Best Packaging Solutions for Etsy Sellers

Selling on online marketplaces like Etsy and Vinted can feel overwhelming, especially when you’re just starting out. Creating your business profile requires a lot of decision making and patience, and there are a huge number of steps involved with getting your business off the ground.

To maximise your success selling on online marketplaces, making the right decisions when it comes to your packaging is essential. The experience of receiving and opening your parcel will play a big part in helping your customers to form an opinion of you, so ensuring your parcels are aesthetically pleasing and presentable will be your golden ticket to repeat customers and satisfied customer reviews.

For help with choosing the right packaging solution for your online business, read on for our top 5 packaging recommendations for online marketplace sellers.

TOP 5 packaging solutions for Etsy sellers

Postal Boxes

Easy to use and made from recycled cardboard, postal boxes are an aesthetically pleasing and presentable way to ship items for your small business. They’re a great choice for packing items that need added support during transit such as shoes, candles, and books. Depending on the size of the items you’re shipping, you can choose the right size postal box to suit your delivery, ensuring a snug, well-protected fit, minimising movement, and reducing the risk of damage.

Postal boxes are a versatile choice for online marketplace sellers due to being lightweight, cost effective, and offering the buyer a pleasant experience when opening the package. For Etsy sellers, consider stamping the inside of the box lid with your logo and using tissue paper and other brand coloured protective packaging to make the experience of opening your parcel memorable.

Flower Boxes

Flowers are inherently delicate, making sending them in the post a particularly precarious task. The key to shipping flowers successfully is using the right packaging materials. Ultimately, the packaging needs to support the weight of the flowers, prevent damage to the delicate petals, and maintain the bouquet’s overall freshness.

Lightweight, durable cardboard flower boxes will naturally be the best choice and, as such, are the most commonly used and highly recommended packaging solution for fresh flowers. Specially shaped and sized cardboard flower boxes will maximise the protection of your bouquet during transit, ensuring they arrive to the recipient in perfect condition: a sure way to brighten someone’s day!

Made from sturdy, recycled materials, they typically feature ventilation holes and secure compartments to keep flowers safe and hydrated during transit. These boxes maintain the flowers' integrity, ensuring they arrive in good condition. For online sellers in the floral industry, flower boxes are ideal as they provide a variety of customisation and branding options on the interior and exterior of the box and ensure customers receive flowers that are vibrant, fresh, and beautifully presented.

Letterbox Boxes

Bulky boxes can cause delivery complications if the recipient isn’t at home to accept the delivery. If possible, consider ensuring your product can fit through a letter box so that your parcels can still be successfully delivered if the recipient isn’t home. Letterbox boxes are a great choice for this, as their dimensions are specially designed to fit through a letterbox whilst still offering your product adequate protection from damage during transit.

Letterbox boxes are primarily used for shipping smaller items such as stationery, occasion cards, and accessories. For online sellers, this is a great option as they minimise the risk of failed deliveries and returns. The boxes are also easy to store for small businesses operating from a small office or a room at home, and their low cost make them great for buying wholesale.

Postal Tubes

Cylindrical or triangular postal tubes are often used for shipping large, delicate paper items like artwork, posters, blueprints, and large documents. The sturdy design provides reliable protection against bending or creasing during transit. Postal tubes often arrive flat-packed and can be easily assembled with no tape required, making them suitable for purchasing in bulk and very eco-friendly.

Whilst cylindrical postal tubes minimise the empty space inside the box, ensuring a snug and secure fit, triangular postal tubes eliminate the possibility of the tubes rolling around during storage or transit, making them highly convenient to store and ship. Either way, postal tubes are an excellent choice for online marketplace sellers in the artwork, design, or construction industries who need to ensure their products arrive undamaged.

Bubble Bags

Bubble bags are protective packaging pouches lined with air bubbles, designed to cushion fragile items during transit. They're used for shipping delicate products like glassware, jewelry, or even soft, lightweight items like clothing or other textiles. The air bubbles provide an extra layer of protection against impact, ensuring items arrive safe and sound.

For online sellers, bubble bags are an excellent option because they are easy to use, lightweight, and offer high protection without adding significant weight to the parcel. They can also be bought in a range of colours, enabling small businesses to match their packaging to their branding. Stickers with your company logo can also be used to create a fun, personalised experience for your buyer.