How to buy an Amazon gift bag, but not from Amazon?

December 2, 2020 5:22 PM

The drawstring gift bags that Amazon uses for gift wrap are perfect:

* shiny and sparkly, not matte
* generic designs and colors that work for any occasion or recipient
* sturdy enough for many, many reuses
* completely opaque
* drawstring means no complicated wrapping technique needed for odd shapes or multiple small gifts
* perfect mix of stiff/soft fabric means no tissue paper needed, unless the gift is fragile. Paper gift bags need tissue paper so the gift doesn't rattle around loosely. Most fabric drawstring bags need tissue paper so they don't just drape and flop around the gift.

Are there any copycat drawstring bags for sale anywhere?

I'd like to buy gifts not-on-Amazon and wrap them in excellent reusable drawstring bags.

posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming to Shopping (6 answers total)

I'm not sure if this is what you mean but the material the Amazon bags are made of is called organza. You can actually buy lots of different styles of organza bags on Amazon, but assuming you want to avoid the site Etsy and other places have them. I've seen smaller party favor size ones at Michael's, not sure if they have bigger ones.
posted by Wretch729 at 5:53 PM on December 2, 2020 [3 favorites]

Post on Nextdoor or your local freecycle group, or something similar. There's probably someone in your area like me, who has a pile of them in their basement and would be happy to pass them on to you.
posted by juliapangolin at 7:25 PM on December 2, 2020 [3 favorites]

if you're in seattle i have a few i will give you!
posted by tristeza at 8:21 PM on December 2, 2020

Best answer: EBay is great for craft/business supplies. Here’s their stuff. Looks like they have a lot of similar to Amazon options. Etsy too. And yes the outer layer is organza. However note that many plain organza bags are sheer and small. A gift bag should have an opaque inner layer like the Amazon ones do.
posted by Crystalinne at 10:13 PM on December 2, 2020 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Papermart has a large variety of fabric bags. None exactly like Amazon's, but there are satin bags, velvet bags, and shiny metallic bags.
posted by ruddlehead at 4:21 AM on December 3, 2020 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! Organza is an important keyword, but it's sheer, and I need opaque. Reusing from my neighbors is a good idea, but I want a little more control over the number and size of bags to match the gifts I'm planning. Crystalinne and ruddlehead found what I was looking for.
posted by Former Congressional Representative Lenny Lemming at 5:13 AM on December 4, 2020