Two Good Reasons Not to Order from Uline

By Editor |

Sunday, May 19, 2019

1.  They waste a huge amount of paper to promote their business, and

2.  Their prices are very high.

Not long after I started my business in 2002, I realized I needed some shipping supplies.  I didn't know where to look, so I bought some products from Uline, since they are well known.  When I received the box, it had a huge Uline catalogue in it which I had not requested, along with other promotional materials.  Even back in 2003, which was probably when this happened, most companies had online shopping carts -- Uline certainly did -- so I couldn't see why they would send out such a catalogue.  The company was apparently stuck in the age of Sears Roebuck, when all mail-order purchases were done through paper catalogues.  Not only was it wasteful of paper, but it would be wasteful of energy to send such a huge catalogue to all their customers who placed even small orders.

Because of the waste, I never ordered from Uline again.  That wasn't a problem since I quickly learned that Uline's prices were quite high.  I could expect to pay 50% more than I would pay to a discount supplier.  That was in the early 2000's.

Fast-forward to today.

On May 17, 2019, I received another huge catalogue from Uline -- this was after fifteen years of not ordering from them.  Why, I wondered, would they be sending me a catalogue today, after so long?  When I placed my one order in the early 2000's, I was living in Queens, New York.  Since then I had moved three times, ending up in another state, and I certainly had not told Uline about those moves.  The only logical conclusion was that they didn't know who I was -- in other words, they were sending me a huge catalogue merely in the hope of getting my business, not realizing I had once been a customer.  So after fifteen years of avoiding Uline, they are still using me as an excuse to waste paper.  To send out huge catalogues to people who don't want them is incredibly wasteful and irresponsible.

According to a site called Wise Bread, junk mail destroys 100 million trees a year -- the equivalent of deforesting all of Rocky Mountain National Park every four months.  It is bad enough when a company sends out ten-page catalogues in the hope of drumming up business, but to send out a 788-page catalogue in the mere hope of getting some sales is just outrageous.  I'm sure the family which owns Uline is rich enough and doesn't need to use such techniques.

If you are like most business people, you are more concerned about prices, so let me tell you about Uline's prices.  Here is an example:

I use kraft bubble-mailers in my business, and the size I use the most is the #00 size.  Here is the cost (in dollars) of 250 #00 bubble mailers (including shipping) from the following online retailers:

60.58 - Uline
51.50 - Linton Labels (for brand-name mailers)
50.34 - eSupplyStore (for brand-name mailers)
35.00 - Amazon (for brand-name mailers)
33.95 - UPaknShip (for brand-name mailers, but a brand I'm not familiar with)
29.95 - eBay (prices vary on eBay)
24.99 - Amazon (for generic mailers)

Now, you might assume that Uline's bubble mailers are the very best available, but it has been my experience that very good bubble mailers can be purchased at very low prices.  Some of the best mailers I have used were purchased at low prices from Amazon.  Since Uline puts their own brand name on the bubble mailers they sell, there is no way for me to make a direct comparison.

And so it goes.  You can expect to pay much more -- even double -- for whatever you buy from Uline.

Please don't give Uline your business.  They clearly don't care about the environment, wasting massive amounts of paper as they do, and they charge ridiculous prices.