Ultimate Guide to Poly Mailers

What Exactly Are Poly Mailers?

Also called mailing bags or shipping bags, poly mailers are usually the most affordable way to ship soft goods like apparel, blankets, purses, and backpacks. Comprised of moisture-resistant polyethylene film, which is a kind of lightweight plastic, poly mailers are incredibly durable. As long as they’re sealed securely, these bags will protect your products en route, so they arrive in perfect condition at every customer’s doorstep.

How Can Plastic Mailers Be Good for the Environment?

If you’re wondering how more plastic can possibly be good for the planet, you’re not alone. A lot of eco-conscious business owners are wary of using poly mailers. That’s only because they haven’t heard of EcoEnclose yet, though.

Unlike other shipping suppliers, we have worked hard to make our products sustainable from every angle. Our poly mailers are:

• 100% recycled
• Reusable with dual adhesive strips
• Recyclable (check out our Take-Back Program)
• Printed with water-based ink, which releases little to no VOCs into the environment

Order a free sample here if you want to see and feel the difference between our mailers and everyone else’s.

Why Should My Business Start Using Poly Mailers?

Poly mailers are quickly becoming the most economical way to ship most physical goods. Since they’re cheaper to produce than corrugated cardboard, they can even give businesses enough wiggle room in their budget to customize their packaging.

Poly mailers are lighter and thinner than boxes, so they cost less to store, transport, and deliver. And if you get yours from EcoEnclose, you can save on returns, too. Customers who wish to return to exchange their products can simply send them back in the same mailer using the second adhesive strip to seal them.

Let’s take a look at the potential savings using a concrete example. If you want to ship a men’s size large polar fleece from a warehouse in Louisville, CO (80027) to a customer in New York, NY (10007), here’s what you can expect to spend on each type of packaging:

COST COMPARISON CHART

That price difference might seem negligible when shipping a single item, but when you send out thousands—or hundreds of thousands—of products, you can see how the savings quickly add up.

It’s worth noting an added benefit of using poly mailers for especially lightweight items. If your products are less than 13 ounces, you can use USPS First Class Mail, which starts at just $0.58 for one- to three-day shipping.

Is There Anything You Can’t Ship in a Poly Mailer?

Poly mailers are the ideal shipping solution for fabric-based goods. In some cases, they can also be used to ship boxed items that need an outer layer, like shoes, prints, and stationary.

Poly mailers are not suitable for fragile items. If the products you ship could break en route, you probably want to use actual corrugated boxes with protective packaging and void fill.

Poly mailers are also unsuitable for sending several different products in the same package. If you want to ship a t-shirt, wallet, and bottle of lotion, for example, it’s probably better to use a box. Lumpy dimensions can make the mailers hard to scan en route, causing shipping delays.

Why Should I Customize My Poly Mailers?

The shipped package is the only thing you send your customers that has a 100% open rate. It is an incredible opportunity to showcase your brand, your story and your values, and to engage your customers. If you can afford the extra cost and quantity of custom poly mailers, we strongly urge you to take this plunge! And go beyond simply putting your logo on your poly mailer - tell the world what makes you different and remind your customers why they purchased from you in the first place.

Learn more about our Custom Printed Mailers here.

Our minimum quantities for post production custom poly mailers start at as little as 500 units and our minimum quantities for enterprise level, inline printed poly mailers start at 25,000.

What Should I Look for in a Poly Mailer?

Here are some of the most important features to evaluate when comparing poly mailers:

Strength

Unlike corrugated shipping materials, there’s no “edge crush test” to measure the durability of poly mailers. Instead, you’re going to have to consider the thickness of the mailer and the way it’s sealed. For maximum protection, look for products comprised of multiple layers with a secure seal on all three sides and a strong adhesive on the top.

Tear Strip

No matter what you’re shipping, you probably don’t want customers to have to mangle the packaging with a knife or box cutter to get to their items. With a precise tear strip, the bag can be opened with ease (it can also be reused at least once!).

Release Liner

The release liner protects the adhesive until you’re ready to seal the mailer. If you’re going to have to peel thousands of them, you want this step to be as easy—and static-free—as possible.

Bottom

While our poly mailers don’t have gusseted bottoms, the additional reinforcement can be helpful when shipping especially bulky or heavy items, like shoe boxes or thick quilts.

Dual Peel and Seal

A dual peel and seal is a kind of double adhesive. That means the mailer has two release liners protecting two strips of adhesive. You can use the top strip for sending products out. Customers who want to make returns can then use the bottom one to seal the bag a second time before sending it back.

Tamper Evident

Some poly mailers have such a weak adhesive that you can peel it and reseal it without leaving a trace. Our adhesive is strong enough to make our bags tamper-evident. If someone attempts to unseal it en route, the recipient will be able to tell. This helps mitigate missing and damaged items.

Size

You want your poly mailers to be large enough to fit your products with ease but not so large that they have a lot of extra room or flimsy corners. The easiest way to choose the perfect size for every item is by ordering a host of samples and then testing them one by one. To help you get started, here’s a handy size chart with some generic dimensions.

SIZE CHART

What Should I Consider When It Comes to Sustainability?

Our research-based sustainability framework allows us to pursue only the most eco-friendly solutions, which prioritize:

• Ensuring circularity
• Avoiding composting in lieu of recycling
• Lowering greenhouse gas emissions
• Manufacturing locally

We recognize that not all businesses have the same philosophy when it comes to operating in an eco-friendly way. That’s why we offer two kinds of sustainable, high-quality mailers.

Businesses that want to reduce carbon emissions can opt for our 100% recycled poly mailers, while those who want to go plastic-free can ship in our 100% recycled paper mailers. If you’re on the fence about using plastic versus paper mailers, check out our article to help you decide.

Should I Choose Recycled or Biodegradable Poly Mailers?

Poly mailer manufacturers make a lot of claims regarding eco-friendly features. While they all sound great, some are considerably more sustainable than others. Here’s what you should know about the two most common claims.

What Happens at the End of a Poly Mailer’s Life?

Mailers with dual adhesive strips can be used twice. After their initial shipping, recipients can use them again to either send back products or to ship personal packages to others. Once poly mailers reach their second destination, they can be recycled at facilities that accept plastic bags and films. Encourage your customers to save their mailers alongside their grocery bags and make occasional drop-offs at the facility nearest them.

How Much Do Poly Mailers Cost?

Poly mailers are like any consumer product in that you get what you pay for. That doesn’t mean, however, that you have to buy the most expensive ones on the market to ensure your products make it to their destinations safely.

The cost of each mailer depends on several factors, including size, durability, materials, reusability, and eco-friendly features. Here’s a chart with a very rough comparison of similar mailers from four different companies.

COST CHART

When comparing the price of poly mailers, consider what your company stands for and what kind of impression you want to give customers. Durability also matters, since items that are damaged en route will only cost you more in the long run. Put another way, it’s often well worth the extra 5 or 10 cents to get a better quality shipping solution.