Can I Reuse a Shipping Box?

[nsjvintage4]

I have a few barbies that I still have the original box that Mattel sent me the Barbie in.  If I sell the barbie doll, can I mail it to the buyer in the same Mattel Box that it came in?  It is a branded box. 

[loveyourimagination49]

I don't see why not. Just make sure to mark out any bar codes, so they don't get accidentally scanned.

[nsjvintage4]

Thank you

[takikawa4]

@nsjvintage4

If they are vintage Barbies, I wouldn't do that. Many times the box is as important as the doll is to a buyer.

[beachtime9]

I reuse boxes that are in good shape all the time, but as others have pointed out sometimes the box might be as valuable to the person as the item (I know we're talking a shipping box and not the items box). What I do in those cases is list economy shipping and standard shipping and make it clear in the listing that economy shipping does NOT get double boxed and standard DOES get double box. When the buyers pays, I reiterate via eBay messages before I pack it up and ship it. This way if buyers what it double boxed, I have that option but they have to pay for the extra weight and materials. You can always ship economy with a better class of service but not vice versa.

[pioneerroadvintage]

Do you mean the "window" box or the actual heavy cardboard box Mattel shipped it in?

[comtech4227]

Is the Mattel shipping box part of the listing? Just to be safe, I would put the Barbie's into the Mattel box, then wrap the Mattel box in brown kraft/shipping paper and label that.  Even if the Mattel box wasn't part of the listing, it would be a nice bonus to receive that in good condition as well.

And in general, I reuse all shipping materials possible.  Amazon boxes regularly are repackaged with eBay items, and then sealed with eBay tape!

[berserkerplanet]

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Just to be safe, I would put the Barbie's into the Mattel box, then wrap the Mattel box in brown kraft/shipping paper and label that.

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Not recommended, and explicitly prohibited by FedEx, appears to be prohibited by UPS, and has complex restrictions with USPS.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Shipping-Returns/Duck-Tape-Not-allowed-for-UPS-amp-Fed-Ex/m-p/27239052...

[lja440]

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@comtech4227 wrote:

Is the Mattel shipping box part of the listing? Just to be safe, I would put the Barbie's into the Mattel box, then wrap the Mattel box in brown kraft/shipping paper and label that.  Even if the Mattel box wasn't part of the listing, it would be a nice bonus to receive that in good condition as well.

And in general, I reuse all shipping materials possible.  Amazon boxes regularly are repackaged with eBay items, and then sealed with eBay tape!

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As a mail carrier I will state that I hardly ever see a wrapped package WITHOUT damage of some kind and have on a few occasions had to deliver scraps of paper with labels on them, obviously these were caught in the sorting machines and riped from the box they were wrapped around. 

I wish USPS would ban wrapped packages like FedEx and UPS has.