Labels-is it worth purchasing a special label printer?

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First of all let me start by saying do not use an inkjet printer for your labels. The chance that the label gets wrecked during delivery is pretty good. 

My first year of reselling I was using my HP  colour laserjet  to print labels on regular copy paper. It worked but it was quite involved. I would download and print the label, then cut it to size, glue the back and then secure it again with packing tape, just in case. It was frustrating when I had multiple sales to pack as it took allot of time to get the labels ready. I had usually missed the mail run for the day. When I calculate the cost of the toner, glue, packing tape and paper I realized that these labels were not only labor intensive, they were also taking a big bite out of my profit.

I went online and watched a few resellers on youtube that made the investment in a thermal laser printer. They all agreed that it was a smart investment. The printers being suggested were around $300-350 range. 

Being so new into reselling I was not really comfortable spending that much money until I was sure that I would be staying in this line of work. So I checked Amazon for cheaper alternatives. I found a Thermal printer for around $150 which had mediocre reviews but I felt was a better option for me. Admittedly, it was as hard to install as many of the reviews said. I went to college for computer networking so it's not like I am a novice by any means. After several frustrating hours it did finally work. 

The amount of time this little machine saves me is incredible. I plan on investing in a name brand one once I have the extra money. I do not regret buying the cheaper printer first though as there was a bit of a learning curve to get the labels to print exactly right and I would rather that I had wasted labels that cost less.

My recommendation is to invest in a thermal label printer as soon as your budget allows it. You will need to decide if the increased productivity early on outweighs saving for a longer period of time to buy a more expensive machine.