I thought I would share with you some of my ideas on how to save money on packing material. This is my first guide on ebay and I hope you will find some of these ideas helpful. There is absolutely no reason to keep spending money on expensive bubble wrap or styrofoam “peanuts” just to fill up empty space in a box, unless of course you just like giving your money away to Office Depot, Staples, Wal-Mart or Costco. There is simply too much free packing material to be had just for the asking.

There are plenty of places where you can get free packing material. You just need to use your imagination and keep your eyes open. One such place might be your place of employment. A lot of companies receive shipments of various kinds almost on a daily basis that are stuffed with all types of packaging material. Usually, the packing material is just thrown away, but can be yours just for the asking. For example, where I work, we get large rolls of plastic film. These rolls have a ¼” thick foam rubber protective barrier on each end that measure anywhere from 18“ to 30“ in diameter. These barriers are just thrown away. I usually go around during my shift at night and can get three or four of these protective barriers out of the garbage cans. Of course, I make sure they are clean. I’ve already accumulated a nice size collection of these for use in shipping, enough to fill probably 20 to 30 boxes and I’ve only been collecting them for about a month now. If you check with the receiving department at your place of employment, assuming your company has a receiving department, you might be surprised at the amount of packing material just waiting to be hauled off. If there’s none at your employer, try asking at other companies. Most places will be glad to give you things of that nature just to keep their dumpsters from filling up too quickly.

Check new construction sites. Whether it’s a residential or commercial construction project, a lot of products delivered to new construction sites, such as light fixtures, plumbing fixtures, etc. are packed in styrofoam. Styrofoam can be cut into almost any desired size with a utility knife or just broken into smaller pieces by hand. Since it is going to be used as a filler to provide protection for your item, it really doesn’t have to be too neat. For example, the other day on the way home from work, I noticed that the dumpster on the construction site of a new bank was overflowing with styrofoam pieces of different shapes and sizes. There was easily enough for two or three pickup truck loads. For a lot of people on ebay, that would be enough to last for a lifetime of selling.

You can also cut cardboard into strips of any desired width, roll it up and tape it together. This makes an excellent cushioning device. Cardboard is readily available and can be used as packing material in many different ways. Just use your imagination.

The simple fact is that there are all kinds of discarded cardboard, styrofoam, and foam rubber packing materials. You just need to keep your eyes open and don’t be afraid to ask. Most people would rather give this stuff away then to see it in a land fill somewhere. If more people would recycle these products, we would be doing our environment a world of good and at the same time, saving a small fortune.

A word of caution though. A lot of people want to use crumbled up newspaper. I’ve been told, but have not verified, that the United States postal service will not honor an insurance claim if newspaper was used as packing material in a shipment. You might want to check into this for yourself. You also might want to check this out with UPS and FedEx as well.

Thank you for your time. I hope this guide has been helpful.