Packing material suggestions

[byrd69er]

If you have other suggestions for sources of free packing materials....please chime in.

To reduce or nearly eliminate my packing materials expenses, I've let office coworkers know what need. One who helps me, brings me bags of materials she has  collected when she visits our office....from 70 miles away. She makes a huge effort to recycle, and I fit right in. She brings me used prescription bottles that I use for packing. Washed and labels removed.  Anything that can be used for packing, she brings it. There's several coworkers who drop off drop supplies in my cubicle.

The IT department in my office saves a lot of the packing materials from computers that come in. We get dozens at a time.

My son works at an on-line card trading company. He brings home the packing materials that cards and other items are sent in by sellers.

There's an office furniture supplier about a 1/2 mile from me. They gladly provide me with packing materials from the pieces that come in. More than I need

My only expense for shipping......tape.

[yuzuha]

---

wrote:

And I like the option of going to stores, they will save stuff for you.

---

We have saved boxes before when someone has come by and asked for a bunch to use for moving.  So yes, please do ask!  We love to unload our stuff on other people.

[sockmonkeydave]

@yuzuha

---

wrote:

---

wrote:

And I like the option of going to stores, they will save stuff for you.

---

We have saved boxes before when someone has come by and asked for a bunch to use for moving.  So yes, please do ask!  We love to unload our stuff on other people.

---

LOL  my grandmother ( born 1903 ) sent letters to her sister for years.

The PO never stamped the postage as used.

So the two old girls used the same stamp for 20 years.

Some rules can be broken, some rules can be bent.

And tonight... I time trip...

[ted_200]

---

wrote:
As a seller of stamps......I cut up cereal boxes. Put the stamps in the cardboard and put that in the envelope.

---

I do the exact same thing for shipping coins (with some creative packaging from paper added, to keep coins from moving), it allows me to use letter rate.  For the same material, junk mail fliers on cardstock are useful, I cut them up into envelope size. 

[ted_200]

She was outraged for my using a bag from Dollar Tree.  Seriously.  I like to recycle this way...

Yeah, yeah... "You mailed me your garbage!".  I've had people complain that those shiny new really expensive packing peanuts aren't environmentally friendly too.  Some days you just can't win and you have to accept it, try to explain yourself, and move on. 

[turquoisetulips]

The newsprint ink is an issue. 

But I use it, and like it... wadded up (shredded newspaper is pretty useless) and stuffed into plastic grocery bags, there isn't a better - or cheaper - packing material.  The bags keep the newsprint off the item and off the buyer, and keep the newspaper and/or item from shifting around during shipment. ted -200 ----- unquote -------------------------------

Excellent idea ! The one packing material I won't use  are those light weight popcorn or peanuts doo hinkies . I dislike receiving packages with them ,, they get everywhere and are murder to sweep up . So I won't ever  inflict that kind of misery on my buyers . 🙂 Tulips 

[turquoisetulips]

If you are located anywhere near an outpatient surgery center - mangorunner -- ----------unquote 

I'm really glad I dropped by here tonight  because your suggestion gave me an idea . On Monday afternoon my husband is having a small  procedure done  at an out patient surgery  center . I think I may ask them about leftovers . Thanks for the tip ! 🙂  Tulips 

[turquoisetulips]

inside and continued pouring the oatmeal (uncooked!) until the figurine was completely-- nowthatsjustducky  unquote -----

Clever idea ! I wonder if rice crispies would have worked just as well ? We always have plenty left over after Halloween . Tulips

[turquoisetulips]

If you have other suggestions for sources of free packing materials....please chime in. byrd69er ----------

Okay , a good pillow fight with your friends using some old feather pillows  and you'll have enough  packing material for the next 5 years  🙂 

[lex-talon]

My family members purchase a lot of items from Amazon.

The boxes come in many sizes and have those large bubble packing material in them. Old newspaper is great to use for packing material as well. If you are creative, packing materials will cost nothing. I buy packing tape in bulk on ebay, there are some good deals. 

[vanman1029]

If you need super large heavy duty extra thick boxes, go to an auto body repair shop. They recieve new bumpers and fenders in large boxes and usually their dumpsters are over flowing with them. Air pillows, bubble wrap and styrofoam peanuts can be found there too. If you are somewhat handy, cut the boxes down if need be to the size you need. Tissue paper? I get plastic grocery bags, lay them on a table and cut the "handles" off them, making them perfectly square. I usually cut 8 or 10 at a time. 

[pixzee]

As a buyer my packing pet peeves

1. Outside tape used inside.
There is nothing more frustrating then receiving a delicate, porcelain figurine and having to fight, and I mean wrestle, scratch and jab, at a cocoon of PACKING TAPE as if they were sending a pharaoh into the afterlife. Packing tape is to secure and strengthen the box.

Use your inside tape. Use low tack masking tape or scotch tape inside the box. And ONLY use as much as you absolutely need. Tape does nothing to protect from breakage. It is meant to hold a piece of bubble wrap or tissue secure. You should only need a tiny tab of tape to do that, not a 50 Shades of Grey mummy torture.

2. Food boxes. I don't want to see any part of a cereal box, or frozen dinner box or chip box. Never. But, if you were sending me a delicate, porcelain figurine, I would appreciate a clean egg carton liner, as suggested by dcintennessee. I don't mind recycled material if it is still clean and useful.

3. Dirty, all ready done popped, bubble wrap.

4. loose packing peanuts.

If you fill a box half way with packing peanuts, throw in a lead glass vase and cover with peanuts do you have any idea what happens? The vase shifts and migrated to the bottom of the box, where the only protection is the cardboard box. When I open the package, I see a mass of loose peanuts and at the very bottom of the box are shards of broken glass. Don't shake your head, it happened to me. And yes, I did get cut fishing thru the peanuts.

My recommendations. Go to the dollar store and buy a box of those cheap Fold-Top Sandwich Bags, the kind they invented in the 1960s, not the zipper kind.

Fill the baggies with packing peanuts. you can squeeze them into corners, and push them into place and they won't move in the box.

5. both news paper and plastic grocery bags have printing that can transfer to the item. The item should be wrapped in plain tissue paper or paper towels first.

[div_style]

Scrounging for free packing materials takes time--a most valuable commodity.

I go over to Uline, 15 minutes away and buy huge quantities at a time of bubble wrap (3000 sq ft), packing peanuts (60 cu ft of the kind that don't crumble), large rigid mailers (500 12 x 15"), packaging tape (3" wide, a case at a time), and get all my padded mailers and 2" tape from eBay shipping supplies.

While some are hunting for and cleaning packing materials, I'm getting items packaged.

BTW, if you're looking for free bubble wrap, garage door companies usually get a lot of it, and it's usually pretty clean.  I used to get that, but having a huge roll that I can pull off of is much more convenient and faster to work with..

[ted_200]

A more experienced seller said my liberal application of Fragile stickers probably taunted someone along the way... Since then, I rarely use Fragile stickers - lesson learned. 

I had a buyer insist I not put Fragile on the package, also insist I not insure it, because he was convinced this invited damage... also insisted no Signature Conf. as he wasn't always availble to sign.  Couple hundred dollar fragile item.  Back in the days when you could take checks / M.O. here, which is how he paid.  I told him fine, you're the boss, but I'm not paying for any damage... it all worked out fine.  He bought several other things later, all of which I did NOT take "off eBay", although I certainly could have done so.  Ah, the good ol' days, when buyers and sellers could do what THEY felt was "Best Practice".

Do you think I need to get over my paranoia about that one abused package & ditch the egg crates?

I'm a results oriented person, I tend to go with what works.  Particularly when it's cheaper too.   But that's just me. 

I'm also very picky about reused supplies. On the "8 Shipping Myths" thread I posted pictures of the dog food box a long-time seller used when shipping to me. With a garment inside! Totally gross. With almost 4800 feedback, 100% positive, I have to wonder how much repeat business she misses by using such substandard shipping supplies. I can't bring myself to leave feedback, because my fingers keep typing "Gross dog food box!!"

I've got no problem with this, although I'd have put the garment in a CLEAN plastic grocery sack first!  LOL.  Pet food is greasy, I'd have probably used a cereal box instead...  I'd be less inclined to do any of this with a NWT garment, but used I'd do it.

[sam9876]

I get huge sheets of cardboard from Costco for free and make them into custom boxes.

[sin-n-dex]

For packing materials, I use:

- Grocery bags (that did not contain things like meat/onions... think non-food stuff)

- Newspaper/fliers

- Recycled bubble mailers with address information obliterated (I get several a day at work containing CDs) These are not used for sending - only to protect encapsulated pieces inside the shipping envelope.

- Plain cardboard pieces (think cereal box, only these cardboards are used on the top and bottom of a box of printed material, my mailroom keeps them)

- Packing paper, the brown stuff. When I get files from work and there's too much space in the box, the sender's mailroom fills with brown paper, this stuff is great

- Recycled boxes from computer parts, photocopier paper, and inbound packages. When IT at work updates equipment, there is a mountain of assorted boxes beside the mailroom for me to pick through.

- Bubble wrap (I buy a huge box of this from Walmart, but you can sometimes get it free if the sender of your item uses it)

Cheers, C.