Editor
Thermal shipping label printers are without a doubt the most efficient way to run an eCommerce or mail order business. Whether you’re selling and shipping through popular providers and platforms, or retailing straight from your own site, a high quality shipping label printer is essential to the proper running of your business. Firstly, thermal printing brings down costs by using no inks or paper; simply load the pre-impregnated direct thermal roll into the machine, and the thermal head will work to expose your label. However, it can be easy to let the cost of your initial purchase spiral out of control, as many models of thermal printer available on the market reach into the hundreds of dollars. That’s why we’ve reviewed thousands of printers to find you the top five best value options, delivering quality, efficiency and speed. These machines are not only all under $100, but also support generic label rolls, to maintain low costs. Here are our top five recommended best cheap shipping label printers for businesses on a budget.
Product Comparison Table: Best Cheap Shipping Label Printer
| Title | Price | Rating (Amazon) | Best in class | Buy | |
 | Novodesk Thermal Shipping Label Printer | $$$ | 4 stars | Best Value | Amazon |
 | OBZ Bluetooth Shipping Label Printer | $ | 4.5 stars | Best Bluetooth | Amazon |
 | 753 5890K Thermal High Speed Label Printer | $ | 4.5 stars | Best Portable | Amazon |
 | Logia Thermal 300 DPI Label Printer | $$ | 4.5 stars | Best Print Quality | Amazon |
 | LVYUAN High Speed Shipping Label Printer | $$$ | 4 stars | Best Overall | Amazon |
OBZ Bluetooth Shipping Label Printer
The OBZ Bluetooth Shipping Label Printer is perfect for eCommerce sellers, being compatible with all major selling and shipping platforms: UPS, FedEx, eBay, Etsy, Shopify and more. It can be used to print any size of label from 1.57 up to 4 inches wide, making it perfect for warehouse and barcode labels too – this is a huge benefit for Amazon FBA businesses. It even comes with 50 4×6 testing labels to get you started. As for print quality, it achieves a consistent resolution of 203dpi, which should be enough for clear, scannable prints. The best feature of this printer is its flexible connectivity; you can either connect to the printer via USB, or Bluetooth. You can even print from your smartphone with the attached app. However, the Bluetooth connection is incompatible with MacOS.
Pros
- Compatible with all major shipping platforms
- Solid resolution for clear prints
- Flexible connectivity options
Cons
- Bluetooth not compatible with MacOS
Verdict
The OBZ Bluetooth Shipping Label Printer is our best Bluetooth-enabled option, perfect for businesses selling through primarily app-based platforms like Depop or Etsy. Not being compatible with Macs could be a pain, however you can still just connect via USB. The quality is also very high for its price bracket, making this printer a very safe bet for your business.
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Novodesk Thermal Shipping Label Printer
Coming in at the lowest price on our list, the Novodesk Thermal Shipping Label Printer offers excellent value for money. Yet despite the low price, there’s no drop in quality; it is durable enough to print for 12 hours straight, and can achieve a speed of up to 150mm/s, or 6IPS with low noise output. It supports labels of any size between 2 inches and 4.65 inches wide, making it perfect for conventional shopping labels, Amazon FBA labels, barcodes, and even USPS or Royal Mail labels. Best of all, auto label detection means it automatically analyses labels when inserted, and calibrates the machine to avoid misprints. There’s also 100 free 4×6 labels included on purchase, and a free label holder. Lastly, the machine is compatible with Mac, Windows and Linux, but not with ChromeOS.
Pros
- Fast, long lasting print head
- Auto label detection technology
- Comes with 100 free labels
Cons
- Only connects via USB
- Doesn’t support Chrome OS
Verdict
The Novodesk Thermal Shipping Label Printer is our best value budget label printer. On a list focussed around low-cost printers, being the best value should make this printer the best overall; however, it has a couple of drawbacks that mean its cardinal asset is the low price. It’s not as fast as some others, and only connects via USB – specifically USB type-C, which isn’t an option on newer computers like the most recent Macbook.
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753 5890K Thermal High Speed Label Printer
The 753 5890K Thermal High Speed Label Printer is not only high performance, but portable; it holds its paper rolls inside the body of the printer, reducing the need for a label holder, and avoiding dust that could disrupt printing. It has a fairly fast printing speed of 90 mm/s, enough for 50 labels per minute. These can be any size up to 4 inches wide. The housing of the printer is made with a TPH coating, a material known for its strong abrasion and heat resistance. This means that even if the machine gets dropped, it will survive without taking damage. Connection-wise, you can use a USB cable for Windows, Mac and Linux. It doesn’t come with label design software, however.
Pros
- Compact and portable design
- Prints a variety of label sizes
- Drop and heat resistant coating
Cons
- No label design software
- Slower printing speed
Verdict
If you’re using a portable machine, you’ll need something that can stand up to being dropped. That’s why the 753 5890K Thermal High Speed Label Printer is our best cheap portable option, at half of the price of some of our desktop models. However, having no label design software could be irritating for retailers selling off their own platform; without this, you can’t put together the labels and send them to print. If you’re using third-party labels, however, the worst you’ll have to deal with is a slightly slower speed.
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Logia Thermal 300 DPI Label Printer
The Logia Thermal 300 DPI Label Printer claims to offer commercial quality printing, and you likely won’t be disappointed. This machine has the highest resolution in its price bracket at 300dpi. For comparison, most office laser monochrome printers only achieve this resolution, so you can always expect quality printed labels. It can print sizes from 1.57 up to 4 inches wide, at a fairly fast speed of 127 mm/s; this makes it compatible with all major shipping and selling platforms, including Amazon FBA. In the box you receive 100 free 4×6 labels, a USB cable, and a free label holder for feeding both stack and roll type labels. The USB cable belies one of the machine’s issues, though – it can only connect via USB, to either PCs or Macs.
Pros
- High resolution for great print quality
- Solid printing speed
- Compatible with all major platforms
Cons
- Only connects via USB
Verdict
For sellers printing from desktop hardware, the Logia Thermal 300 DPI Label Printer offers a reliable, high quality printing experience. The laser-standard resolution means labels printed from this machine look markedly better than those from others, and are much less likely to fade or smudge than a laser print would be. However, only being able to connect via USB means the printer can only be used by one desktop device at a time. Relying on a label holder could also make the machine quite bulky on your desk.
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LVYUAN High Speed Shipping Label Printer
The LVYUAN High Speed Shipping Label Printer is compatible with all major shipping and eCommerce platforms, as well as some more obscure ones: ShipStation, Poshmark, Shippo, Endicia Dazzle and more. It also has the fastest printing speed, at 152 mm/s, meaning it only takes a second per 4×6 shipping label. The adjustable paper guide rail facilitates misprint-free printing on a range of label sizes, from 1.57 to 4.3 inches wide. This is enough to support both shipping labels and barcodes. Like the Novodesk, it also has auto label identification too, meaning it can catch, feed and calibrate instantly to be accurate every time. Lastly, it only connects via USB to Windows and Mac computers, and doesn’t support ChromeOS
Pros
- Compatible with wide range of platforms
- Fastest printing speed
- Auto label identification
- Great value low price
Cons
- Only connects via USB
- Doesn’t support ChromeOS
Verdict
Despite being a similar price to the lowest cost printer we reviewed (the Novodesk), the LVYUAN High Speed Shipping Label Printer outperforms it – and all others – in practically every category. It has the fastest printing speed, so it’s perfect for businesses handling larger volumes of orders. It can work with the largest range of shipping and selling platforms, auto-calibrates, and even produces a more consistent quality due to the adjustable guide rail and multiple density settings. The overall cumulative strength of all these features outweighs minimal drawbacks like USB connection, especially in a non-portable printer. All this and more combines to make the LVYUAN our number one ebay cheap shipping label printer for businesses on a budget.
