Why you should not use the Free Australia Post Labels from the Post Office
Once you have decided to use Australia Post to ship your parcels for your eCommerce business then you have to decide how to print your Auspost shipping labels and what labels to use.
How to print shipping labels for Australia Post?
Easy. Buy a Direct thermal label printer like the economical TSC DA210 other any other brands like Zebra GK420D, Dymo 4XL or Brother QL-1100. These label printers doesn’t use ink so all you need to buy is the label and it is the standard in printing online shipping labels.
Another way is to use the Free parcel post and express post sticker labels that you can request at your designated post office branch (ask your Australia Post account manager if you are not sure) For parcel post (regular) the Free labels are 4 labels on a A4 Page and for express post the Free labels are 3 labels on a A4 Page.
Why you should not use the Free Auspost Labels from the Post office?
Free shipping labels are good except for the issues it can create. It is Free for a reason and the following drawbacks for using them will hopefully give some insights.
Serious issues when using Free Australia Post shipping Labels:
- Free Shipping sticker labels from Australia Post are cheap quality and are not water resistant, once it touches water/rain it can either fall off your parcel or easily scratched off.
- Although the labels are Free but the ink in your laser or inkjet printer is not and replacing toners and ink can eat up the savings from the free labels.
- Free parcel post labels come in 4 on a page so if you are only printing one label you will waste the other 3 labels creating unnecessary waste. Same issue for the Free express post shipping labels as it comes in 3 on a page.
- Often Australia Post shops will say they have run out and will need to order them in so this Free Shipping label is not always readily available.
From the above challenges you can clearly see why we at Awesome Pack don’t recommend them, unless you are a start up and trying to save every dollar we wouldn’t recommend you using them as using Free Australia Post shipping labels will be time consuming to print and ineffective during transit which can cause major issues for you which far outweigh the 2-3 cents you saved on using the free shipping labels.
Why most successful eCommerce businesses use Direct Thermal Printer for Printing Shipping Labels?
There is no question that all successful online businesses use Direct Thermal Printer for printing shipping labels. Regardless of which courier you use to ship Australia Post, StarTrack, Fastway, TNT, Toll all businesses large and small use this method of printing. We have customers who ship 20 orders to all the way to large 3PL companies who ship over 10,000 parcels a day use Direct Thermal printers for all their shipping label printing needs.
The following will outline some clear reasons to upgrade to a Direct Thermal Printer and use Direct thermal labels for printing shipping labels:
- Direct thermal labels are tougher and stickier than Free Australia Post shipping labels. Our Awesome Pack’s direct thermal shipping labels are water resistant and scratch resistant to ensure that the shipping label stay on firm on the parcel you are sending.
- Direct thermal labels are in a roll and can be printed either one at a time or as many as you want at a time. This eliminates wastage and avoid confusion when printing.
- When using Direct thermal Printer you wouldn’t need to buy any ink or toner. This technology heats the paper to create the words/numbers shown on the label. All you have to buy is the direct thermal label
- Robust fulfillment process, printing using direct thermal printer it is often much quicker than using a laser printer and saves you time
Where to buy Direct Thermal Shipping Labels and Printers?
We at Awesome Pack offer a large collection of direct thermal shipping labels that are both affordable and are made with quality paper so we are happy to offer our Money back guarantee on all shipping labels. Click on the courier you use below to see the label rolls available to you:
Looking for a Direct thermal printer for printing shipping labels?
We at Awesome Pack recommends the TSC DA210 which is both cost effective and great built quality with 2 year warranty. It is less than $400 whereas the well known brands like Zebra charge over $700 for something similar. The TSA DA210 has all the functions you need to swiftly print your shipping labels, it has fast printing, clear printing, able to fit many sizes of label rolls so take our advice and look no further.
I hope we at Awesome Pack have helped you in some way by reading this article and we wish you the best of luck in the ever changing eCommerce industry.
Always bringing you value to your eCommerce journey,
Bill Li
Director
Awesome Pack