Poly Mailers vs Courier Bags: Packaging for Your Online Business in Kenya
For Kenyan online sellers shipping by courier or rider: what poly mailers and courier bags are for, when to use a box instead, and how to pack so parcels survive the trip.
By Moments Packaging Kenya · 2026-08-20
The problem
Selling on Instagram, a webshop or a marketplace means your packaging is handled by riders and courier hubs you don't control. The parcel has to survive sorting, stacking and a boda top-box — cheaply, because you're paying for it on every order.
How it works
A poly mailer is a light, tear-resistant plastic envelope with a self-seal strip — ideal for soft, non-fragile goods like clothes, kitenge, linens and accessories. It weighs almost nothing, so it doesn't push your parcel into the next courier weight band, and it resists rain better than paper. A courier bag is the same idea in a heavier grade, often with a document pouch for the waybill. For anything hard, fragile or with corners — electronics, ceramics, cosmetics in glass — you still want a box with void fill, not a mailer. Whichever you use: seal fully, put the address on the parcel itself (not only on a tag), and wrap loose items so they don't move.
The takeaway
Most fashion and soft-goods sellers can run almost entirely on poly mailers and cut packaging cost per order sharply versus boxing everything. Keep a few box sizes for the fragile exceptions.