packaging fragile items

angeldelite

What successful methods have you guys used?

Quite new to selling on ebay and have managed to sell some tall glass vases and other 'breakable' items. Yeah i know i should have looked into the packaging first :rolleyes: but i was so excited about the fact that i was simply selling stuff and thought because i'm a newbie i'll surely do something wrong and they won't sell but yeyy

So help! :rotfl: I'm thinking lots of bubble-wrap and paper inbetween to prevent movement... and in a box? Don't know really. What's worked for you?

Also where do you buy this stuff cheaply? ie - bubble-wrap and boxes, etc? I read somewhere here that i can get hold of bubble-wrap from supermarkets? I don't recall ever seeing any but i'll give it a shot. Really don't mind buying things cheaply though because i have got a few more breakable things to sell.

All suggestions and advice muchly appreciated Thankyou in advance.

freddysmith

Glass or china breakable items I would box individually then place in an outer larger box using screwed up newspaper to insulate from knocks on all sides.
I have used this method sending a china tea service to Australia without a problem.
Boxes are usually freely available after the checkouts at many food type stores, I pick up a couple at a time on my visits if needs be.

Jakejakejake

Hi Angeldelie :hello:

For packaging my fragile items, i use newspaper, and the bubble wrap with bigger bubbles. You won't get this sort free in the supermarket, but i did pick 5m of it up in pc world for 87p last week, doubt they'l have any left now! Ebay is also quite good for picking up your packaging bits. You can get a 500mmx10m roll HERE for £4.99 Delivered, or for the same price, you can get 300x20m HERE. Heres some more if needed: http://search.ebay.co.uk/large-bubble_W0QQ_trksidZm37QQfromZR40QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQsbrsrtZl

Make sure you use a strong box too! The ones freddysmith recommended would be ideal strength! If you wanted to buy them brand new, you can also get them from ebay!

Good Luck!
Jake

mah_jong

For breakables, I individually wrap the item in bubble wrap (which I see4m to wrap quite tightly round), then I get a larger box and I have a huge amount of polystyrene chips that surround the item from the edges of the box...everything has survived.

I have not bought any of my packaging. I have aquired it by recycling.

edsjad

I buy bubblewrap and tape from auctionpax on ebay- i tend to buy large amounts because it's much cheaper that way. I acquire boxes free from my local spar shop - their wine boxes are a good size and quite strong. They tend to press them down, it's quite easy to build them up again. As bubblewrap is quite expensive, I also have a friend who saves up her old newspapers for me and I use them to fill out the spaces in the box once i have the fragile item well wrapped. If the box is a bit too big, I slice down at the corners with a knife and there is more protection at the top of the box that way as I fold over the spare amounts of cardboard. I think the most important thing to remember is not to use a box that is too small and make sure the fragile item has plenty of protection from the sides, top and bottom or the box. Never use a bag/jiffy bag for china or pottery or glass. People have done that with me in the past with disastrous effects. Good luck. J x

angeldelite

Haeee Jakey jakejake (it just doesn't have the same effect if i say it just once!) :rotfl:

Thankyou all for your help, much appreciated. Some suggestions there that i wouldn't have thought of. For eg-getting boxes from shops/stores - so obvious yet i didn't think of it, doh! Also buying packaging from ebay, would never have occured to me. (yeah, yeah, throw all your 'a bit slow' jokes at me!)

So i've sent my parcels and i'm sure i'll soon find out if they got there in one piece or not! :rotfl:

Contains_Mild_Peril

I usually get my bubble wrap and boxes from the supermarket. If you look in the fruit section, you should find some bubble wrap in empty boxes which have contained soft fruits, so just ask the nearest shop assistant for permission to take it. I also sometimes use shoe boxes scrounged from a shoe shop: these can be useful for very fragile items, which I wrap in bubble wrap, put in a lightish box (e.g. shoe box) then put more packaging (sometimes newspaper) between the first box and a stronger outer box (e.g. wine box).

rose_sparky

Don't forget your trusty shredder! Great for disposing of personal papers AND then using for packaging.

angeldelite

rose_sparky wrote: »

Don't forget your trusty shredder! Great for disposing of personal papers AND then using for packaging.

That's what i used! Keep thinking of the mess it's gonna make when they open it! :rotfl:

Jakejakejake

angeldelite wrote: »

Haeee Jakey jakejake (it just doesn't have the same effect if i say it just once!) :rotfl:

Thankyou all for your help, much appreciated. Some suggestions there that i wouldn't have thought of. For eg-getting boxes from shops/stores - so obvious yet i didn't think of it, doh! Also buying packaging from ebay, would never have occured to me. (yeah, yeah, throw all your 'a bit slow' jokes at me!)

So i've sent my parcels and i'm sure i'll soon find out if they got there in one piece or not! :rotfl:

No Probs! Glad i Could help

Fingers crossed for ya!

rose_sparky

angeldelite wrote: »

That's what i used! Keep thinking of the mess it's gonna make when they open it! :rotfl:

Yeah me too, especially if it's anything like the mess I make when I pack it up (up up). :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: