Your Address Labels Guide
This Address Labels Comprehensive Guide will give you the knowledge you need to choose and print the suitable Address Label for your eCommerce business.
What address labels to need depends on what Printer you have so we have categorized address labels to each type of printer below:
1. Using Laser/inkjet A4 size Printers
Most homes and small offices have access to an A4 size Laser/inkjet printer so this means you most likely wouldn’t need to purchase a new printer in order to use this method.
A4 address labels come in all sizes which provide the small business many options to find the right dimension to use for their address label. See below for the different sized labels printable with A4 labels:
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[ ] indicates each Label Size, dimension in mm
For printing address labels for envelopes: Use any variation from 10 labels per page all the way to 65 labels per page depending how large you want your font to be.
For printing address labels for parcels: Use 4 labels per page as this is dictated by your courier printing systems. For example Australia Post’s eParcel/My Post systems have a Print on “A6” labels which will print 4 per page and therefore you can perfectly use our 4 labels per page address label.
2. Using Dymo LabelWriter Printers [Require Compatible or Original Dymo labels]
There are 2 types of Dymo Printers, Dymo 450 (Turbo, Duo) is for printing small address labels on envelopes, while the Dymo 4XL is for address labels big enough for courier shipping labels like Australia Post eParcel and MyPost systems.
For printing address labels for envelopes: Dymo 450 or any of its variants 450 Turbo, 450 Duo can print any Compatible Dymo labels up to width of 54mm. Common envelope label sizes are Dymo 99010, 99012 and 99014. Choose the one that look best or fit best for your envelope that you are shipping.
For printing Courier labels for parcels: There is only one option printing Shipping labels with barcoding for shipping companies and that is the Dymo S0904980 with 220 labels per roll, we sell the compatible version here. Why only this size label (104mm x 159mm) is used for shipping labels? Because Australia Post’s eParcel/My Post systems have a Print on “A6” labels which can print from 1 label at a time to as many as you want at once. This is a major advantage over the A4 address labels plus our Compatible Dymo labels are more water resistant and scratch resistant which is great for shipping.
Overall Dymo 4XL can print everything Dymo 450 printer can do PLUS Shipping Labels for couriers with barcoding required for Australia Post eParcel/MyPost, Fastway, Couriers Please, TNT, TOLL, Sendle etc. So if you need to buy one that can do everything Dymo LabelWriter 4XL is the only option within the Dymo Direct Thermal Printer range.
3. Using Brother QL Printers
Like the Dymo range there are 2 types of Brother Printers, Brother QL-700, QL-800 (820NWB) is for printing small address labels on envelopes, while the Brother QL-1100 is for address labels big enough for courier shipping labels like Australia Post eParcel and MyPost systems.
For printing address labels for envelopes: Brother QL-700 or any of its variants 800, 820NWB can print any Compatible Brother labels up to width of 62mm. Common envelope label sizes are Brother DK11201 and DK11202. Choose the one that look best or fit best for your envelope that you are shipping.
For printing Courier labels for parcels: There is only one option printing Shipping labels with barcoding for shipping companies and that is the Brother DK11241 with 200 labels per roll, we sell the compatible version here. Why only this size label (102mm x 152mm) is used for shipping labels? Because Australia Post’s eParcel/My Post systems have a Print on “A6” labels which can print from 1 label at a time to as many as you want at once. This is a major advantage over the A4 address labels plus our Compatible Brother labels are more water resistant and scratch resistant which is great for shipping.
Overall Brother QL-1100 can print everything Brother QL800 printer can do PLUS Shipping Labels for couriers with barcoding required for Australia Post eParcel/MyPost, Fastway, Couriers Please, TNT, TOLL, Sendle etc. So if you need to buy one that can do everything Dymo LabelWriter 4XL is the only option within the Brother Direct Thermal Printer range.
4. Using Zebra Direct Thermal Printers
Zebra Direct thermal Printers are predominantly designed for the freight industry with its top quality hardware it is the 1st Choice for printing Shipping labels in Australia. All the large corporations use it for its reliability and durability as it rarely break down and minimizes paper jams.
Common Zebra desktop printers include the GC420D and its advanced model GK420D. They are both staples for medium to large warehouse operations and effortlessly print out A6 sized labels (100mm x 150mm) for your eCommerce business.
Best of all Zebra printers are compatible with any direct thermal label so as long as you can find a label size you prefer and it can fit into the printer than you can use it to print any sized label without constraints.
Roll Fitting Guide:
For Desktop Zebra Printers: like the GC420D/GK420D it can hold any Label roll that is 104mm in width and a diameter of 120mm. The Holder compartment of this type of printer can hold 100mm x 150mm 350 labels/roll (38mm core size) or 100mm x 150mm 500 labels/roll (25mm core size)
Core Size: the diameter of the inner core of the label roll that holds onto the spool of the printer.
For Industrial Zebra Printers: like the Zebra ZT400 series it can hold any Label roll that is 168mm in width and a diameter of 203mm. The Holder compartment of this type of printer can hold 100mm x 150mm 1000 labels/roll (76mm core size)
Overall our Direct Thermal Printer recommendation is a Zebra printer or equivalent that doesn’t require compatible labels due to the following reasons:
- Pricing: because Zebra printers can use any type of direct thermal labels it is Cheaper, whereas Dymo and Brother need Compatible or original labels which has printing on the back
- Rarely Breaks Down: Zebra printers are reliable and durable with a long history of consistent results. The reliability of your shipping label printer is more important than pricing as if you cannot print shipping labels it means you cannot ship parcels.
- Less Paper Jams: Zebra Printer head is on top which cause less issues than printer heads on the bottom like Dymo and Brother printers. We know for a fact as we use all printers to test our stock with, but don’t take our word for it just ask anyone who have used a few different brands and they can share their feedback too.
- More Labels Per Roll: Zebra GC420D/GK420D can take 100mm x 150mm 350 labels/roll (38mm core size) or 100mm x 150mm 500 labels/roll (25mm core size) whereas Dymo and Brother Shipping labels are 220 and 200 labels respectively. Less change over of rolls means higher productivity due to time efficiency.
Please note we don’t sell any printers and don’t have any affiliation with any of the brands, we only sell labels that are compatible with those printers so our opinion is unbiased and are from personal experience. They all have pros and cons but we just want to highlight the key differences from a Printing Shipping Label perspective.
Always bringing you value on your eCommerce journey,
Bill Li
Director
Awesome Pack