5 Best Sources for Cheap Shipping Supplies for Small Businesses (2023)

The Packaging Company offers competitive pricing on both its standard and custom materials.

• Standard materials: Minimum order quantity: 10 to 50 units, price scaling available
• Customer materials: Minimum order quantity: 25, no price scaling

• Extensive customization options: The Packaging Company is most remarkable for the breadth of its supplies and customization options. It offers custom sizing, adhesives, stickers, boxes, and mailers.
• Comprehensive packaging materials: It has standard packaging materials for every product type—from food and perishables to posters and clothes. As a plus, The Packaging Company uses eco-friendly materials and can keep its prices down simultaneously.

The Packaging Company lets you design custom boxes from the inside out.

While it offers a lot of excellent services, The Packaging Company charges a restocking fee of 15% on top of return shipping costs for all returned merchandise. Meanwhile, Amazon offers many free shipping and return options.

Due to the vast number of vendors on Amazon, its price points are highly varied. You can find both fantastic deals and high prices on the Amazon marketplace. Our recommendation would be to base your price point on a steadily economical supplier like PackagingSupplies.com or ULINE, then look for Amazon listings that can compete.

In general, Amazon requires a bit more digging and research to ensure you get a fair price but it’s worth the effort to save on shipping and return fees in many cases.

• One-stop shop: Like The Packaging Company, Amazon offers a wide variety of products for shipping in addition to janitorial supplies and other goods your business may need. Amazon’s vast selection could serve as a one-stop shop for setting up your entire store.
• Free shipping and returns: Amazon offers free shipping and returns on eligible products. To ensure you get free shipping and returns for Prime orders, you must become a Prime member for $14.99 per month.
• Excellent customer support: Amazon itself is your point of contact for customer service. Rather than dealing with individual sellers, you can take up any issues with Amazon’s 24/7 customer service representatives, and they will work with the seller on your behalf.

Amazon has a lot to offer, but bundle sizes are limited for individual listings, making it challenging to find the quantities and sizes you need in single orders. Additionally, unlike PackagingSupplies.com and others in our guide, unit prices do not typically decrease as order quantities grow.

PackagingSupplies.com’s best asset is its pricing. Not only are prices low but they also decrease as your quantities grow. It offers wholesale pricing and a price match guarantee.

Like ULINE, shipping charges are based on an order’s size and weight, but it doesn’t tack on any additional handling fees.

Unless the products arrived damaged or a fulfillment error occurred, PackagingSupplies.com charges a 20% restocking fee—the highest among the providers we have evaluated.

PackagingSupplies.com offers wholesale pricing and significant bulk discounts.

• Bulk and wholesale ordering: Unlike The Packaging Company, which offers small orders that work well for budding businesses PackagingSupplies.com supports orders of up to 2,000 units. PackagingSupplies.com is best for larger businesses simply because of the large orders it expects you to place with them.
• Special packaging options: Under its Retail Packaging product category, it also offers in-store packaging supplies, such as bagging bags, candy and jewelry boxes, and takeout containers. This makes it a helpful resource for all the packaging materials you need for your in-store operations.

PackagingSupplies.com does not allow you to split cases or order custom quantities and has limitations to its customization options (go with The Packaging Company for extensive customization). It also requires a return authorization for any return requests and charges return shipping plus restocking fees (unlike Amazon).

While it doesn’t run many sales or offer wholesale pricing, ULINE delivers consistent midrange price points, along with its fast shipping. It doesn’t offer free shipping, but it won’t add fees on top of USPS prices. All shipping costs are based on the weight and size of your materials, so be prepared for larger orders to incur relatively high shipping costs.

• Fast shipping: ULINE has eight warehouses across the country, enabling reliably fast delivery if you need supplies in a rush. For most addresses, it can guarantee a two-day shipping window, although it incurs an additional fee, unlike with Amazon orders.
• Expansive product line and bundle selection: All its products come in various bundle sizes and offer office and janitorial supplies.
• Order by phone or via mail: The company provides a free catalog if you want to browse the newest products and place orders over the phone or via mail.

Except in cases of a fulfillment error, ULINE charges return shipping fees (unlike Amazon). It doesn’t require a restocking fee like The Packaging Company, but larger orders can incur high shipping costs, which will be your responsibility. It also doesn’t offer wholesale prices like PackagingSupplies.com.

While it doesn’t offer low prices and price matching like PackagingSupplies.com, ShippingSupply.com offers competitive pricing in most cases. Not all of its goods decrease in unit price with more significant bundle sizes.

Compared to other providers in our list, it has a shorter window on returns, although it charges a lower restocking fee.

• Good user experience: ShippingSupply.com has an easy-to-use website with straightforward navigation and ordering procedures.
• Strong customer support: The company prides itself on its strong customer service department, which is highlighted in user reviews.

ShippingSupply.com’s return window is just 10 days from delivery, significantly shorter than its competitors. Another drawback is that ShippingSupply.com tends to have longer shipping times (unlike Amazon or ULINE, which offer one- or two-day shipping on many products).