Industry Trends

How I Stopped Overpaying for Labels: A Procurement Manager's Guide

Let's be real: buying labels seems like the most boring procurement decision you'll make all year. But after managing our office supplies budget ($180,000 in cumulative spending over 6 years across printing, labels, and shipping materials), I've learned that this 'small' category is where budgets quietly bleed out.

There's no one-size-fits-all answer to what labels to buy. Your right choice depends on your volume, your printing setup (or lack thereof), and whether those labels are going on a package to a customer or onto a file folder in the back office. So here's the framework I use—three different scenarios, three different strategies.

Scenario A: The Low-Volume, Multi-Purpose User

Who this is: You buy a few sheets of labels every month. You print address labels for holiday cards, a few shipping labels for eBay sales, maybe some name badges for a meeting. Total volume: maybe 50-100 sheets per year.

The Strategy: Stick with Standard Templates and Buy Multi-Purpose Packs

If this sounds like you, here's the hard truth I learned from tracking our orders (and fixing a few budget overruns): don't chase the cheap stuff. Those generic labels from an online marketplace? I compared costs across 5 vendors back in 2023. Vendor A (a generic brand) quoted $8 for a 50-sheet pack. The Avery 8160 equivalent was $15. I almost went with the cheaper option—until I calculated the real cost.

The generic labels were a pain. They didn't feed well through our printer. We wasted 4 sheets out of every 50 trying to get the alignment right. They didn't stick well on cardboard, so we had to use tape over them on 12 packages (that added $3 in tape and 20 minutes of labor). Total TCO for the generic option ended up at about $13.50, including waste and rework. The Avery 8160 was $15, worked the first time, every time, and stuck properly.

(Note to self: I really should update our cost tracking spreadsheet with that comparison—it perfectly illustrates why TCO matters more than sticker price.)

For this scenario, my recommendation is simple: Buy the Avery 8160 (1" x 2-5/8", 30 per sheet) if you're doing standard address or shipping labels. The Avery 5294 (2" x 4", 10 per sheet) is a good option for larger shipping labels, and the template is available in Microsoft Word and Google Docs. A multi-pack with different sizes lets you cover most needs without over-investing. Your cost per year: maybe $40-60. Think of the premium over 'cheap' brands as insurance against waste, frustration, and returns from poorly-labeled packages.

"I went back and forth between the established Avery labels and a no-name brand for about two weeks. Established offered reliability; the new one offered a 30% savings. Ultimately chose reliability because a mislabeled package shipping to a client would have cost way more than the saved $7."

Scenario B: The E-Commerce Seller Shipping 50+ Packages Per Week

Who this is: You run a small online business on Etsy, eBay, or Shopify. You're shipping products daily. Volume: 200-500 shipping labels per month.

The Strategy: Bulk-Buy Shipping Label Rolls, Use Dedicated Sheets for Products

This might be against what the 'one-size-fits-all' advice says, but hear me out: the big shipping label sheets like the Avery 15264 (a 2" x 4" equivalent on a full sheet layout) are efficient if you're doing 50 a day. But if you're scaling beyond that, you're wasting money on the carrier sheet area you don't use.

(Honestly, I was stubborn about this for a year. My colleague at a fulfillment center kept telling me to switch to thermal printers. I ignored her. Now I get it.)

For high-volume shipping, consider thermal label printers and direct thermal labels. Here's a rough breakdown from my 2024 vendor comparison: For 1,000 shipping labels a month using pre-cut sheets, you're spending about $35-$50 on labels plus $15 in printer wear and tear. With a thermal printer and rolls, the label cost drops to about $10-$15 per 1,000. Plus, you never run out of ink. The thermal printer itself ($200-$400) pays for itself in 6-8 months.

But—and here's the nuance (I really should have led with this)—thermal labels come in different adhesive strengths. That 'free setup' offer from a thermal label vendor once cost us $450 more in hidden fees when we had to reorder a specific adhesive type because the standard one didn't stick to our products' packaging. Check if you need permanent, removable, or freezer-grade adhesive.

For product labels (wine labels, jar labels, stickers you put in the box), that's different. You want the Avery 22806 for small jar labels or the Avery 94100 for full-sheet wine labels. Those you can design in Canva using an Avery template (which they provide for free). Don't mix your shipping label strategy with your product label strategy—they have different requirements and economies of scale.

Scenario C: The Office Manager Keeping Physical Files Organized

Who this is: You run the office for a law firm, medical practice, or small business. Your labeling needs are all about filing: file folder labels, binder spines, divider tabs. Volume: moderate (a few hundred per quarter), but consistency matters a lot.

The Strategy: Standardize on a Single Template System, Then Buy in Consistent Bulk

In my experience, this is the most overlooked category for hidden costs. The vendor who said 'this isn't our strength—here's who does it better' earned my trust for everything else. But for file labels, a specialist vendor like Avery makes sense because their templates are everywhere.

If you're managing files, here's what matters: consistency. The year I audited our 2023 spending (and found we wasted $800 on mismatched file folders and labels), the culprit was clear: we had three different label sizes across different departments. Legal used a long label. Admin used a short one. The inconsistency meant we couldn't easily scan and digitize files.

Pick one label size for your file folders (the Avery 8366 for hanging folder tabs works well, or the Avery 25261 for flush-fold labels). Use the same size for everything. Standardize on it. Then you can buy in bulk one time per quarter. Your cost for file labels per person per year: probably $20-30.

Per FTC guidelines, your claims about labeling (like 'recyclable' file labels) should be substantiated—so double-check any environmental claims on your label products.

How to Figure Out Which Scenario You're In

Still not sure? Here's a quick gut check I use with our team:

1. Look at your last three months of label purchases. If you bought labels twice or less, and spent under $50 total, you're Scenario A. Stick with the Avery 8160 or 5294 template packs.
2. If you're buying labels every month and spending $100+, you're likely Scenario B. Ask yourself: are most of those labels for shipping packages, or for products? Plan your next bulk buy around that distinction.
3. If you can't even remember the last time you bought labels—but your filing system is a mess? You're Scenario C. Focus on standardizing one template.

The beauty of this approach is that you stop guessing. You stop buying 'versatile' labels that end up being mediocre for everything. And you stop overpaying because you picked the wrong strategy for your scale. If you ask me, that's worth a lot more than the $15 you'll save by buying the cheapest option at checkout.

I've only worked with mid-range to premium label brands. I can't speak to how these principles apply to sub-ultra-budget labels—but based on what I've seen, the total cost of ownership almost always favors the reliable option. Your mileage might differ, but that's been my experience over the past 6 years of paying attention to this stuff.