Min. 100 units · 3–5 days
9x12 Poly Mailers
Custom Mailers
Specify thisCustom Mailers
Custom Poly Mailers
Bespoke poly Mailers manufactured to order, with material and finish chosen around how the product ships.
- Minimum order
- 100 units
- Production
- 3–5 business days
- Construction
- poly mailer
- Delivery
- US, UK, Canada, Australia
No obligation
Start a quote
Name, email, phone and what you are packing and how it ships. Attach artwork if you have it. We reply with a specification and a written price, usually within one business day.
What custom poly mailers have to cope with
Custom Poly Mailers hold soft goods with no crush risk — apparel, textiles, anything that can bend safely. That is the starting point for the specification, because size to the folded item including its depth, not to the item laid flat. Depth is what over-fills the seal.
In service they are used for apparel and soft-goods despatch where low weight and low cost decide the format.
Where custom poly mailers are actually used
Custom Poly Mailers are specified for apparel and soft-goods despatch where low weight and low cost decide the format. Size to the folded item including its depth, not to the item laid flat. Depth is what over-fills the seal.
- Apparel and soft-goods despatch where low weight and low cost decide the format
- Apparel and soft goods shipping
- Lightweight e-commerce orders
- Returns programmes
The substrate for custom poly mailers
Co-extruded polyethylene, typically 2.5 to 3 mil. Recycled-content and mono-material options are available where recyclability is claimed.
The options we would consider for this format are below; size to the folded item including its depth, not to the item laid flat. Depth is what over-fills the seal.
- 2.5 mil coextruded LDPE
- 3 mil coextruded LDPE
- 100% recycled LDPE
- Compostable PBAT/PLA film
How custom poly mailers fail, and what prevents it
The seal fails along the bottom seam when the mailer is over-filled, which is a fill-level problem rather than a material one.
Size to the folded item including its depth, not to the item laid flat. Depth is what over-fills the seal.
Printing custom poly mailers
Poly takes flexo well but has a wider colour tolerance than board. For a critical brand colour, expect a slight shift from your printed materials.
Flexography, Digital film printing are all available for this format. Run length usually decides which is cheapest: digital removes the plate cost on short quantities, offset and flexo overtake it at volume.
Sizing custom poly mailers
From 6 × 9 in through 24 × 24 in and beyond, sized to the folded item plus a little slack.
Send the contents rather than a box size. Buyers size to the item laid flat and then find it does not close once the item has any thickness at all.
What moves the price
Four things drive a quote more than anything else: the quantity, the print route, the board grade and the number of finishing passes. Dimensions matter too, but usually through how efficiently the shape nests on the press sheet.
Prices start from $0.30 per piece for large-volume orders. If a cheaper route exists we say so at quoting rather than after the invoice.
Getting them to you, and onward
Poly mailers are light and take almost no freight volume, which usually lowers your outbound postage band.
Delivery windows are confirmed in writing when your order moves into production, and we flag any risk to the date before you approve rather than after.
Getting artwork press-ready
Flexo on film holds solid colours cleanly. Keep reversed-out type above 8pt and avoid fine screens under 15%.
Supply a print-ready PDF or vector file with fonts outlined and images at 300 dpi. Our prepress team checks every file before a proof is issued. The check that catches most files is type sitting too close to a crease, which is easier to move at layout than at proof.
What we need from you
Send the product dimensions, the quantity and your deadline. What comes back is a board grade, a structure, a print method, a lead time and a written price — not a number on its own.
We send a dieline sized to your product, check your artwork and issue a proof. For shipping formats we will also flag it if the pack looks a size larger than it needs to be.
Testing the fit first
A plain structural sample is the cheapest way to find a fit problem — far cheaper than finding it across a full run.
Sample costs are normally credited against the production order.
Reference
Custom Poly Mailers at a specification level
| Product | Custom Poly Mailers |
|---|---|
| Category | Custom Mailers |
| Construction | Poly mailer |
| Film gauge | 2.5 mil – 3 mil coextruded |
| Closure | Permanent self-seal adhesive strip |
| Opacity | Opaque, contents not visible |
| Materials | 2.5 mil coextruded LDPE, 3 mil coextruded LDPE, 100% recycled LDPE, Compostable PBAT/PLA film |
| Printing | Flexography, Digital film printing |
| Finishes | Matte film, Gloss film, Metallic film |
| Minimum order | Minimum order is 100 units on any format, and unit cost falls sharply as the quantity rises. |
| Lead time | 3 to 5 business days after artwork approval |
| Shipping | Across the US, UK, Canada and Australia |
Specification builder
Specify Custom Poly Mailers in under a minute
Set what you know, leave the rest. Everything here travels with your request, so nothing gets retyped.
- 100-unit minimum
- 3–5 day production
- Free dieline
- No obligation
Custom Poly
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What you get
Why it arrives intact
Dimensions and clearance
From 6 × 9 in through 24 × 24 in and beyond, sized to the folded item plus a little slack.
The damage this prevents
The seal fails along the bottom seam when the mailer is over-filled, which is a fill-level problem rather than a material one.
What it is specified for
Specified for apparel and soft-goods despatch where low weight and low cost decide the format.
The detail that decides it
Size to the folded item including its depth, not to the item laid flat. Depth is what over-fills the seal.
This format sits in our custom mailers range, alongside 31 other made-to-order formats.
Answers
Custom Poly Mailers: questions buyers ask
Specification, minimums and lead times for custom poly mailers.
What size poly mailer do I need?
Size to the folded item including its depth, then add a little slack. Sizing to the item laid flat is the most common error and produces a mailer that will not seal once filled.
Are poly formats recyclable?
Through store drop-off in many areas rather than kerbside collection. Mono-material polyethylene is the more recyclable option; mixed-material films generally are not. If recyclability is a stated claim, tell us and we will keep to a mono-material construction.
How do I reduce dimensional weight?
Measure the product rather than the box currently in use. Most operations we quote are running at least one size too large with void fill compensating, and dropping a band saves on every parcel custom poly mailers carry.
Should the outside be printed?
That is a brand decision, not a cost or protection one. For direct-to-consumer parcels where the customer opens it, print can be worth it. For business deliveries it usually is not.
Can I order custom poly mailers in a custom size?
Every run is cut to your dimensions — there are no stock sizes here. Send the product measurements rather than a box size and we will build the poly mailer around them, then send a dieline template you can design onto.
What happens after I approve the quote?
We issue a dieline template sized to your product, prepress checks your artwork against it, and a proof comes back for sign-off. Nothing runs until you approve that proof, and poly mailers then take 3 to 5 business days.
Can you hold the specification for repeat orders?
Yes. Once a first run is approved we hold the board, structure, dimensions, print method and finishes against your account, so a reorder references the same specification exactly rather than being re-derived. It also means a reorder can be priced against a larger quantity without re-opening the specification.
Do you offer recycled or recyclable options?
Recycled grades are available across most of the substrates we run for poly mailers. Recycled content, kerbside recyclability and certified compostability are three different claims though, so tell us which one you intend to print.
What file format should I send artwork in?
A print-ready PDF or a vector file, with fonts outlined and any raster images at 300 dpi at final size. We supply the dieline to design onto, and prepress checks bleed, safe area and crease clearance before issuing a proof. The dieline we supply carries the crease positions, so keeping type clear of a crease is easier to solve at layout than at proof.
What is the minimum order for custom poly mailers?
A flat 100 units on any format. Most poly mailers in this range are quoted from 100 units upward because unit cost falls sharply above that, but the minimum exists so you can validate a structure first.
How long do custom poly mailers take to produce?
3 to 5 business days after artwork approval, plus freight. Poly mailer runs with applied finishes can take longer because each finish is a separate pass, and we confirm a firm date in writing with the quote.
What do custom poly mailers cost?
Prices start from $0.30 per piece for large-volume orders. For this format the biggest levers are quantity, print route, board grade and how many finishing passes are involved. We quote each element separately so you can see where the money is going. An insert often lowers the total rather than raising it, because holding the contents still lets us drop a grade on the outer.
Next step
Get a price for Custom Poly Mailers
Send the dimensions, the quantity and how it ships. We reply with a full specification and a written price, usually within one business day.