and another one over the recipients address and one more across the middle of the label (L to  R - not Up & Down).

6.  If one is  a high volume seller this  wouldn't be the  best way to  "get 'er dun" but we used to ship 25  to 30  packages/mth and - about $800 to 900 per/mth.  But "that was yesterday and yesterday is gone" - from Chad & Jeremy, 1963 Song "Yesterdays Gone".

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Glue stick lifts in damp weather and scotch tape is not the best idea, it is weaker than shipping tape. In fact I have had to load in the pouring rain too many times to count. I had one such glue stick package that comes to mind. picking up a package from the back my hand went underneath as I went to scan it to touch a pulpy mess that was faintly purple. The label had come off and stuck its self to the bottom of the other box. Luckily I could remember where it was going to (no possibility of scanning or even reading the tracking number).

I have no idea why you would, and you should NOT remove any information from the label. It is there for a reason.

Ebay member since 2004 buying and selling. USPS carrier since 2000.

[moo*cow*corner]

@berserkerplanet

I love my tape gun. Best ones are sold at UPS. I had hubby attach a couple of cheap knife magnet strips to the underside of my packing table. My tape gun lives there when not in direct use, flat side of the gun to the magnets. Works like a charm. The habit to just reach under the edge of the table to grab the tape gun establishes itself quickly.

[electrola_man]

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@inhawaii wrote:

I use 3M clear packing tape for all my shipping needs.  I love the stuff!

I also use it to afix the shipping labels to the box. 3 strips of tape holds the label on the box very well. I think they say you're not supposed to tape over the bar code, but i've been doing that for 10+ years and stilll do it today without any problem.

My question is ... do you think using adhesive labels would  cost me less than using the 3 strips of 3M clear packing tape i currently use to affix shipping labels to boxes?

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I like the adhesive labels, but I also end up taping across part of the label anyway.  I always put a strip across the printed addresses (one width of tape covers to and from addresses), and I tape over the ends, too.  Uusually those two strips are doing double-duty, since they are taping the sides of the flaps.  I most often use boxes for which the label fits on the top, and the ends of the label are near the ends of the box such that those edges can get captured by tape that goes over the corner.  I think it is safer to have the untaped areas still bonded down with adhesive underneath.  If I print a reduced size label, I use plain paper and a glue stick (a few seconds of work), then tape as noted earlier.