Vinyl is one of the few products where the packaging is judged as closely as the contents. A dinged corner or a split seam turns a sale into a return, and the record itself is rarely the thing that gets damaged: the sleeve is.
We manufacture printed record mailers for trade customers shipping vinyl in volume, from single-disc mailers to multi-disc and boxed set formats.
Designed around how records fail
Three failures account for most vinyl returns, and all three are packaging decisions:
Corner damage. A record mailer takes its knocks on the corners, and a sleeve corner sits millimetres behind the board. Enough stiffness and a snug fit keep the impact in the pack rather than in the sleeve.
Seam splits. A loose record slides inside the mailer and the sleeve edge works against the board through the journey. The fix is fit, not more board.
Crushing in transit. Flat packs get stacked under heavier parcels. Board grade and the way the flutes run decide whether the pack takes that or folds.
Formats and board
Mailers are made for 7, 10 and 12 inch discs, in single and multi-disc depths, with boxed set formats where the contents need more room.
Board is specified to the job. E flute keeps a single-disc pack slim where the carrier band rewards it. B flute is the usual choice for one to three records. BC double wall is used for multi-disc orders, boxed sets and anything going through an international network, where the pack is handled more times and stacked deeper.
One point worth knowing before specifying: a 12 inch mailer is wider than the Large Letter limit, so LPs travel as a parcel whatever the pack weighs. A 7 inch mailer can be designed to stay inside the Large Letter band, which is worth doing where singles make up real volume.
Peel and seal, and the return
Every mailer can carry an integrated peel and seal strip, applied inline as the blank runs through the line. No tape on the bench, a consistent seal, and a tamper-evident close.
Two options are worth specifying at the same time, because both are cheap on the blank and impossible to add later. A tear strip gives the buyer a clean opening without a knife anywhere near the sleeve. A second seal strip lets them reseal the same mailer for a return, which matters for a category where condition disputes are routine.
Up to two-colour flexographic print, Pantone matched, on the outside, the inside or both. For a record shop or a label, two colours on kraft covers a logo, a handling instruction and an opening message comfortably. Where a pack genuinely needs photographic artwork, digital, four-colour flexo and litho-lamination run through our print partners.
Supplied to trade
Vinyl packaging is manufactured to order, trade only, from 4 pallets. Specifications are locked for repeat supply so the mailer in month twelve matches the one in month one, with call-offs scheduled against an annual volume through our trade supply programmes.
Send us the disc counts you ship, your carrier, and the volume you get through in a year. We design the format on CAD, cut samples on the digital flatbed so you can pack real records and post one to yourself, then manufacture in pallet quantities with print and peel and seal applied in a single pass.
Tell us what you are shipping and we will quote.
