When a mailer is enough
A poly mailer suits clothing, soft goods and other items that do not need the walls of a box. If the goods can be crushed, or they have sharp corners, a box is the safer pack. A mailer will not stop a point from punching through, and it will not keep a shape.
Mailers are lighter to post than a box of the same capacity. That matters when you send a lot of small orders and the carrier’s price follows the weight and the format. It does not matter if the product arrives damaged.
Grey mailers and branded mailers
The mailing bags category lists grey polythene mailing bags and coloured mailing bags. It also calls them shoe bags or grey mailers, and says they are opaque so the contents are not visible in transit. The same text says they are European manufactured from a blend of recycled film and are 100% recyclable.
PayPal branded mailing bags are a separate range, listed at 250 x 350 mm, 305 x 405 mm and 425 x 600 mm. Use those when the outer pack should carry the PayPal brand. Use the grey mailers when it should not.
What else is in polythene
Polythene is wider than mailers. The category also holds pallet stretch wrap, layflat tubing, grip seal bags, food bags, refuse sacks, carrier bags and shrink film. A grip seal bag is not a postal mailer. Stretch wrap is for a pallet, not for a single ecommerce order.
If the goods need a lined bag rather than a plain poly mailer, look at Jiffy bubble envelopes in papers and envelopes. If they need a flat rigid pack, look at book wraps.
Ordering
Open mailing bags for the postal mailers, or polythene if you are buying film and bags together. Orders placed by 3pm are dispatched the same day, with free UK delivery on orders over £50 ex VAT and UK returns within 14 days of purchase for stocked items.