Packing material for Ebay shipments

I try to take every cost into consideration to help keep Ebay sales in the black. For quite some time I have worked with used styrofoam peanuts, bubble wrap, etc to cushion items. I was getting low on my supplies and did a quick search on buying new. The sticker shock has not yet subsided.



Lately I have tried using used plastic shopping bags as packing material. We always have an abundance of these stuffed in the pantry that never seem to make it to the recycling bin.

For very fragile or more valuable items I still include a layer of bubble wrap, but then stuff the box with used CLEAN shopping bags to both cushion and stabilize the item. Works like a charm. They also help to reduce "box-bang" of heavy, non-fragile items.

It's faster than crumpling newspaper sheet by sheet, and forms a better cushion in my opinion.

I was a bit concerned about customer perception at first, but it does not seem to have affected feedback from buyers. I realize they are more interested in the item itself rather than the box of !!FREE BAGS!! they have received, but I have not been able to detect a "yuck" factor in any of the responses to date.

I use packing peanuts, bubble wrap and air pilloe things. But in a pinch ill grab a bunch of car magizines or free newspaper things at the store and use them. Also i have a cardboard container which i can grab boxes at work along with the air pillow things.

I refuse to pay for packing items like that. I still have 2 grocery bags of packing peanuts in my closet for the next item I sell lol. Same goes for packing tape, it's like $7 a roll, I try to use tape at the post office, or keep a look out for free tape at work or the like. I also use grocery bags, and sometimes keep the packings from items I buy, depending on whether I will be selling something soon. I'm already paying ebay 10 percent, and my shipping esimate might not be accurate, plus other expenses, I don't need to be putting money into shipping materials.

I usually buy stuff online so I have plenty of shipping material around. But a quick tip, drive by you local post office after hours and check the dumpster. Sometimes there is torn up pieces of bubble wrap laying around. Also local business sometimes have great shipping boxes. I found a good place for small boxes is book stores.

The only thing i ever buy is packing tape and shrink wrap. Get it often for 50 cents a roll. boxes and filler are all free

Lowes has a package of packing tape for a dispenser.... Six rolls for $16 and they last forever. The plastic wally world bags are the best for packing! Can't beat them. You can order baxes from the post office and have them delivered to your door free. Flat rate are free.

i use the padded flat rate mailers from the post office for packing,,,,,i take the tyvek envelopes and crumple them up,,,then stuff them inside a padded flat rate,,then i seal it.....instant packing pillow...all supplies are delivered to my door free

Those using plastic bags to pack...careful your state isn't the next to ban the use of plastic bags. My county has done so. Plastic bags are a rare item around here!

I Hear CA is going state wide with their ban. Someone from there chime in on that?

To add on to the post office tip, check your local fedex/ups drop off stores, an staples, an the like also. Assuming local laws allow such things. I have one fedex/UPS shipping store here. I'm no eBayer but I still ship things out.

Good luck!

Sirscrapalot - Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read. - Athenaeus

I use lots of plastic grocery type sacks like some of you and I'm not worried that Californication has banned them. Let the buyer figure out how to get rid of them. I'm sure if they deep six them in their trash sacks they'll be ok. If not, have Jerry Brown sue me.

I use a lighter but still strong 3-M tape product that goes by the brand name "Tartan". It runs $1.29 a roll at my local story. Wifey gets a 10% discount there.

I haven't bought bubble wrap for a long time. I have a few people scrounge for me from materials they throw away and they save packing type stuff for me. Our bedroom town grocery store doesn't break their boxes (at least some) and has a box bin where a person can pick them up. Sometimes for larger sizes I need to be creative in scrounging.

About the only box I do buy is a special size one from Uline that's 25x17x5. I use these to ship dried pheasant skins (anywhere from 9-20 in a lot) and dried fanned-out wild turkey tails. The cost of these boxes is added (stated up front) to the cost of shipping.

As for boxes, I get them at the carboard recycling center. They're usually broken down flat, and they encourage the idea. I can fit a ton in my station wagon, but when one of my trucks is in town, I stock up and can get enough for at least 6 months.

As for packing material, shredded paper works great! Just wrap your item securely (Any butcher paper or even a tight trash bag will work), and dump in the paper. We take the paper for free from a few of our loyal business customers, and it works great!

I was referring to dumpsters of private fedex/ups stores, staples, etc. Hence the whole "if your local laws allow" etc etc.

I can't speak for others but the only supplies i use from other places are the thing thrown out. Bout the only time I dumpster dive. lol.

Sirscrapalot - Omg I forgot my quote an had to edit this post to add this.

Originally Posted by parrothead

As far as using free material from the post office, I hope I read that wrong and you are not misusing free materials for other purposes and advertising that fact on the internet. That would be a federal offense.

My God you Americans have some weird laws....
That do make sense in the end.....

What's the story with that one?
I love it when something arrives and they have used a free newspaper or a realestate magazine in the packing.
Time to sit down with a coffee and have a good read, and 'window shop' houses and propertys.

I got some glass science gear sent to me once, I suggested popcorn, he thought that was funny and came up with zeolite. Which was a really good idea.
It just needed to take the shock movement out of the spiral tube parts inside it.

If you have a local upholstery shop, see if they will save their foam cuttings/scrap for you. Excellent packing material and cheap if you know how to work the recycling/reuse angle.

Federal offense? Your kidding me right?

Nope- USPS boxes are supposed to be used for shipping with the USPS only. I have mine assembled while I load them, so they can sit for a while before I mail them. That's fine.

You can't tear them up and use them for packing though. They want you to use the boxes/envelopes for packing only.

To be honest, I don't know why you would use them for packaging. Newspaper or peanuts do as well, and they are perfectly legal, and easy to find. I wrap my stuff in bubble wrap. and then use shredded paper (crosscut) as packing material. We get it from a few of our businesses for free. It's a little messy, but it gets the job done... and the price is right.

I collect boxes and and flip them inside out basically so the brown is on the outside save me money