The diffrence between an awsome item sale and a small tragedy is as simple as your shipping methods.

while some things in this guide seem silly, and others seem brilliant, i personally have used all of them, and have never had a damaged or ruined item arrive at its destination.

FIRST i will go over easy mailing ideas for diffrent sized and shaped items:

with DVD's or normal CD and or video games shipping is extreemly easy, if you have access to a store to purchase office supplies pick up a pack of 6 inch by 9 inch (size 0) bubble wrap envelopes, you can even find them in random colors in some places, you can usualy place a short letter or packing slip inside the items case, then slide them into the envolope till it stops going in for DVD sized items or about 3/4 the way in for a CD case. if your worried about a CD case popping open use a small peice of scotch tape to make a small seal on the open edge of the case, most DVD style cases have a sort of locking clasp.

if your shipping something thin and somewhat fragile, as in maby a small photo, a peice of scripture, or even a fragile photo paper, i sent a magazine like this too simply take an old box with at least two sides a bit larger that the outer measurments of the item, and cut them out to be the same size, place the item in the center between the peices of cardboard, and securly tape the corners then around all 4 edges, make sure its taped rather snugly so the enclosed item wont slide around. place a little hand written note on one side saying: "FRAGILE, DO NOT BEND" , And on the other your address information. usualy the post office will charge you very little to mail something like this, as its just two slices of cardboard and your item, and a little tape.  if your worried it isnt safe enough stick some bubble wrap on either side of the item for extrs padding.

if you have a pretty normal sized item, but it weighs a lot (a rock, paperweight, stack of wood etc.) you can get FREE, yes FREE Flat rate boxes, which come in 2 sizes, but only cost (at the current time of typing this)  $8.95 for any destination in the USA and any weight up to around 50 pounds i belive (double check on weight limitations) and it always costs the same price!!!

i have saved SO much money using these, and can make your item stand out, for example your selling several hundred CD's which would set you back a good 35$ or so, a buyer may get nervous on that high a shipping fee, but if the same item only costs 9.00$ to ship they may buy it up instantly.

if your mailing out some big items like a basketball, or maby a video game console, or even a big teddy bear, i reccomend taking a quick trip to a local retailer or hardware store, ask to speak to a manager and tell them you need a few boxes, you can come out and say it's for ebay, or just say your moving, ask them what day they usually get their stock in, and if you could swing in on that day and pick up some of their empty boxes, as most places knock the boxes down flat and recycle them or even just throw them out. you can use boxes that are plain or some that have printing on them if they have lots of images and text on them choose a side (usually the top) with the least stuff on it, take a normal peice of paper for your address label write with a black marker and secure it with some packing tape, i reccomend you retape the openings of the boxes for security as they may be old and you don't want the tape to rip or break on you.

while thats a nice safe, and cheap way to get some boxes for your items you can find that the USPS (united states postal service) and ebay will actually send you a bunch of diffrent sizes of Priority mailing and flat rate boxes at no charge, you just have to pay priority shipping or flat rate shipping for the items, which ships a lot faster than some cheaper methods. so its a winner anyways.

SECONDLY: packing materials and where to find them and when to or not to use what

NEWSPAPER:   while newspaper is a very cheap easy to find material you may want to place the item in some sort of sleeve or even a ziploc bag so the ink wont rub off onto your item. when using newspaper make it into balls, but dont pack the balls super tight as they will end up making your package weigh a bit more... youd be suprised how much newspaper balls will fit into even a small box, make them medium packed andmake a small lining around the item on top, bottom, and don't forget the sides.

PACKING PEANUTS:   i honestly dont reccomend these for a few reasons, even though they do the job well, and have been around for many years. all you do is make a layer of them, place your item and fill the rest of the box up, tape shut and ship, its kind of annoying to open a package and have these spill out all over the place. i have heard of people actually using no butter no salt popcorn in place cause its nature friendly, but seems like big boxes would take a lot of popcorn, hese can get expensive depending on where you get them also.

BUBBLE WRAP:    a big favorite all purpose win/win selection, you can get them in several styles, big bubbles, small bubbles, you can wrap the item really well then toss some newspaper in to fill the holes, or wrap up the item and line the rest of the freespace of the box with more wrap. the real good thing with this type of packing is that the person reciving the item can re use the bubble wrap over and over. so its a money saver for everyone, plus the stuff is cheap, and easy to find everywhere.

while you can use this guide to help pack up your own stuff, if you have a really delicate fragile item you can always take it to a UPS store, or gift packing outlet and have it done proffesionally. while it may cost you a few extra bucks it can make you feel safer.

if you have any comments or additions or even questions for me PLEAE CONTACT ME. i will usually answer within 24 hours.

hope this guide was of help to you and i hope you share this with family and friends!!!!!