# Thermal printer vs inkjet for shipping labels

> A dedicated thermal label printer against the home printer you already own, loaded with A4 sticky label sheets.

## The short answer

Buy a thermal label printer once you post more than a handful of parcels a week. Keep the inkjet and A4 sheets if you sell a few items a month and the printer already sits on your desk.

## Side by side

| | Thermal label printer | Inkjet printer and A4 labels | Better |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Upfront cost | Typically £55–£85 for the printer. | Nothing extra if you own one; you only buy label sheets. | Inkjet printer and A4 labels |
| Running cost | No ink or toner; generic thermal labels are cheap. | Ink cartridges plus sheets, and half-used sheets get wasted. | Thermal label printer |
| Speed per label | A label comes out in a couple of seconds, ready to peel. | Load a sheet, print, peel, then store the leftover half. | Thermal label printer |
| Label size | Takes standard 100 × 150 mm labels that marketplaces generate. | Most sites offer an A4 layout with two or four labels per sheet. | Even |
| Durability in the rain | Thermal print can fade with heat and sunlight over months, though it lasts the trip. | Inkjet ink can smudge if the parcel gets wet. | Even |
| Desk space | A small extra box beside your packing area. | Uses the printer you already have. | Inkjet printer and A4 labels |
| Other printing | Labels only. | Prints invoices, packing notes and photos too. | Inkjet printer and A4 labels |

## Choose Thermal label printer if

- You send ten or more parcels a week and print labels daily.
- You sell live on Whatnot or TikTok Shop and clear a batch of orders after each show.
- You spend more on ink for your home printer than you want to.
- You want to print each label the moment an order lands.

## Choose Inkjet printer and A4 labels if

- You sell a few things a month and want no new kit.
- Your home printer prints reliably and ink is not a problem.
- You also need paper invoices or gift notes in the same parcel.

## Where the money goes

The thermal printer costs £55–£85 upfront, and after that you buy rolls or fanfold stacks of plain labels. There is no cartridge to replace, so the cost per label stays low however many you print.

An inkjet costs nothing new if it already works. The spend hides in ink, which runs out faster than you expect when you print a dark barcode on every parcel, and in A4 sheets where one half sits unused in a drawer.

## Speed at the packing table

With thermal, you click print and peel. Batch-printing twenty labels after a weekend of sales takes a minute or two, and each label is the right size for the parcel without trimming.

With A4 sheets you line up the paper, choose which quarter to print on, then cut or peel. That is fine for three parcels. At thirty it becomes the slowest part of your evening.

## Switching later

You can start on the inkjet and move to thermal once orders climb. Your listings stay the same: you pick the 100 × 150 mm label format in each platform’s print settings instead of A4.

Keep the inkjet for paperwork after you switch. Packing slips, returns forms and the odd thank-you card still need a normal printer.

## Questions

### Do thermal printers need ink?

No. Direct thermal printers use heat-sensitive labels, so the only consumable is the labels themselves.

### Can I print Royal Mail Click & Drop labels on a thermal printer?

Yes. Click & Drop lets you choose a label format for thermal printers. Check the printer settings in your Click & Drop account before your first batch.

### Will a thermal label fade before the parcel arrives?

Thermal print lasts well beyond a normal delivery. It fades over months in strong sun or heat, which matters for stored stock labels more than for parcels.

### Are A4 label sheets with four labels a good size?

Four per sheet gives roughly a quarter-A4 label, which most platform labels fit. Check the label layout options on each platform you sell on.

### Can a laser printer replace the inkjet here?

A laser printer works with A4 label sheets made for laser and avoids smudging. You still have the sheet handling, so the speed gap to thermal remains.

### Do I need a special app for a thermal printer?

Most connect over USB or Bluetooth and print from the PDF your platform gives you. Some need a driver installed once on your computer.