# Small business packaging setup for 100 orders a week > The kit, stock levels and daily routine that keep packing 100 orders a week from home down to an hour or two a day. Updated 5 October 2026 A hundred orders a week is about fourteen a day if you pack seven days, or twenty a day if you pack Monday to Friday. At that pace, hunting for the right box and writing labels by hand adds minutes to every batch. Print labels in one batch, hold two weeks of stock and reorder at a set level. Three packaging sizes cover most orders; check yours against your last 100. The setup suits items that fit in a box or a padded envelope. ## Print every label in one batch A thermal label printer is the first thing to buy at this volume. It needs no ink or cutting and prints a batch of fifteen labels in under a minute. A sturdier printer is typically £55–85 and lasts for years. Use fanfold 100 x 150 mm labels rather than rolls. A 500 stack is typically £12–18 and sits behind the printer without a holder. Labels are the exception to the two-week rule: at 100 orders a week, the stack lasts about five weeks. Pull every order into Royal Mail Click & Drop or your platform’s own label tool and print the lot at once. Labelling parcel by parcel means opening the tool 100 times a week. ## Cut your packaging down to three sizes You can cover nearly every order with three formats: a padded envelope for flat and small items, a small single-wall box for anything that can crush, and one larger box for the odd bulky sale. Three sizes take less shelf space and make choosing a box quicker. Look back at your last 100 orders and sort them into those three. If one size takes more than half, buy it in the biggest pack you can store. A 100 pack of padded envelopes is typically £14–22; 25 small boxes are typically £8–14. ## Hold two weeks of stock, reorder at one If you run out of mailers mid-batch, packing stops until the next delivery. Keep roughly two weeks of each consumable and reorder when you open the last week’s worth. Put a marker line on the shelf so you can see the trigger without counting. Order tape with the mailers. A six-roll pack of brown tape is typically £5–9, and a tape gun at £8–14 makes each box a single pull instead of a fiddle with the end. ## Weigh each parcel before you print its label If you guess the weight, you can underpay and face a surcharge, or overpay and lose margin. Check Royal Mail's current weight bands and prices. A parcel scale, typically £15–25, sits flat on the table, so you can weigh each parcel as you seal it. A 40 kg model has a wider platform for boxes; a 30 kg one is enough if your parcels are light. Check the reading against the service you bought before printing. Keep a printed list of your usual items and their packed weights taped to the wall. After a fortnight you will know most of the weights without checking the list. ## Batch each step for the whole day's orders Work in this order: pick, pack, weigh, label, stack. Do each step for the whole batch before moving to the next. Picking all fourteen orders first, then packing all fourteen, is faster than finishing each order start to end. Stack finished parcels by the door and clear the table at the end of each session, so the next batch starts on an empty surface. ## Know when to upgrade If the printer jams on long runs, look at an industrial label printer, typically £200–260. If bubble wrap is slowing you down, honeycomb paper wrap on a dispenser roll, typically £18–28, is quicker to tear and looks tidier. If you queue at the post office every day, ask Royal Mail about collection options for your volume rather than adding trips. ## Checklist - [ ] Set up a thermal printer with fanfold labels behind it - [ ] Choose three packaging sizes from your last 100 orders - [ ] Stock two weeks of each consumable and mark the reorder line - [ ] Weigh every parcel before you print its label - [ ] Print all labels for the day in one batch - [ ] Pick the whole batch before you start packing - [ ] Keep finished parcels by the door, off the table ## Kit for this - **[MUNBYN thermal label printer](https://sellersetups.com/product/munbyn-thermal-printer)** (£55 to £85): It takes the standard 100 x 150 mm labels that eBay, Vinted and Whatnot all generate, and generic labels work, so the running cost stays low. - **[100 x 150 mm thermal labels, 500 fanfold](https://sellersetups.com/product/thermal-labels-fanfold)** (£12 to £18): Fanfold stacks feed flat behind the printer and hold more labels than a roll. 100 x 150 mm matches the label size UK couriers and marketplaces print. - **[40 kg digital parcel scale](https://sellersetups.com/product/parcel-scale-40kg)** (£15 to £25): A wrong weight costs you surcharges or overpaid postage. A flat platform scale with a separate display stays readable when a box covers the top. - **[Tape dispenser gun](https://sellersetups.com/product/tape-gun)** (£8 to £14): Once you ship more than a handful of boxes a week, a tape gun saves minutes on every session and stops tape ends sticking to themselves. - **[Small single-wall boxes, 25 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/single-wall-boxes)** (£8 to £14): Use these for boxed toys and beauty sets that a padded bag would crush, when double-wall board costs more than you need. - **[Kraft padded envelopes, D/1, 100 pack](https://sellersetups.com/product/padded-envelopes)** (£14 to £22): Enough padding for a lipstick, a small figure or a sealed booster pack, with no box to fold. - **[Bubble wrap, 500 mm x 100 m](https://sellersetups.com/product/bubble-wrap-roll)** (£10 to £15): A long roll costs several times less per metre than the small packs sold in shops. - **[Royal Mail Click & Drop](https://sellersetups.com/product/royal-mail-click-and-drop)** (£0 a month): Imports orders from eBay, Etsy and other marketplaces, buys postage and prints to a thermal printer. Use it for the orders where you choose the courier; the platform labels its own. ## Setups - [eBay packing station setup for 50 to 100 orders a week](https://sellersetups.com/setups/ebay-packing-station-100): A fixed packing station with shelving, a thermal printer and supplies in reach, built for one person shipping up to 100 eBay orders a week. ## Questions ### How many labels do I need for 100 orders a week? One per parcel, so about 100 a week. A 500 fanfold stack lasts roughly five weeks, with a few spare for misprints. ### Is a thermal printer worth it at this volume? Yes. It needs no ink and no label cutting, and printing a batch of fifteen labels takes under a minute. ### Should I buy boxes in bulk? Buy your most-used size in the biggest pack you can store. Keep the rare sizes in small packs so they do not take over the room. ### Do I need a 40 kg scale if most parcels are light? No. A 30 kg scale handles most parcels. Pick the 40 kg one if you want a wider, steadier platform for boxes. ### How do I stop running out of mailers? Hold two weeks of stock and reorder when you start the last week’s worth. A marker line on the shelf makes the trigger visible. ### Is Click & Drop free to use? Royal Mail Click & Drop has no subscription for the label tool itself; you pay for the postage you buy. Check Royal Mail’s site for current terms.