Source for good quality bubble wrap?

[bitsofsiliconvalley]

I recently ordered a roll of bubble wrap from the cheapest supplier I could find who had a good feedback record and generally favorable reviews. I'm not happy with it. The bubbles are flabby; either they weren't properly inflated or they're extremely leaky. The material is so fragile that normal handling pops the bubbles. And the perforations are impossible to see, so the only way to find them is to measure with a ruler (or guess and try to pull them apart, which pops the bubbles).

I'd be happy to pay somewhat more for a better product... but how do I find one? I still don't see anything in my chosen supplier's footprint that should have told me to look elsewhere.

I don't know what eBay's rules are about discussing specific suppliers, but if anyone can make recommendations (and is willing to do so) I'd welcome them.

I bought 240 feet of bubble wrap, 12 inches wide, with 1/2" bubbles and perforations at one-foot intervals. I paid about $27 with free domestic shipping. I'd go up to $34 before I'd start to think about settling for what I got, and I'd probably go higher if I were convinced that I'd have to pay more to do better.

[bitsofsiliconvalley]

I'm surprised to see Office Depot mentioned, because I bought a roll there when I ran out and thought the replacement wouldn't arrive in time. The replacement did arrive in time, and I returned the Office Depot product. It cost about 3x as much per foot than the cheap roll I'm complaining about here. Looking at O-D's web site, I see that they sell recycled content bubble wrap for only about 1.5x as much, which is reasonable if the quality is good. But I'm suspicious of a store that offers a dozen comparable products at absurdly high prices and one at a moderate price.

I'll take a look at Walmart and Costco. It seems to me that stores should offer better deals than shippers on this type of product. Maybe one of them does.

This may provoke a violent reaction and I'm not going to mention it again, but IMO the idea of scrounging used bubble wrap from local storekeepers is absurd. I guarantee you that by the time you're done maintaining your contacts, going from store to store to collect their castoffs, sorting and storing the odds and ends, and rummaging through the storage bins for the piece you need, you'll have spent far more in labor on your free bubble wrap than the most expensive commercial product would cost. Concentrate on what you do well -- selling and supporting your product -- and don't try to be your own shipping material supplier.

[bitsofsiliconvalley]

Interim update -- Costco and Walmart don't have 1/2" bubble wrap on their web sites at all. They have smaller sizes (up to 5/16", I think), but I have no use for those products so I haven't priced them and can't judge how reasonable the prices are.

The next time I visit each store I'll see what they've got on their shelves.

[kattinsanity]

Do you have a specific need for 1/2 inch bubble where the smaller bubble won't work for you?  Sometimes the smaller bubble will require that more be used but can pay off in the end if you use it instead of the larger bubble.  I order on ebay from polycyberusa.  I just put in my order this morning for 700 feet of small bubble for $27.95 with free shipping.  I like using them because they ship through USPS and it comes straight to my P.O. Box address~~I don't have to worry that UPS will leave it on my front doorstep in the rain.  At that cheap price I can afford to use more to protect my items and still save money.

[bitsofsiliconvalley]

I visited stores over the weekend. Walmart offered a 150 foot roll of small bubble wrap for about $15, which is comparable to the prices I see on eBay. As on the web site, they had no large. Costco did not have it on display at all.

[bitsofsiliconvalley]

I never really considered using the small bubble wrap because I wasn't aware of the huge price difference (and I wasn't aware of the price difference because I never considered using it). Now that I know, it's not a slam dunk. How can I tell whether it will give my packages the same degree of protection, unless I use three or four layers to get the same total thickness? The only way I know is to try it and see if I start getting complaints of shipping damage. That woujld be a dangerous experiment.

If I do use three or four layers, the total cost becomes comparable to large bubble wrap, and the extra labor required to prepare a package becomes significant.

[berserkerplanet]

Depending on the item, you can sometimes use "pads" made of rolled up or folded strips of 3/16" bubblewrap on strategic points where item would contact box or other items under 1 or 2 layers of full wrap as needed instead of mummifying entire thing in multiple wrap layers which wastes bubblewrap where it may not be needed.

I mainly use 12" wide 3/16" bw, and often slice it down to 6" wide x 4' long (12" wide 4' long piece folded in thirds to be quickly and cleanly cut on 18" paper cutter.)

One example would be 2' of a 6" wide strip folded 4 times to make a 4 layer 6"x6" pad. I hit it on a couple of edges with the heat sealer to make it stay put (can even stuff other small scraps in the pocket to "plump" it out even more).

That pad provides a lot of "bang for the square foot of bubblewrap buck" in the right location compared to fully wrapping the item in 4 layers.

[auctionpet]

Those who are replying stating they get their materials for free aren't helping the OP. It's nice that you happen to live where this is possible, but many ppl don't. In Florida practically everyone is an ebay seller, there's nothing sitting around for free! Stores won't even give you boxes shipments arrived in, as they bundle them up and they go to a recycler who pays them. Consider yourself lucky if you get free used packing materials, but your in the minority.

The OP mentioned they're looking for 1/2" bubbles, these are much more expensive than the small size sold at Walmart and the like. I doubt they even sell 1/2". Your comparing apples to oranges.

I've found 1/2" bubblewrap on Craigs at some fair prices. You might search there if you haven't already. I've also seen ppl advertising looking for it for FREE....obvious ebay sellers! I don't know of anyplace that ships that size due to the oversize shipping costs making it prohibitive. You could try a google search to see if there are wholesalers in your area within driving distance. That's how I used to purchase mine, but the company was bought and policy changed regarding who they'd sell to.

[bitsofsiliconvalley]

There are indeed sellers of large (1/2") bubble wrap on both eBay and Amazon. The original question was about how to identify a supplier with high quality product, except by trial and error.

One of the posters has got me interested in using medium (5/16") bubble wrap instead, which is probably cheaper and is easier to find. I'm puzzling over how to determine whether it will work well for me, without -- again -- trial and error.

The post about cutting special sizes and stuffing pockets of wrap with more wrap doesn't appeal to me. One of my basic principles is to KISS -- Keep It Simple, Stupid -- both for efficiency and to minimize the opportunities for error.

Right now a single packing technique works for about 80% of my shipments. I tear off two sheets (24 inches) of wrap and lay it over the top of an assembled shipping box, then push the item down into the box. I now have an item surrounded by wrap on the bottom and all four sides. I fold the edges of the wrap over the top of the item if possible, then top off the box with air pillows. (The air pillows are saved from years of Amazon purchases. I worry about what I'll do when I run out, as pre-inflated pillows and inflating machines are both hideously expensive. I won't run out for quite a while, though.)