Label printer questions

[relicpeddler]

Hello all,

I'm behind the time with label printing and still print on paper and cut and tape and have been thinking about buying a label printer but have questions. My main question is how do they work with bulk labels?  I normally print 5 to 10 labels at once and on Mondays it's 25 to 30 plus.  Does it print all at once or one at a time in order of the pick list?  Second question what printer should I buy?

[relicpeddler]

Thanks for all the help. You all convinced me to buy a label printer. I decided to enter the ring with a cheap $100 6x4 thermal printer  that I found on Amazon with 40% off.  it has a lot of good reviews. I should get it tomorrow. I wish I bought it sooner I had a 40+ items pick list to ship this morning.  

[onefootflipper]

A used Zebra printer off ebay is the only way to go. That is what you see on the counter at UPS and the post office printing hundreds of labels per day, for a decade at a time before they even need a repair. I have two of them in service.. My first zebra was 10 years old when I got it and managed 20,000 labels before the head gave out and that is only a $30 part.

The rollo and other off brand stuff is exactly that off-brand and designed to go in the trash eventually, THEY DON'T EVEN SELL PARTS FOR THEM other than power cables.

[mam98031]

I print 99.8% of my shipping labels on Ebay.  But that is easy for me since almost everything I ship either goes USPS GA or Media Mail.  No other site has better pricing on these methods of shipping.  Plus I love the new INR Seller protection and to get it, you have to print your shipping label on Ebay.  

[chapeau-noir]

@relicpeddler One thing that doesn't get mentioned enough - be sure to clean the printer head about every two or so rolls of media (two rolls is as long as I can go) - this keeps the printing from becoming 'moth-eaten' as well as preserves and extends the life of your printer. It can be done with isopropol alcohol and a little sponge, you can get the wands for that specific purpose as well - I purchased a pack of them about 8 years ago and they've lasted that long. 

The Zebra site has more on it. 

[fm2000]

I bought a Rollo a few years ago, it works "fine". If I had it to do over again, I'd buy a used Zebra instead, for the reasons OneFootFlipper said, though my Rollo has worked fine so far. Any thermal printer will be a massive improvement over using an inkjet printer for labels.

The cost of printer ink, even if you use refilled third party cartridges, is bonkers expensive. Laser printing is better, but nothing beats the ease of thermal printing. The labels are sticky and go right on the package with no tape, no cutting the labels to fit, no paper jams, no ink smears, and labels print literally in seconds. No nonsense, it just prints and you put it on the package.

[fullers_uk]

I sell on ebay and have other websites and print many labels, in 25 years I have never bothered with a label printer, the cost of the labels and machine and being tied to a brand when you can buy tape and paper from many different places keeps costs down, also thermal printing fades and can continue to react, in bad weather tape can cover bar codes fine so they dont get wet and parcels dont get misrouted or lost.

[mam98031]

I really like my thermal printer and the labels on a roll are less expensive than buying the labels that can run through my printer.  Plus a thermal printer does not use ink and that alone is a lot of savings.  It is likely that my investment in the machine paid for itself within a year.  

I've been using a thermal printer for somewhere near 15 years.  I have not had a single package lost in the mail due to a problem with the label fading or otherwise becoming unreadable.  But then I don't put tape over the label because that doesn't work well on thermal labels and will make them fade.

[funfactorychannel]

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@fullers_uk wrote:

I sell on ebay and have other websites and print many labels, in 25 years I have never bothered with a label printer, the cost of the labels and machine and being tied to a brand when you can buy tape and paper from many different places keeps costs down, also thermal printing fades and can continue to react, in bad weather tape can cover bar codes fine so they dont get wet and parcels dont get misrouted or lost.

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I think you would have saved at least a year of your life since you been selling for 25 years, if you had a label printer. But that is your preference.

Anyone buying a label printer can do easy research, most label printers aren't tied to a brand paper. All my labels are generic brand from eBay sellers. Research which machine just use the type of labels. Printing Labels do fade but way long after the package has been delivered. Thermal labels arent ink, water isnt going to wash out the label.

[fm2000]

You can use any labels with any printer, as long as they are the right type of labels (size, fan fed or on a roll etc.) There is no vendor lock-in with thermal printers, unlike inkjet printers with ink cartridges or laser printers and toner.

Just the amount of time I have spent fighting with ink cartridges over the years could have been used for something more productive like listing or shipping, and would have more than paid for a brand new Zebra thermal printer. 

One Foot Flipper, did this thread inspire your new video today?