Dymo and Zebra label printers? Some think of them as the industry standards for label printing, but today they're old news.
When you think of label printers, these are the two brands that typically come to mind for most eCommerce sellers, but a new crop of companies have come up to challenge these legacy brands.
For the most part, Zebra and Dymo only really make sense in a commercial setting where they pump out thousands of labels per day.
Still, they do make printers for smaller and growing businesses that need to print shipping labels, but when it comes to these eCommerce businesses, these two giants of the industry fall short of business owners’ needs.
They aren’t easy to install, are restrictive in their use, aren't very durable, and are generally no fun to operate.
Because of the general lackluster offerings from Dymo and Zebra to produce something for smaller eCommerce sellers, it has opened the door for new companies to enter the label printing market.
Among all the newcomers, two printers shine among most offerings out there.
These two printers are the Rollo Printer and MUNBYN printer.
In this post we’ll go over why these two printers are such a great option for Amazon FBA sellers and Shopify; store owners.
You’ll Spend Less Using These Printers
How much for each printer
The Rollo Printer and MUNBYN printer both have an entry price of around $179.
The Rollo can usually be purchased for $199, but dips down into $179 on their website occasionally for a sale or temporary price reduction.
How much you’ll spend on accessories and labels
Luckily, both the MUNBYN and Rollo support any 3rd party accessories and labels.
That means you can buy stacked labels or spooled labels, and you can get accessories like a label holder that feed into the printer from less expensive third parties.
When you’re not locked into a brand’s ecosystem, you stand to save a lot over time.
For example, if you buy a roll of Dymo Authentic 4x6 shipping labels, that will run you $24.99 on Amazon for a roll of 220 labels. That comes out to roughly 10 cents per label.
But going third party, you can get a generic brand roll of 220 labels for $10.95, which comes out to 5 cents per label.
Significant savings over time.
If you go with a bulk purchase, buying a Dymo pack of 10 rolls, it will get a little better at 4 cents per label, but generic brands with bulk label orders can drop the price to as little 2 cents per label.
This applies across the board if you want to buy shipping labels, stickers, or accessories.
Not Locked into an Ecosystem
A few options from Dymo printers only work with official Dymo labels, and if you see the per-label breakdown just above, you’ll see why they do that.
While pressure from new companies have made their more recent models able to work with generic labels, some models like the 5XL require Dymo branded labels.
Rollo and MUNBYN sell their own labels too, of course, but you’re not required to use them, and can buy the cheaper third party options on sites like Amazon.
Being able to buy accessories and labels from any brand is great, as you can find the perfect labels for your needs and not have to worry about paying steep prices by being locked into one company’s ecosystem.
Great Performance for Small eCommerce Businesses, and Even Larger Ones
The Rollo and MUNBYN both can print a 4x6 inch shipping label in 1 second.
The most comparable Dymo printer, the 4XL, prints at a rate of 5 inches per second, which is slightly slower.
For being a more expensive option, the Dymo is slower and requires Dymo labels, while the Rollo and MUNBYN can work with anything and can print a full shipping label faster.
Not to mention the performance and longevity of these devices seems to favor the Rollo, with far fewer people showing instances of their printers breaking early or malfunctioning.
Also, software. The software available from Rollo, and the support on their site for helping use your printer far outshines anything you’d get from Dymo.
Flexibility in Use
Rollo and MUNBYN printers have the new unique style of feeders that allow you to use both label rolls and label stacks.
Dymo only allows for rolls of a certain roll width.
Being forced to use rolls can be restrictive, and if you find a good deal on stacks you’d likely want to go with that.
If you’re an Amazon seller, you will need to be printing labels of different sizes for your boxes, pallets, and individual products (if you do those yourself), and with these newer printers you can do on-the-fly label adjustments with the push of a button, allowing the printers to quickly adapt to whatever label size you need.
Again, another point for these newer types of label printers.
Conclusion – Rollo or MUNBYN?
So, there you have it.
If you want a cheaper entry point, more flexibility, a longer lasting machine, better ease of use, and a lower cost of operating your machine over time, Rollo and MUNBYN provide a superior experience compared to Zebra and Dymo.
But you must be thinking “What do I pick? The Rollo or the MUNBYN?”
While I personally can’t choose for you, I own a Rollo machine for the past 3 years and it has served me very well.
Rollo has a lot of information on their site for common printing issues, has their own software for helping to print labels, and is the more mature product.
If you want the safe pick, go for Rollo, but make sure you get it on sale.
