Satchels Explained: Courier, Mailing & Security Types

BagMasters Team · Last updated 12 October 2026 · 10 min read

A commercial satchel is a flat bag for moving mail, documents, cash or goods. There are five main types. Mailing satchels are single-use plastic postage bags. Courier satchels are reusable fabric document carriers. Padded satchels add cushioning. Security satchels add a tamper-evident seal or lock. Reusable satchels replace single-use bags on regular internal runs. The right one depends on what you send, how often, and how secure it needs to be.

BagMasters has made and supplied commercial satchels from Melbourne since 1983, for online sellers, financial institutions, government agencies, emergency services and couriers. This guide explains every type, compares them side by side, and shows which one suits which job.

Looking for a fashion, laptop or school satchel? This guide covers commercial satchels: bags for mail, documents, cash and parcels. We don’t make fashion or school satchels.

What is a satchel?

In packaging and logistics, a satchel is a flat bag with a single opening, closed by a flap, zip or seal. It carries flat or low-profile items: letters, documents, clothing, banking and small goods.

A courier bag is the same idea with a gusset, the extra depth at the sides and base that lets it carry bulkier loads. If your contents are more than a few centimetres thick, a bag with a gusset is usually the better fit.

The 5 types of satchels compared

1. Mailing satchels (single-use postage satchels)

Mailing satchels are what most people picture when they hear “satchel”: flat plastic postage bags with a self-sealing flap. They are light, cheap per unit and fast to pack, which makes them the standard choice for online sellers posting clothing and soft goods.

What to look for:

• Multi-layer film for tear and puncture resistance.
• 100% opaque film so contents stay private.
• A permanent peel-and-seal closure that tears if someone tries to open it.

Our Jet Black BagMasters Satchels tick all three: three-layer high-impact black polyethylene, 100% opaque, with a permanent peel-and-seal closure, in four sizes from 230 × 355 mm to 510 × 580 mm. For a lighter, economical option see our plastic mail bags. Read more in our complete guide to postage bags.

2. Courier satchels (reusable document satchels)

Courier satchels are reusable fabric satchels that carry documents and internal mail between offices, branches and campuses. They are built to be handled every day for years, not thrown away after one trip.

A typical BagMasters courier satchel is made from water-resistant reinforced PVC fabric, with an internal address window so the destination can be swapped for each run. Closures range from a simple zip to our Sewlock system, which takes a pull-through seal, combination lock or padlock.

Common sizes:

For lighter internal mail, our top zip satchels offer a simple, low-cost reusable option.

3. Padded satchels

Padded satchels add a layer of cushioning for items that could crack, dent or scratch. They come in two very different forms:

Single-use padded mailers

A bubble lining bonded inside the outer film, sealed with a self-adhesive flap. Ideal for posting books, cosmetics and small electronics to customers. See the black side-opening padded mailer and white end-opening padded mailer.

Reusable padded satchels

A tougher, long-life option for equipment and valuables moving between sites. Our padded satchel (small) is made from waterproof supported PVC with 10 mm foam padding and a nylon lining, with an address window; a large version is also available.

4. Security satchels

Security satchels are for anything where you need to know, or control, who has opened the bag: cash and banking, confidential documents, pathology and lab samples, legal and court papers, ballot materials and evidence. There are two levels of security.

Tamper-evident security satchels

These use a numbered seal or device that must be broken to open the satchel. If the seal arrives intact and the number matches your records, the contents haven’t been accessed. Our large and small security satchels use the Tebco™ DC high-security device, with replacement seals sold separately. See the full tamper-evident range.

Locking security satchels

Locking satchels go a step further: they can’t be opened without a key. The A. Rifkin Locking Satchel uses a seven-pin tumbler lock and a tamper-resistant metal zip, and orders of 10 or more can be keyed alike or master-keyed so one key opens every bag in your fleet.

5. Reusable satchels

Any satchel you use more than once is reusable, but the category matters most for internal mail. If your organisation sends documents between branches, schools or wards every day, a set of reusable satchels replaces thousands of single-use envelopes and plastic bags a year.

Reusable satchels also make runs easier to manage: colour-code them by route or department, print your logo and return address on them, and use the address window to swap destinations. BagMasters’ reusable products carry a 12-month warranty against defects, and custom reusable bags start from 10 units.

Which satchel do you need?

1. Is it going to a customer and not coming back?
   Use a single-use mailing satchel, or a padded mailer if the item is fragile.
2. Is it moving between your own sites again and again?
   Use a reusable courier satchel.
3. Do you need to prove the contents weren’t accessed?
   Choose a tamper-evident security satchel with numbered seals.
4. Do you need to stop it being opened at all?
   Choose a locking satchel.
5. Could the contents be damaged by knocks?
   Add padding: a padded satchel or padded mailer.
6. Is the load thick or bulky?
   Step up from a satchel to a courier bag with a gusset.

Our top three commercial satchels

These three cover the most common reusable and security jobs our customers bring to us.

Sending to customers instead? Browse our postage bags and mailing satchels.

Custom satchels

Because we manufacture in Melbourne, almost any satchel in this guide can be made to suit your operation:

• Size and shape to fit your documents, trays or equipment.
• Colours to code routes, departments or security levels.
• Extra windows, reinforced bases, handles or padding.
• Screen-printed logos, return addresses or numbering.

Custom reusable satchels start from 10 units and printed single-use mailing satchels from 1,000. Australian-made orders take about 3–4 weeks, or 8–12 weeks from an overseas factory for high-volume or lower-cost runs. Supply artwork as .eps or .pdf. Start on our customise page.

How BagMasters can help

We supply stock satchels of every type, usually dispatched from Melbourne within 2 business days, and design and manufacture custom satchels for businesses, government and institutions Australia-wide. Tell us what you’re moving, how often and how secure it needs to be, and we’ll recommend the right satchel: whether that’s a mailing satchel, a courier satchel or a locking satchel.

Satchels: frequently asked questions