Whether you are an eBay pro, or just starting out, getting budget friendly packaging is essential. Don't wait until you're at the Post Office to buy your packaging because otherwise you'll get stung. Losing out on profits because you haven't purchased budget friendly packaging is a waste and definitely avoidable. Here are several ideas for where you can get eBay packaging on a budget.
What packaging you need for eBay
It's important to understand first of all what items of packaging you need. Here's a list of what things you should keep to hand at all times:
- Plastic mailing bags
- Jiffy bags
- Bubble wrap
- Brown paper
- Sellotape
- Sellotape dispenser
- Parcel tape
- Scissors
You might want to consider purchasing labels if you print your postage at home. An easy way to do this is just to use normal A4 paper and sellotape to stick postage labels onto my parcels. A set of digital kitchen scales is a must though to help you price up your postage costs and make sure that you are not left out of pocket.
Recycle to get eBay packaging for free
If you get a lot of items in the post then you can probably recycle 90% or more of the packaging you receive. Whether it is bubble wrap, jiffy bags or boxes, if they are still in good condition, they can be reused as your eBay packaging. Unless the packaging was in very bad condition, nobody will complain about it being recycled. As long as it keeps the items secure, that's all that really matters. If you are worried about potential unhappy buyers, however, you can always add a sentence to your listings explaining that you recycle packaging where possible.
Pro tip: Make sure to either remove, cover or cross out any old postage labels and barcodes and the old sender address if it appears on the packaging.
Freecycle to get eBay packaging for free
If I said it was possible to get eBay packaging for free, would you believe me? Well, it's possible by using freecycle, you can put on and ask for leftover packaging products like jiffy bags, that still have plenty of life left in them. If your local Freecycle group aren't able to help you, then look at your local Facebook freebie groups as they will probably have some going too.
Click here to check out 15 tried and tested tips for selling on eBay.
Poundland
If you have just finished selling something on eBay and can't wait for your packaging to come from your online delivery, then Poundland is your best bet. Some of the favourites for eBay packaging purchases are Poundland's brown paper, sellotape and parcel tape, of course, all only costing £1. They also sell very good jiffy bags, especially if you don't have the need for a pack of 100 from an online retailer, it saves you a lot of money and the hassle of having to store that many. Once you start to recycle them, you rarely have to buy any. They also do good bubble wrap, but again this is something you rarely have to buy once you start to recycle.
Wilkos
Another high street shop that sells good eBay packaging is your local Wilkos. They offer more affordable eBay packaging straight from the shop shelves. A roll of brown paper is just £1. Wilkos also sells 3 jiffy bags from £2.25, but up to £3.50 on the size of bags you need. Their bubble wrap costs the same per meter as Poundland, only in bigger rolls. Wilkos is 25m for £8 and Poundland 5m for £1.
Amazon
Amazon sells pretty much everything, so of course, it's a great place to get packaging from. A favourite is these mailing bags for clothing – just stick a postage label on top and it's all ready. 50 are available for less than £3, including postage, which is much cheaper than 50 jiffy bags. Speaking of jiffy bags, you can pick up 10 jiffy bags for under £3 delivered. If you aren't too sure of the size you're going to need, and you don't have a tape measure available, then use i-ruler. It automatically converts your screen into a ruler, so you can roughly judge and get an idea of the bags you're going to need to order.
Get eBay packaging from eBay
Of course, the last one is eBay, which is a great place to buy packaging from. Again, jiffy bags are available, as 50 jiffy bags delivered for £10.25. The great thing about eBay is that you use PayPal to pay for them. If you have sold some items, and you need to send them out fast, you can select items that have the option for fast delivery.
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