# Best packing tape for parcels

> Packing tape and a tape gun ranked for UK home sellers sealing boxes and mailing bags, with typical prices and how much each roll seals.

Brown packing tape in 48 mm rolls seals most boxes a home seller posts, and a 6-roll pack costs about £5 to £9. Add a tape gun once you seal more than a handful of boxes a day.

Mailing bags seal themselves, so a Vinted seller posting only bags can skip tape until the first box sale.

1. **[Brown packing tape, 48 mm x 66 m, 6 rolls](https://sellersetups.com/product/brown-packing-tape)** (£5 to £9): 48 mm rolls that seal a box seam in one strip, in a 6-pack that lasts most home sellers months.
   - Good for: Every box seller
   - Not for: Bag-only Vinted sellers
2. **[Tape dispenser gun](https://sellersetups.com/product/tape-gun)** (£8 to £14): Seals a box with one hand in a few seconds once you post several boxes a day.
   - Good for: Ten boxes a day or more
   - Not for: A box or two a week

## How we chose

- Holds a box closed through a courier network
- Price per roll
- Width that covers a box seam in one strip
- Speed when you seal many boxes in a row

## Sealing a box

Run one strip along the centre seam and down each end, an H shape, on the top and the bottom. A single strip lets the corners split open in a sorting machine.

Tape over a reused box's old labels and barcodes so the courier scans only yours.

## When a tape gun helps

A tape gun cuts the strip with one movement, so you seal a box in seconds with one hand on the flaps. At ten boxes a day it saves real time and fewer strips stick to themselves.

At one or two boxes a week, tearing by hand is fine.

## Tape on mailing bags and reused boxes

Mailing bags have a peel-and-seal strip, so tape them only if the strip has lost its grip. A strip of tape over the seal also shows a buyer the parcel arrived unopened.

Reused boxes need their old tape cut away or covered, plus fresh tape on every seam you open. Old tape dries out and lets go.

## Questions

### What width of packing tape should I buy?

48 mm covers the seam of most postal boxes in one strip. Narrower tape needs two strips on a wide seam.

### Is brown or clear tape better?

Both hold the same. Brown hides on a brown box; clear lets you tape over a label without hiding it.

### Can I use sellotape on parcels?

Household tape is too narrow and weak for boxes. It can lift in the cold or damp of a courier van.

### How many boxes does a roll seal?

It depends on the box size and how many strips each one takes. Count the boxes on your first roll and reorder when the second pack runs low.

### Is a tape gun worth it for a small seller?

At a box or two a week, no. Once you seal several boxes a day, it saves time and wasted strips.