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.
Bookmarks