I have been selling some of my daughter's outgrown clothing on ebay. To ship the items, I save and use empty cereal boxes and wrap them in inexpensive brown craft paper (about $1.17 per roll at Wal-Mart - it goes a long way). The boxes are much lighter than corrugated boxes and they're free.
By Rachel's Mom
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That is a remarkably good suggestion for saving money on shipping! I would never have thought of using cereal boxes. Thanks for sharing, and God bless you!
Good use of these type of boxes, and saves Mother Earth! Just make sure not to use this type of cardboard for breakables...I have had some sellers do that...and it was amazing that the items arrived without incident! Instead of buying the rolls of kraft paper, use paper grocery bags (if they are available in your area...many times the stores have them, but don't want you to know about it as they are more expensive for them then the plastic bags). Cut off the bottom, and then cut down the seam so the bag is flat.
Do you worry that the boxes might puncture easily? Thanks!
Ive gotten items packaged in these and similar boxes.. They do not hold up well. Not only do they crush easily, but they also puncture and tear just as easily.
Go to your local post office and get the priority mailing bags for mailing such items. My postmaster said if I didn't want to pay priority prices I could turn them inside out but generally there isn't much, if any difference in rates. They are sturdier than a cereal box and you don't need to wrap them in paper. And the bags are free, as are many different size mailing cartons. All you have to do is ask - or order them from USPS and they will be delivered right to your door. What could be easier?
I use the cereal boxes all the time and I send them to England but I do put a lot of tape on it and i don't wrap it up in brown paper as long as you list what is inside the box it will go. I use all kinds of boxes come if they are light weight.
I'm surprised that a Post Master would tell anyone they could turn Priority Mail envelops inside out and use them. Don't do this! If you get caught (and some do) the receiver will be charged the Priority Mail rate.
When the person at the super market says paper or plastic tell him or her paper. Grocery bags are made of a very high quality paper and can be used to wrap packages for mailing.
That's a good tip. They are good for temporary storage or to hold donations too. The plastic bags are so thin, I can barely get my groceries home before they have a hole.
My postmaster will not let me ship with paper wrapping. He says it gets caught in the machines. I don't know if he is being overly strict or if that is some official rule. I can't find the info on the USPS site.
This is bothering me and I cannot find the rule on the USPS site. I have found eBay community threads an Quora threads saying they should ban it and people (ebay sellers) won't use it because of the high damage rate.
So I guess the answer is use at your own risk. Me, I just avoid it.
I looked too and couldn't find anything conclusive. I would say to avoid it as the risk of losing the wrapping and address is too great.
If you have to use paper wrapping, be sure to tape all the edges, maybe the whole thing.
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