#RobRecommends: Best label printers for ecommerce

Published: Jan 19, 2016

Ecommerce

Investing in a good printer can make all the difference to your online shop and ensure your shipping process is simple and efficient. However, with endless options available, deciding which printer is right for you can be tough.

To help you out we asked Rob Ashcroft, Zenstores CTO, to recommend four of the best printers on the market for small ecommerce retailers. He suggests any of the following two thermal printers and two laser printers, depending on your budget and the type of labels you’ll be printing.

Thermal Printers

Zebra GK420D

Recommended by Royal Mail, the Zebra GK420D is perfect for printing 6”x4” courier labels and high resolution 2D barcode labels. It’s easy to use and works well with both PC and Mac. If you’re a Royal Mail customer you can purchase this printer for £210 + VAT, and you receive a free supply of labels from Royal Mail - find out more.

The only major downside to the Zebra GK420D is the price, at around £250 for non Royal Mail users it’s a little pricier than other similar printer.

Buy Zebra GK420D here (Amazon)

Dymo LabelWriter 4XL

Amazon recommends the Dymo LabelWriter 4XL to use with Seller Central, which means that it’s always on offer at £178.79 inc VAT. It prints high resolution labels, is ideal for printing 6”x4” courier labels and works great with PC and Mac. However, if you’re a Royal Mail customer, the Dymo LabelWriter 4XL doesn’t work with the free labels provided by Royal Mail.

Other reviews (PC Mag)

Buy Dymo LabelWriter 4XL here (Amazon)

Laser Printers

Samsung Xpress M2835DW

The Samsung Xpress M2835DW is a simple to use laser printer, ideal for printing integrated labels. It’s efficient, printing 22 pages per minute, with a good resolution and is reasonably priced at around £130. The downside is that official inks are quite expensive - 1.4p per sheet.

Other reviews (PC Advisor)

Buy Samsung Xpress M2835DW here (Amazon)

Brother HL-1110

At around £40, the Brother HL-1110 is cheap and basic, but it’s great for printing integrated labels and it’s very compact. Although the official ink is expensive, 2.6p per page, there are cheap non-official inks available. It’s only slightly let down by a slow printing speed of 16ppm, but for this low price it might be worth the extra time.

Other reviews (PC Advisor)

Buy Brother HL-1110 here (Amazon)