Shipping boxes

[Moses Yoder]

I am about to sell a bunch of stuff on the classifieds here and on ebay, some for my mom and some for me. What do people usually do for boxes? I can get cardboard sheets at work, about 30" x 40", and cut out and make boxes. A lot of them will be little boxes for plane frogs. I think a plane frog will fit into a small priority box but shipping on those is $5.80, more than most of the frogs will cost; it will essentially double the cost of the frog to the purchaser. It seems like there should be a way to ship these for a couple bucks. Various things, mostly small, how do you box it?

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

It depends upon what you classify as "a bunch of" ... meaning 5 items or 50 items. You can ship small packages via First Class Mail for a few dollars depending upon weight. If you use Endicia, Stamps.com, etc type of services, you can save quite a bit on shipping. If you have a large quantity of items to ship, it may be worth a drive over to a local Uline or box manufacturer, but keep in mind they don't sell small quantities. You can also use padded envelopes when shipping packages via First Class Mail, but the item inside must be rigid for it to be considered a package.

[Myk Rian]

Making boxes out of cardboard is more trouble than it's worth.
I keep whatever small boxes I get, and use those. Otherwise a USPS priority box.
People aren't going to complain about the $5.80 if they're getting a quality product.

[Raymond Fries]

I would go to a local grocery or drug store. They always have small boxes for free. You can still send your box with priority shipping.

Good Luck...

[Moses Yoder]

I see that Walmart sells small boxes for shipping cheap, 48 cents for a 6x6x6. I am selling probably about 50 items, a couple per week for the next six months or so. Various and misc. stuff. So far as getting boxes free they don't have the sizes I need usually.

[Brian Brown]

I order boxes 4X4X8 inch from Uline.com for my ETSY store. My last order was $ .33 each in bundles of 100. I wish I could get a 2X4X8 inch, but they don't make that size.

[Jim Matthews]

Plumber's supply for my boxes.

They're built to handle heavy fittings.
Tape is a hidden expense.

Good tape doesn't come cheap, and can't be found second hand.

[Rich Riddle]

If you can locate them photography boxes are the strongest ones I have encountered. The ones where they load film.