Best Shipping Labels and Supplies (Where to Get Free Boxes)

USPS, FedEx and UPS all give away packaging, but each carrier ties its free supplies to specific services:

• USPS gives away Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express packaging, and its rules say USPS-produced packaging “must be used only for the applicable product.”
• FedEx says envelopes, paks, poly bags, boxes and tubes are complimentary when you use its expedited services.
• UPS sends free supplies to account holders, but its terms bar using its Express packaging for UPS Ground and other ground or deferred services.

For USPS Ground Advantage, FedEx Ground or UPS Ground, plan on supplying your own box. Labels are simpler: USPS says plain printer paper taped to the box works fine.

This guide covers what each carrier gives away, the rules that come with free packaging, when you can reuse boxes, and how to print labels. For a full comparison of boxes, tape and cushioning you buy yourself, see our shipping supplies comparison.

Free Supplies From USPS

What’s free. As of Nov. 1, 2026, the USPS online store listed 47 free shipping supplies, including:

• Priority Mail Flat Rate envelopes (regular, legal, padded and small).
• The Small, Medium (top-loading and side-loading) and Large Flat Rate Boxes.
• Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express poly envelopes.
• Priority Mail address labels, Priority Mail Express shipping labels and Registered Mail labels.

You can also pick up Priority Mail boxes and envelopes at a Post Office.

The rules. USPS’s Domestic Mail Manual (DMM 601.6.1) sets three conditions:

• USPS-produced packaging, including Flat Rate packaging, can be used only for its own product, such as Priority Mail or Priority Mail Express.
• If you mail something in USPS packaging, you pay that product’s price “regardless of how the packaging is reconfigured or how markings may be obliterated.” Turning a Priority Mail box inside out doesn’t make it a Ground Advantage box.
• USPS packaging can’t be used for hazardous materials or live animals, except that Ground Advantage and Connect Local packaging may carry mailable hazardous materials.

USPS’s consumer guide puts it plainly: “if you use a Priority Mail box, you have to pay for Priority Mail service.” Its business page adds that the label must match the packaging. If you’re using a Flat Rate Box, you must also use a Flat Rate label.

Flat Rate boxes are free and charge one price up to 70 lb, but only in USPS-produced containers whose flaps close within their normal folds. Whether Flat Rate beats paying by weight depends on weight and distance. Our Flat Rate vs. weight-based guide shows the break-even points.

Forms. Customs forms are free too. You can create one online with Customs Form Online or Click-N-Ship, or fill out PS Form 2976-R at the counter.

Free Supplies From FedEx

FedEx’s supplies page says that if you’re “using expedited FedEx services,” its “envelopes, paks, poly bags, boxes, and tubes are complimentary,” and that you get free packaging with a FedEx account. FedEx’s packaging guidelines add a restriction: use FedEx Express packaging “for FedEx Express package shipments only; any other use is prohibited.” For FedEx Ground and Home Delivery, use your own box, or buy one at FedEx Office.

FedEx Office stores sell standard and specialty boxes, mailing supplies, tubes, cushioning and tape. FedEx says its packing services are backed by the FedEx Office Packing Pledge, and that it has experts at more than 2,000 locations.

Free Supplies From UPS

UPS’s 2026 rate guide says customers with a UPS account “can request supplies, free of charge” through ups.com. UPS’s Tariff/Terms and Conditions (effective April 17, 2026) attach rules to them:

• UPS-provided materials are “provided solely for the use of UPS Shippers to obtain UPS services.”
• UPS Express envelopes, paks, boxes and tubes, and the UPS 10 KG and 25 KG boxes, may not be used for UPS Ground, UPS Standard, UPS 3 Day Select or UPS Worldwide Expedited shipments.
• Shippers may not resell UPS-provided materials.
• A weekly charge applies to UPS-provided thermal label printers.

So UPS Express packaging is for air and express services, and ground shipments go in your own box.

Reusing Boxes: The Carriers Don’t Agree

Reusing a box is the other source of free packaging, but the rules differ:

• USPS accepts “good, rigid, used boxes with all flaps intact” (DMM 601). It asks you to cover or black out “all old logos, barcodes, shipping labels, and addresses,” and warns that boxes “can weaken during shipping.”
• FedEx says you can reuse a box if it’s sturdy and “has not been crushed, torn, punctured, or otherwise damaged,” and asks you to remove all old address labels.
• UPS sets a stricter standard. Its terms say packaging, “including the container, must be new or in near new condition.”

Never reuse a carrier-branded box for another carrier or service. A USPS Priority Mail box is billed at Priority Mail prices, and FedEx Express and UPS Express packaging are restricted to those services. If a reused box carries alcohol branding, USPS asks you to remove those logos and labels before mailing.

Labels: What to Print On and Where to Put Them

Paper choices. USPS says you “don’t need special label sticker paper.” Regular printer paper works if you tape the printed label to the package with clear packing tape. Self-adhesive half-sheet labels skip the taping step on any inkjet or laser printer. For regular shipping, a 4 x 6 inch thermal printer prints peel-and-stick labels with no ink. Our thermal label printer guide compares current models and their published prices.

Taping over labels. USPS’s instructions call for clear tape over a printed paper label. FedEx’s packaging guidelines, however, say not to apply “tape, wrappings, or other coverings over the shipping label,” because coverings can make the barcode unreadable. Follow the rule of the carrier you’re using. When you do tape a USPS label, keep the tape flat and smooth over the barcode.

Placement. USPS asks you to place the label parallel to the longest side of the package, with all labels on the same side, and not to fold labels, bend them over edges or overlap them. FedEx recommends the package’s largest surface, with the label and any packing slip on the same side and nothing wrapping around a corner or seam.

No printer? USPS’s Label Broker gives you a QR code to show at a participating Post Office, which prints the label for you. Click-N-Ship’s label delivery service mails you a printed label for $1.65 per label. FedEx says its mobile app can generate a barcode that a FedEx location will scan to print your label.

What You’ll Still Need to Buy

Even with free carrier packaging, most shippers buy a few basics:

• Plain corrugated boxes in your common sizes, for ground services. USPS rates corrugated fiberboard boxes for loads up to 70 lb.
• Packing tape, at least 2 inches wide on every seam for USPS, or 3 inches wide in an H pattern for FedEx.
• Cushioning such as bubble wrap, air pillows or kraft paper.
• Poly or padded mailers for soft goods.

Buying these in bulk lowers the per-unit cost, but compare prices at several suppliers before committing to a large order. For packing techniques, see how to ship fragile items. To get discounted label prices, see our Stamps.com vs. Pirate Ship vs. ShipStation comparison.

Sources

1. USPS Postal Store: Free Shipping Supplies (accessed November 1, 2026)
2. USPS Domestic Mail Manual 601: Mailability (USPS-produced packaging, boxes)
3. USPS: How to Send a Package (packaging, labels, printing options) (accessed November 1, 2026)
4. USPS: Shipping for Business (matching labels to packaging)
5. USPS: Filling Out Customs Forms Online
6. FedEx: Shipping supplies (accessed November 1, 2026)
7. FedEx: Packing tips and FAQs
8. FedEx: General Packaging Guidelines (PDF)
9. UPS: 2026 Rate and Service Guide, Retail Rates (PDF)
10. UPS: 2026 Tariff/Terms and Conditions of Service, effective April 17, 2026 (PDF)