Reducing packaging costs.

JC_Derby

How can i reduce them?

I was buying rolls of packaging paper from the PO which whilst i was selling only an item a month or so wasnt really a problem at about 90p a roll that covered only two medium size items. Im now starting to buy and sell a bit more on ebay and amazon and have started using (dont laugh) lining paper. Which whilst considerably cheaper and stronger...is a bit awkward to wrap with and really doesnt look good.
Where can i get proper rolls of packaging paper
any other ideas?

Sazzarella

Depending on the size of items your selling you can buy 10 mailing bags on eBay for about £1.50. I also buy rolls of bubble wrap from the pound shop.

CouponWoman

I get loads of bubble wrap for free from the supermarket.

Just ask a member of staff as they are only too willing to let you take it. It saves them time and money going around the fruit and veg section shifting it. I have seen others do the same thing.

If anyone says anything at the till, (which they never have with me) I say I have a breakable present to post.

hth

JC_Derby

I get loads of bubble wrap free too. great stuff. Was thinking more along the lines of wrapping boxes. Some of which are quite large.... 200x200x200+ ( large in comparison to most everyday items but not large in the grand scheme of things)

TudorRose

Try Morplan. They do everything you can think off including huge rolls of brown paper.

You don't have to be a business to buy from them. Just google in 'Morplan'

macfly

If the items are alrady boxed, use poly bags.

PudseyDB

Depends what items you're planning to sell.

For brown parcel paper - I found Wilkos to be a lot cheaper than the PO. If you buy on eBay then its worth recycling packaging (esp jiffy bags and bubble wrap).

My last lot of ebay parcels were all clothes and I bought a pack of 20 large resealable food bags from the supermarket for £1.49 and reused some of the stack of jiffy bags. Feedback from buyers has been positive - several commented on the nice presentation, so I'd definately recommend the resealable bags.

Its worth buying a roll of parcel tape to ensure the parcels are secure, especially if using brown paper as this can tear.

Oliver14

Brown paper is surprisingly heavy and can easily tip postal costs up to the next band if it's close. Also brown paper damages easily. Bubble wrap and cheap mailing bags (buy off ebay or turn special delivery ones inside out if you can get free ones) is good for items to big for padded envelopes.

You can also recycle padded envelopes also you can buy them cheaply also off ebay and some pound shops. Proper jiffy bags are incredibly heavy your better off going for makes like featherlight.

sparkleisshopping

I do the same as PudseyDB - I use recycled jiffy bags (I get my friends and workmates to collect them for me as well) to post my items and I will put each item into a food bag or a nice carrier bag before putting it into the jiffy bag. I also save mail sacks and bubble wrap that I've received items in and reuse those. I supplement my recycled packaging with a mixed pack of mail sacks that I bought from ebay for about £5 and I have some smaller mail sacks I bought from the pound shop. Overall, I have spent very little on my packaging and I have received quite a bit of positive feedback on my well packaged and presented items.

edit - I bought a big pack of plain stickers from the stationers and use these to cover up any addresses or stamps etc on my recycled envelopes. I think as long as my packaging looks presentable and is fit for purpose it shouldn't matter that it is recycled. It also means that I can just charge the postage price as I don't need any money for packaging.

Bronnie

I'm a private seller. For lower value items, where appropriate, I use an inner wrapper, might be a poly bag, tissue, box or bubble wrap etc then for the outer wrapper, I reuse decent quality carrier bags, like the ones from Next , M&S etc not the supermarket type .

Cut the carrier bag up into a flat sheet of plastic, cut off the handles etc , and wrap the parcel (with the shop name on the inside) with tape and a taped on paper label.

It's a little more work, but I am getting rid of a lot of cluttery stuff from round the house which at low value so it saves me quite a lot on mail bags and is less wasteful. Always had good feedback for my packaging.

PudseyDB

Re: mailing bags

Be careful with the addresses on these - if writing it on with a permanent marker, double-check that that it wont rub off (I've received quite a few parcels with the address barely legible). If I use a bag and write the address on, then I'll stick a piece of sellotape over the first and last line of the address to make sure these will definately not be rubbed off.

Also make sure any sticky labels and postage labels are well and truly securely stuck on. Again, I've received several with missing postage labels and had to pay it again plus £1 admin fee!!!