Types of mailers: which one fits your product?

"Mailer" covers a lot of ground. It can mean a thin plastic bag or a rigid gift box, and picking the wrong one means a crushed product or a shipping bill higher than it needs to be. Here is how the main types differ and what each is for.

Poly mailers

A poly mailer is the lightweight plastic envelope with a self-seal strip. It weighs almost nothing, which keeps postage low, and it folds around soft, unbreakable goods well.

Use it for: apparel, textiles, soft accessories, anything that cannot be crushed. Skip it for anything fragile or rigid. If you want a branded version, see our custom poly mailers.

Bubble mailers

A bubble mailer is a padded envelope, paper or poly on the outside with a bubble lining inside. The padding gives light protection against knocks, and it is still flat and cheap to post.

Use it for: small electronics, jewelry, cosmetics, books, anything that needs a little cushioning but not a box. The trade-off is that the bubble lining makes the paper versions harder to recycle.

Corrugated mailer boxes

This is the self-locking, tape-free box you see on most direct-to-consumer orders. It folds up from one sheet, the wings tuck in, and the front lip slots shut. The flat inside panels are a full canvas for print, so the open feels branded.

Use it for: most boxed ecommerce products, and anything where the unboxing matters. Our mailer boxes page covers sizes and printing.

Rigid mailers

A rigid mailer is a stiff chipboard envelope built so it will not bend. The whole job is keeping flat goods flat.

Use it for: prints, photos, certificates, documents, and trading cards, anything a crease would ruin. More on these on our rigid mailers page.

Luxury mailers

A luxury mailer is a corrugated mailer built up to gift-box standard: full-color inside print, a deliberate closure, and an insert that stages the product. It ships like a box and opens like a present.

Use it for: premium e-commerce, subscription boxes, and any brand whose customers film the open. See luxury mailer boxes for the build.

How to choose, quickly

Match the mailer to the product, not the other way around:

• Soft and unbreakable: poly mailer
• Small and slightly fragile: bubble mailer
• Boxed product, branded open: corrugated mailer box
• Flat and must not bend: rigid mailer
• Premium product, memorable open: luxury mailer

Get the size right too. A mailer that is too big forces you to over-fill it; too tight and it fights you on packing. Measure the product, add a little clearance, and size to that.