Finding FREE / Low Cost PACKING SUPPLIES for s Sales

So--- You had a GREAT week! Sold a lot of items on okay auctions! Now gees your favorite part---Packing and shipping your okaytreasures and sending them on their way to their new home! Oh, what joy! (Every okay Seller I know groans when it's time to pack and ship). But good supplies make it easier.
PACK IT WITH CARE. Ok, so the packing is not as fun as finding, listing and watching your sales go go go.UP, UP, UP!..But PACKING WITH CARE and shipping correctly are an important responsibility we Sellers have to our Buyers. How many times have you received an okay item that you paid a high shipping fee for, only to find it in your mailbox, crammed into a plain envelope with no padding , and shipped First Class Mail instead of the promised Priority Mail? Or worse yet, the Seller uses newspaper (which, incidentally, has absolutely NO magical protecting powers, and DOES NOT ensure the fragile vase you are shipping will make it there in one piece)! So use the real supplies: Bubble wrap, packing peanuts, real boxes, real labels. It's the Right Thing To Do.
SUPPLES COST A LOT! OK, but...Don't you KNOW how expensive those supplies are?? Indeed, I do. I have been a Successful Seller on okay for several years now, with over 1200 transactions since 2006! I am at 950 positive feedbacks right now (would have had more, but many dropped off with the new okay feedback policy). But I packed all those boxes and guess what? Never BOUGHT any packing materials except for tape and paper to print the labels. Never bought bubble wrap, packing peanuts or boxes!! because I get all that for free. And you can, too.
THE NAME OF THE GAME IS RECYCLE. Reusing newspaper or magazines as packing material doesn't count. Save that for mulching your garden or lining the birdcage. I've been green way before it became a fad...and reuse, reduce , recycle is the key. I never, ever pay for packing supplies--EVER! Here are my tips for all of you seller out there . It works for me, I hope it helps keep your costs down, too! And maybe you can share with your Buyers through reduced shipping fees!
Free Clean Bubble Wrap and Foam Wrap:

An excellent source for free bubble wrap or foam wrap ( a thin, white foam sheet that is easy to wrap items in) is your local FURNITURE STORE. Every single piece of furniture, every table, lamp, setee, couch or vase gees to them wrapped before it hits the salesfloor. Just drive round to the loading dock and ask if they have any packing materials you can have. More than once, I gepletely filled the trunk and back seat of my car with clean, white foamy sheets and they are excellent for wrapping your items to ship.Very light weight, too, yet a protective layer.
Another good source for bubble wrap is a specialty store like a light fixture store or gallery. They often have extra and toss it in the dumpster. Ask them to save it.
Another good source is a Specialty Furniture or Custom plumbing or high-end fixture supply store.
My current source of clean bubble wrap is a gentleman who works for a gepany that installs custom louvered closet doors. Each door panel is made of fine wood, and is wrapped in bubble wrap. He supplies me with enough clean packing material to keep me, my three okaying girlfriends and a local potter happy! And he is THRILLED to death that it's being reused, and NOT going into the landfill! Woohoo for Recycling!
Free Packing Peanuts:

My favorite source is again a furniture chain store (Rooms to Go, Havertys, whatever you have locally). When they have peanuts, they usually have a lot!
The Mall: No one likes storing packing peanuts, they take up so much room! I drive by the loading dock at the mall, and typically the HUGE bag of foam peanuts is sitting next to the back door of Bombay or Michaels or Sears. No one wants to fill the dumpster with a bag of peanuts, so there it is for the taking. Better yet, talk to the store manager or back room staff and ask them to call when they havea load.
Specialty store dealing in glass or geputer parts. Packing peanuts are messy but really light and do the best job keeping your treasures secure for shipping.
Free Shipping Boxes: (***NOTE: I would discourage you from ever dumpster diving for boxes...You don't know what creature may be living in there now. There are plenty of sources for boxes that have not yet hit the dumster, so be more resourceful.)

USPS.ge! Order free boxes, labels, plastic envelopes and whatnots from the US Post Office--They even deliver to your door.
Bookstores produce a large volume of trash, and they're a good place for cartons, cardboard inserts and sleeves, and flat pieces of cardstock
Gift stores, like Hallmark: This is a great source for smaller cartons
Grocery Stores or Walmart: Go in the evening when they restock, and you'll get all the little boxes you'll ever need
gepany mailrooms or a Printing gepany: They go through tons of boxes of paper forms and envelopes, and all their boxes are not only tested for a heavy weight, but they are uniform in size and usuallythey have a lot.
Office supply stores:Office Depot, Staples and Office Max get lots of deliveries, and therefore produce lots of waste. Help them to recycle by asking if you can have their cartons and boxes.
Free large / padded envelopes:

I don't find these too often for free, but when I do, it's from someone's mail. See if your gepany mailroom staff can save these for you, or the mailroom at a school or a bookstore. People don't think to reuse them, but they are pretty sturdy and can be mailed more than once.
So you see, the gemon thread is TURN THEIR TRASH INTO YOUR TOOL. Tell the stores that you are on a recyle mission, and they can help..if you just think about the gepanies and stores and institutions around you who produce a TON OF WASTE, and pick the waste that , well, really isn't but can be reused and recycled, you will not only save $$ on your packing supplies but help the environment, reduce that store's waste removal costs and make okay a greener place! As I said, all I have ever paid for is tape and paper...So i'm working on ways to reduce that cost too! Hope these ideas helped you, and happy selling!
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