A poster or frame shop
These businesses go through tubes constantly as packing material for their own stock and often have empty ones on hand to give away rather than throw out.
Where to buy
What "cheap" means in a mailing tube, by size
A mailing tube's price tracks its diameter more than anything else. Uline's round kraft tubes, checked live 2026-08-31, run from 1.79 USD a tube at volume up to 3.09 USD for a wider one bought at the minimum. A square-built tube from PackagingSupplies.com undercut both. This page is about buying the empty tube; live shipping rates for a packed one already live on this site's mailing tube and USPS tube guides.
Two sources priced liveRound and square comparedRead 2026-08-31
Diameter sets the price
A wider tube costs more empty, before a single poster ever goes inside it.
Round kraft tubes, priced
Uline runs two adjacent sizes worth comparing directly: a narrower 3 in tube built for a longer 30 in roll, and a wider 4 in tube built shorter, at 24 in. Both are sold with end caps and only in carton quantities.
| Item | 25 tubes | 100 tubes | 250 tubes | 500 tubes | 1,000+ tubes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uline S-2644, 3 in dia. x 30 in | 2.26 USD | 2.17 USD | 1.96 USD | 1.85 USD | 1.79 USD |
| Uline S-3616, 4 in dia. x 24 in | 3.09 USD | 2.90 USD | 2.63 USD | 2.45 USD | 2.30 USD |
The 4 in tube costs 35 to 55 cents more a tube than the 3 in tube at every quantity break checked, despite being six inches shorter — diameter is doing the work here, not length. Both are a 25-tube minimum; there is no single-tube price on either line.
A cheaper build: square tubes
A square-walled tube holds a rolled item the same way a round one does, but it is built from flat corrugated board rather than spiral-wound kraft, and it does not roll off a counter while you work.
| Bundle | Bundle price | Per tube |
|---|---|---|
| 1 bundle of 25 | 31.80 USD | 1.27 USD |
| 5 bundles | 30.21 USD each | 1.21 USD |
| 10 bundles | 29.26 USD each | 1.17 USD |
At a single 25-tube bundle, this square tube already undercuts Uline's cheapest round tube at its best 1,000-plus tier — 1.27 USD against 1.79 USD. The trade is fit: a square tube's inside dimension is set for a specific roll diameter, where a round tube of a given size takes anything up to that width without a tight corner to work around.
Reused and free tubes
A flooring or carpet store
Cores from rolled carpet, vinyl and wallpaper are the same shape as a mailing tube, just heavier-walled, and stores routinely discard them after a roll is cut down.
A print shop's own waste
Large-format printers receive vinyl and paper stock wound on tubes and treat the empty core as scrap once the roll is used up.
A reused tube still needs sound end caps and enough wall thickness not to crush in transit — if either is doubtful, buy new rather than risk the contents.
Three named sellers we could not confirm
Staples, Home Depot and Amazon all list mailing tube products. On 2026-08-31, Staples' mailing-tube category page and two individual product pages, Home Depot's mailing-tube category page and two product pages, and Amazon's search results and a specific listing all returned a blocked or unavailable response rather than a live page. No price from any of the three appears on this page as a result; the figures above are limited to what could actually be confirmed live that day.
Where these prices come from
- Uline, S-2644, 3 x 30 in Kraft Mailing Tube with End Caps; S-3616, 4 x 24 in. Read 2026-08-31.
- PackagingSupplies.com, 3 x 3 x 25 in Square Kraft Corrugated Mailing Tube, item B123325K. Read 2026-08-31.
Every figure above reflects what the named seller's own page showed on 2026-08-31; tube pricing at any of these sellers can move without notice.
Postal tube sourcing, answered
What's the cheapest mailing tube by size?
Uline's 3 in diameter kraft tube (S-2644) runs from 2.26 USD a tube at a 25-tube minimum down to 1.79 USD at 1,000-plus, checked 2026-08-31. Its 4 in diameter tube (S-3616) runs 3.09 USD down to 2.30 USD over the same range. Diameter, not brand, is what moves the price.
Are square mailing tubes cheaper than round ones?
Per tube, yes in this check. PackagingSupplies.com's 3 x 3 x 25 in square kraft tube ran 1.27 USD a tube at a 25-tube bundle, dropping to 1.17 USD at 10 bundles, checked 2026-08-31 — cheaper than either Uline round tube at a comparable count. A square tube also rests flat on a shelf instead of rolling off it.
Can I reuse a tube instead of buying one?
Often, for free. Poster and frame shops, flooring and carpet stores, and print shops routinely discard tubes and cores that held stock, and most will hand one over for the asking rather than break it down for recycling.
Is there a minimum order for cheap tubes?
Yes at both sources checked here. Uline's round tubes start at a 25-tube carton and PackagingSupplies.com's square tube starts at a 25-tube bundle, checked 2026-08-31. Neither seller checked here sells a single tube.
Do Staples, Home Depot and Amazon sell mailing tubes?
All three list mailing tube products, but their live product pages returned blocked or unavailable responses on every attempt on 2026-08-31, so no price from them appears on this page. Uline and PackagingSupplies.com above are what could be confirmed live that day.