Shipping label printers, scales and scanners for ecommerce

A packing station that ships ecommerce orders quickly needs three bits of kit: a thermal label printer, a USB parcel scale and a barcode scanner. A complete setup costs about £420 + VAT, or about £550 with a cordless scanner for a busy warehouse.

We've tested a lot of hardware with Zenstores customers over the years. These are the printers, scales and scanners we recommend, what each one costs, and the specs that matter when you're choosing.

Prices are ex VAT and were checked in November 2026.

Shipping label printers

A 4-inch direct thermal printer is the right shipping label printer for almost every ecommerce business. It prints 6x4 courier labels using heat, so there's no ink or toner to buy, and each label comes out in about a second.

What to look for:

• Direct thermal. Shipping labels only need to last a few weeks, so you don't need thermal transfer ribbons.
• 203 dpi. This is plenty for courier labels and carrier 2D barcodes. 300 dpi only matters if you also print small product or SKU barcodes.
• 4-inch print width. Every UK carrier label (Royal Mail, DPD, Evri, Parcelforce) is designed for 6x4.
• USB as a minimum. Ethernet is worth having if several packing stations share a printer.

Zebra ZD621D

The ZD621 is the workhorse of thermal label printing, and it's what most warehouses run. The 203 dpi model with USB, Ethernet and Bluetooth costs £359.99. Zebra also sells a 300 dpi version for £414.99, but you don't need it for shipping labels.

Citizen CL-S621II

We've tested the Citizen with Zenstores and it's every bit as good as the Zebra, just less well known. DPD often supplies a very similar printer to its account holders, so check with your account manager before you buy one.

Already got a Citizen? See our guide to printing thermal DPD test labels on a Citizen printer.

Where to buy labels

Thermal printers take rolls or fanfold stacks of 6x4 direct thermal labels. If you print on a standard A4 printer instead, you'll want integrated labels: A4 sheets with a peel-off label built in, so the invoice and shipping label print together.

• Labels Labels for thermal labels
• Labels Zoo for thermal or integrated labels
• Cheap Integrated Labels for integrated labels made to fit Zenstores layouts

Parcel scales

Weighing every parcel at dispatch stops carrier surcharges for under-declared weights, and a USB scale lets your shipping software read the weight automatically. That saves typing it in for every order.

What to look for:

• USB PC connectivity, so the weight goes straight into your software.
• Around 25–30kg capacity. That covers most courier parcels.
• A detachable display, so you can read the weight when a big box covers the platform.

My Weigh UltraShip U2

The UltraShip U2 is our go-to parcel scale. It weighs up to 27kg, connects over USB and has a large detachable backlit display. It's accurate to 2g up to 1kg and 5g from 1kg to 27kg, which is more than enough for postal pricing bands. It's usually around £35 ex VAT.

With Zenstores, you can weigh the packed parcel and ship it in one step.

Barcode scanners

A barcode scanner lets packers scan an order or product barcode to pull up the right order, check items and print the label, with no typing or clicking. A good budget scanner costs under £35, and a cordless Zebra about £157.

Two things to check before you buy:

• It must support Virtual COM Port (USB-COM serial emulation). Most shipping software, including Zenstores, needs this to read scans reliably. Scanners that only work as a keyboard ("keyboard wedge") can drop or jumble characters.
• Wireless scanners need a USB dock. Buy the kit that includes the cradle. Scanner-only listings are cheaper, but they won't connect to your PC without it.

Zebra DS2278

This is the scanner we've tested most with Zenstores, and the one we trust most. Buy the USB kit with presentation cradle (part number DS2278-SR7U2100PRW). The scanner on its own costs £92.99, but you'd still need the cradle.

Tera D5100 2D and D5100Y

If budget matters more than build quality, the Tera scanners do the job well. The D5100Y is wired, and the D5100 2D adds wireless scanning for an extra £7.

See how barcode scanning speeds up the bench in using order number barcodes to speed up packing and scan to ship.

Packing station kits

A complete packing station costs about £420 + VAT with a wired scanner, or about £550 with a cordless Zebra. The printer is most of the cost, so ask your carrier whether they supply one first.

Swap in the Citizen CL-S621II and either kit comes in about £13 cheaper.

Get your packing station shipping

Every printer, scale and scanner in this guide works with Zenstores. Connect your store and carriers, print shipping labels automatically, and let barcode scans and parcel weights do the typing for you.

Useful next reads:

• How to set up a pick and pack process on Shopify
• Speed up shipping label processing at high order volumes
• Pick, pack and dispatch with Zenstores
• Printing help articles

Prices checked on 4 November 2026 at ERS Online (Zebra), Ballicom (Citizen) and Digital Scales Company (My Weigh).