I am a big fan of Bubble Wrap for many reasons in packaging fragile items even when placing them inside of a box of clothing I use Bubble Wrap because when I do this not even the fragile blown glass Christmas ornament I sent to my sister got broken I never expected to make it to England though the USPS then the military APO system which made me a big fan of Bubble Wrap. It is worth the money and worth saving all that comes in boxes sent to me much more so than styrofoam pellets that I use to save predominantly before this as I had little faith in Bubble Wrap prior to shipping this Xmas ornament. Mind  you styrofoam can be a shippers best friend also but bubble Wrap does not end up floating all over if you knock it over.

I have recieved a great many nice items from Ebay intact that were fragile and a few not so fragile/breakable that were just thrown in a box and not protected at all such that these items came chipped.

Your friend in packaging is bubble wrap save it buy it get it store it and use it for those very special items instead of popping it because it works.

What I like to do is use the little bubbles for the first wrap then use the bigger bubble wrap around it then add some air pillow protection from the blow up plastic bags. If you do not have this you can always use different plastic bags fluffed up a bit and tied off.  I use the air pillows for added protection fill for spaces to keep things from shifting around and I prefer the less inflated ones as they can fit better in spaces than a fully inflated plastic pillow.

Newspaper can work well if wrapped around the item and then crunched up around the item but Newspaper is heavier and dirtier it may stain the item especially if it gets wet when someone at USPS leaves it in a wet place as has happened to things I mailed.

I am not a big USPS fan even though the employees are nice because they never guarantee anything will arrive on time even if you pay the extra money and UPS or Fedex will get it there. But there are places that USPS sends that the other companies do not and also for an affordable place.

Such that when I send USPS because they are the most difficult to collect off I never send fragile alone in a small box I put it inside towards the middle other items that will protect it like clothing for the kids or stuffed animals.  When I sent a sewing machine to my relatives in Mexico because only USPS sends to a postoffice in a city nearby the rural farming area they live in I packaged the machine a friend gave me up in a few pounds of packaging protection because I know how it gets banged around after seeing a sturdy brass lamp I straightened out when I visited that I sent down there at my relatives house.  Mailing to where they live is not inexpensive such that putting in extra packaging material to protect it was a decision I realized was worth paying for. Because I packaged it well it arrived intact and workable. Currently USPS insures to that region but if it is not packaged extremely well collecting will be very difficult and getting them to prove it through the Mexican postal office system will be very difficult also.

One of the lightest weight and best packaging a seller at Ebay did for me was a collectible Fashion doll in its box which was a good size. She wrapped it in three layers of bubble wrap and then covered it with a sturdy brown wrapping paper. This came looking very much like a tube. The box was not bent in the least nor damaged. The shipping was inexpensive because it was lightweight.

I always thought that showed the value of Bubble wrap for protection because the package and bubble wrap came intact and not damaged.