its reusing not recycling because i like profits lmafo

packing material is something that boggles the overhead. the longest time I have had free packing materials from working with my network to turn in ink to staples but as prices rise and I have grown to ship more than ever, materials for shipping might as well be cash because of the cost. I have looked all over including the internet and for the profits I want to make materials like peanuts, bubble wrap ect. are not in this outlook.
newspaper has always been a good stand in as its free lol but there is only one place in town taking paper and that's for charity so no go as the recycling center is closed like others as costs outway recycling.
which is also why most waste companies in town are no longer accepting paper and plastic bags in the totes as it cost them to much to recycle it.

so on to my own cheapness and as I bought Walmart notebooks last night for 4cents each to use as waded up paper and my hands cramping. fyi I am shipping screens and I do use cardboard but again most places frown on taking it because people buy it from them. so as I went to take a break and sit down I knocked some padding out of the chair and looked and laughed and the cheap idea light bulb went off in my head. COUCHES I said COUCHES, getting into the truck and driving around for about 10mins.
come back and took the cushions opened them up and took out the foam padding and tore it up and was laughing, thinking of my dogs face if she seen me, knowing she cant do it but I sure can lol.

so I found out that if its clean no rain uck or nasty smells it will work very well for shipping and I am reusing material. which is sort of good I guess. plus I have mostly an unlimited supply.

I dropped $150 on packing supplies this week alone........There are alot of free options out there but if I need a box or tape I like having it on hand instead of going to look for it........OH WELL COST OF DOING BIZ I GUESS

Check out furniture stores, there's a rooms to go and a Ashley's furniture not to far from where we're at. I don't get any of their cardboard but they hook us up with tons of bubble wrap. I get about six 36 gallon trash bags of bubble wrap a week from one or both locations.

I used to spend so much time digging through boxes I saved to pack things up. Also looking around for packing supplies. There comes a time when it seems that's half of what you're doing. I now buy from uline in large orders when they have free shipping specials if you spend $300. I stock up on everything and don't have to reorder for another 6 months. I have every size box I need and TONS of packing peanuts. With free shipping, their 20 cubic foot bags of anti-static peanuts for $27 is a great deal. I get 4-6 of them at a time.

Just what I want. My Monitor smelling like a fart cushion. All joking aside its an awesome idea I just wouldnt want to receive that package.

Bedbugs!!

I'm partial to using newspaper & cardboard as much as possible.

That way they can be recycled at the other end. :)

Yea I'm not sure how good of an idea this is........Transporting bed bugs/sickness/germs etc from one part of the country to another???.......It is bad enough all the used computer equipment we ship back and forth.......I buy surplus keyboards by the box and end up throwing out most because they are not worth effort to clean (I GET .06) per pound.......Keyboards are one of the nastiest items

Go down to your local newspaper office (I know, what is a newspaper nowadays?). Ask for their end rolls.

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Originally Posted by ScrappinRed

Bedbugs!!

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Courtesy of Google:

"Bed bugs ex- posed to 113°F will die if they receive constant exposure to that temperature for 90 minutes or more. However, they will die within 20 minutes if exposed to 118°F. Interestingly, bed bug eggs must be exposed to 118°F for 90 minutes to reach 100% mortality."

I think putting the stuffing in a black garbage bag and leaving it in the sun might achieve this. Either that or a scrap dryer connected outside.

i use my shredded junk mail as packing materiwl. works quite well

This info is a little old, but still very relevant.

According to a 1990 report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the largest segment of municipal solid waste is the Containers/Packaging component. Whether by weight (32 percent) or by volume (30 percent), containers and packaging products are the dominant materials in the waste stream.'

So if you can recycle, reuse it or sell it as scrap (cardboard). Especially with the difference in scrap cardboard and scrap light steel only pennies in pound difference. With literally tons of cardboard available for free and plenty of it clean. Use if you can and it works for your system!

The cost of the packaging as a percentage of total selling price varies greatly. Although this cost can range from 1.4 percent to 40 percent and some food products even higher. The typical average cost of packaging is $1 for every $11 spent. Nine percent of the amount you spend on any product is probably going to be in the packaging. There's a target price to try to achieve, keep your packaging cost below 2% of the cost of the item, if you can. That's how you maximize profits, percentage targeting!

Getting it there is part of packaging cost and the actual transportation cost can fluctuate with unpredictable rates at anytime. Here in California, gasoline went up $.11 just overnight! (again).

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Originally Posted by bigburtchino

This info is a little old, but still very relevant.
Getting it there is part of packaging cost and the actual transportation cost can fluctuate with unpredictable rates at anytime. Here in California, gasoline went up $.11 just overnight! (again).

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Interesting about your gas prices because the price of oil hasn't moved much. There was an expected run up in prices right before the 4th of July. But prices here have been pretty steady recently. $2.87 in town, $2.73 right off the thruway, $2.58 at the Indian reservation today.

It's a California thing! Big Oil makes us pay and pay some more, as much as they can and anytime or day they want to make a few more millions or billions. No shame about it, as answers are always the same, We got it, you want it, so pay for it!

From today's Los Angeles Times (my morning paper).

"It's happening," said Marie Montgomery, an Auto Club spokeswoman. "It does look like the average price may go over $4."

Montgomery attributed the rise to a 12-month low in supplies of California's unique blend of gas. She said there was a lack of the ingredients used in the blend.

My input, "lack of the ingredients" last time I looked the main ingredient to gasoline, is oil. There's a surplus of cheap oil for everybody but us!

the only things I pay for are the tear resistant and the padded envelopes...those are the primary costs and like Mike, they cost me LARGE amounts every week or two. I forgot about cpu trays...those too, I just ordered 100 more AMD trays (12 place) and 50 more intel trays (21) I need to find a supplier of 2011/xeon trays...or at least individuals.