Packaging Material/Labels for your Laser Products

[Scott Winstead]

Warning "rant" to follow:
Is it just me or do you get frustrated when you place an order with one of your suppliers and your order arrives with a label that says "Made in China" that you have to scrape off and then another label that is the supplier's name on the same product that you have to scrape off as well before you start lasering?

In addition, why are companies still using styrofoam peanuts as dunnage in the packaging? Inflatable air is the way to go and is better for everyone. Has anyone invested in one of these to package your finely crafted laser products? Interested to hear your toughts if you're using something like this ...

[Mike Null]

I restrict my packaging buying to cartons, tape and bubble wrap. I love the peanuts and have a large container where I save all I get. The air bubbles are ok but I need to keep packages as small as possible (FedEx) and like so many new things I need to get used to it.

[Scott Winstead]

Mike,
I, usually, depending on the supllier, reuse their individual packaging with usually consists of a plastic bag (protects the finish) and cardboard box (cushions against bumps and brusies) and then wrap in bubble wrap in some form of order qty. I then will use the air bags to cushion/prevent movement of the overall contents inside the shipping box.

Some of the benefits of the air bags are:

No static - don't cling to all the of the individual boxes
Very reusable - I collect as many as I can from supplier
Low cost
Clean - no mess, with little pieces of stryfoam everywhere which usually happens with me and the peanutsYou can purchase the air bags in a roll like bubble wrap:
http://www.packagingsupplies.com/Air_Pillow_Bags_Already_Inflated.html

[Joe Pelonio]

I buy the bubble wrap by the roll, 12" wide with perforations every 12" to pull apart as needed. In an effort to minimize cost I may pack balled up old newspaper around bubblewrapped items for extra cushioning. I am prejudiced against peanuts because they get all over the place.

[Dave Jones]

US law requires the country of origin marking on all goods imported from other countries, and the law states that the marking must remain on the item until sold to the "ultimate purchaser".

In general terms the ultimate purchaser is the last person to buy the item in the US while it is basically the same as it was imported.

In other words, if you buy an item imported from China and sell it in a retail store, the Made in China tag must remain on it until sold. If you are a manufacturer and the item is a part in a larger assembly then you are considered the ultimate purchaser and can remove the tag. Generally if you are making some minor modification or marking to the item before retailing it then you must leave the mark on it.

It is in US Code title 19 chapter 4 section 1304 "Marking of imported articles and containers".

In other words, a distributor by law can not remove that sticker.

[Mike Hood]

Has anyone invested in one of these to package your finely crafted laser products? Interested to hear your toughts if you're using something like this ...

I have a bag sealer that makes 18" tubes, but usually don't bother. What does one of those air pillow machines cost?

[Scott Winstead]

Dave - I hear ya on the "Made in China" stickers based on U.S. trade policy but why do they appear in the middle of the nicely finished wood that you're going to resell after engraving necessitating removal of the sticker and the leftover adhesive? :eek:

Mike - Don't know the actual cost of one of these machines but I would guess it goes for between $1-$2K based on what I've seen with other type of equipment. I think you would have to ship a lot of product before it paid for itself but was curious if anyone on this forum has purchased something like this and the business case they used to justify it.

http://www.inflatablepackaging.com/packagingsystems/packagingsystems.htm

[Bill Cunningham]

Over the years, I have seen many differnet types of packaging materials come and go.. Styrofoam peanuts are a PAIN. Some peanuts are water degradable..Lick one, if it desolves, it's a good one :D .. For a while, popped popcorn was all the rage.. It's biodegradable, and hey! you can write off your snack machine :D The Eco freaks, and tree huggers love it. The drawback of course is if your shipping company wharehouse has rats or mice their 'also' just gonna LOVE it :eek: Air pillows are bulky, and don't always seem to fit around what your shipping.. I buy sheets of 1" styrofoam from Home depot, and a roll of news paper.. The foam can be cut quickly to line boxes, and the newspaper is cheap, can be pulled off the roll and crumpled to fill up space.. Also the rolls of foam used as underlay on laminated flooring works well as a wrap and easly avail from HD as well..

[Mitchell Andrus]

For small items, I use 36" rolls of 40# craft paper which makes great wrapping material AND when crumpled up, great dunnage. It's recycled, re-useable, and recyclable. I buy 10 rolls at a time and then it's very cheap, about .35-.50 per item being shipped.

Larger items get the bubble wrap treatment - also re-useable.

[Dave Jones]

I use the foam peanuts that everybody seems to hate. But I don't buy them. I get them free from other companies in the area. I feel I am at least delaying them ending up in the land fill as well as getting my packing materials for free.

I leave a box of garbage bags at a couple of different companies that sell retail items that come in foam peanuts. They dump them in the bags and then I pick them up every few weeks. Works well for both of us.

I do buy large rolls (750') of bubble wrap and wrap items in a layer of that before boxing them to prevent scratches.

[Vince Williams]

I am looking for labels to put on my products. The ones I am looking for are similar to the retorn address mailing labels. any help would be great.

Thanks
Vince Williams

[Dave Jones]

I'm assuming by "retorn" you mean "return"? If so, are you looking for labels you can print yourself on your own laser printer or inkjet, or are you looking for commercially printed ones in large quantity?

Avery makes white and clear return address labels for you to print on.

For commercial ones, do you want foil, mylar, paper, or....?

[Bob Keyes]

I'm assuming by "retorn" you mean "return"? If so, are you looking for labels you can print yourself on your own laser printer or inkjet, or are you looking for commercially printed ones in large quantity?

Avery makes white and clear return address labels for you to print on.

For commercial ones, do you want foil, mylar, paper, or....?

You can also buy gold and silver for printing on your printer, both inkjet and laser.

[Vince Williams]

I just need some type of label, like the foil idea to put on my products.I could print them myself but don't know where to find the blanks at!! Thanks
Vince

[Dave Jones]

Here are gold and silver foil labels that are laser printer compatable.

http://www.onlinelabels.com/material_foil_laser_labels.htm

[Mike Hood]

Or... you could find someone with a laser engraver and make some really nice labels with IPI Laserthins. The metalics look amazing and even at $30/sheet, the per label cost would be pennies for small stuff. :)

It even comes with an adhesive backing.