Packaging for Clothing Businesses

Apparel is the easiest category to pack and the easiest to overspend on. Garments are soft, light and resistant to almost everything a courier can do to them, which means the protective requirement is close to zero and the decision is really about cost and presentation.

The default: poly mailers

A folded garment needs a bag that will not tear and will not let water in. It does not need cushioning. That is why the overwhelming majority of clothing brands ship in poly mailers at 2.5 mil — they are cheap, light, opaque and quick to seal.

Sizing rule of thumb for folded garments:

• T-shirts, single items — 9 × 12 in
• Hoodies, knitwear, two or three items — 12 × 15.5 in
• Coats, multi-item orders — 14.5 × 19 in

Where to spend the presentation budget

A printed mailer is expensive and gets thrown away in the first ten seconds. Tissue paper around the garment, a sticker to seal it, and a printed card cost a fraction as much and are what the customer actually photographs. If you have a limited budget for branded packaging, spend it inside the bag rather than on it.

The sustainability conversation, honestly

Apparel customers ask about packaging more than most categories. Three routes, in order of how much friction they add:

1. Recycled poly — nothing changes on the bench, a modest cost increase, less virgin plastic. The easiest genuine improvement.
2. Kraft paper mailers — kerbside recyclable and single material, but roughly three times the weight and a real cost step up.
3. Compostable film — the strongest end-of-life story, the highest cost, and a claim you must state carefully because industrial composting is not available to most consumers.

Whatever you choose, describe it accurately on your site. Overstated packaging claims are one of the more common sources of complaints in this category.

Returns

Apparel has the highest return rate of any ecommerce category. A mailer with a second adhesive strip lets the customer reseal the same bag, which removes a real friction point and avoids the customer taping a torn bag shut. If returns matter to your economics, ask us to quote a double-strip mailer.

A workable starting kit

• Two poly mailer sizes covering 90% of orders
• One ream of white tissue
• Branded stickers to seal the tissue
• A roll of packing tape for the occasional boxed order

That is a few hundred pounds of stock that will cover your first several hundred orders. Ask us for a quote with your expected monthly volume and we will price it as a bundle.